Government Center station (Miami)

Government Center station is an intermodal transit hub in the Government Center district of Downtown Miami, Florida. It is operated by Miami-Dade Transit and serves as a transfer station for the Metrorail and Metromover rapid transit systems and as a bus station for Metrobus, Paratransit, and Broward County Transit buses. MiamiCentral is directly connected via a pedestrian bridge over NW 3rd Street. The station is located near the intersection of Northwest First Street and First Avenue, a part of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center Building. It opened to service May 20, 1984, next to the site of a former FEC railway station which is now MiamiCentral.

●● Government Center
Three modes of transit operating simultaneously at Government Center station
General information
Location	101 NW 1st Street (Metrorail) 138 NW 3rd Street (Metromover) Miami, Florida
Coordinates	25°46′33″N 80°11′45″W
Owned by	Miami-Dade County
Platforms	1 island platform (Metrorail) 2 side platforms (Metromover)
Tracks	2 (Metrorail) 2 (Metromover)
Connections	MiamiCentral Metrobus: 2, 3, 7, 9, 11, 21, 77, 95, 100, 203, 207, 208, 211, 400, 401, 836, 837 Broward County Transit: 109, 110 Miami Trolley: Coral Way
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Platform levels	4
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	GVT
History
Opened	May 20, 1984 (Metrorail)[1] April 17, 1986 (Metromover)
Passengers
2011	3.2 million[2] (Metrorail)  3%
Feb 2014	299,806[3] (Metrorail)
Feb 2014	210,134[3] (Metromover)
Services
Preceding station Miami-Dade Transit Following station Brickell toward Dadeland South Green Line Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre toward Palmetto Orange Line Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre toward Miami Int'l Airport Third Street toward School Board Omni Loop Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. One-way operation Third Street toward Financial District Brickell Loop Miami Avenue One-way operation Inner Loop Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Next clockwise
Former services Preceding station Miami-Dade Transit Following station Brickell toward Dadeland South Downtown Express Terminus
Location

History

Metrorail and Metromover station

Schematic of 2018 rapid transit and passenger rail service in the Miami metropolitan area

Development of the civic center was reinvigorated during the 1970s and early 1980s during a Downtown building boom. The boom spurred the development and construction of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, Metrorail, Metromover, and the Miami-Dade Cultural Plaza, which currently includes HistoryMiami and the Miami-Dade Public Library System Main Library.

Construction on the present-day Government Center station began in June 1982. The station was primarily designed by the Cambridge Seven Associates in collaboration with Edward D. Stone. The station was built by the Frank J. Rooney Construction Company. Metrorail service, between Overtown and Kendall, following the precise route of the FEC, commenced service May 1984.

An unused, partially completed ghost platform for a future East-West Metrorail line is adjacent to the west side of the mezzanine level below the current Metrorail station and is easily visible to passengers transferring from Metromover to Metrorail. This platform was part of the original design concept which interfaced with the atrium of the Miami-Dade County Administration Building, and the people mover station.

Florida East Coast Railroad station

Main article: MiamiCentral

Next to Government Center station is the former site of a railroad station developed in April 1896 as the southern terminus of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). The downtown passenger terminal was demolished by November 1963.^[4] The FEC still owns the old station site, which was occupied by parking lots until 2014. It is now MiamiCentral, an intermodal transit hub. It has been served by Brightline higher-speed inter-city trains since 2018 and Tri-Rail commuter trains since 2024.

Station layout

The second floor of the complex includes the main fare control for Metrorail and platforms for the Metromover loops, as well as the Metrofare Shops area. The third floor of the complex is a mezzanine for transfers between the two services. A ghost platform for a never-built east-west Metrorail line is located on this level. The fourth floor of the complex is the Metrorail platform. It is the highest transit platform of the Miami-Dade Transit system in height and can hold up to eight Metrorail cars.

Transit connections

Metrobus

Route #	Route Name	Route Map	Note
2	The Mall at 163rd Street via NW 2 Ave and North Miami Avenue	Map
3	Aventura Mall via Biscayne Boulevard	Map	24-hour service
7	Dolphin Mall via NW 7 St	Map
7A	Miami Airport Station via NW 7 ST/ NW 42nd AVE	Map
9	Aventura Mall via NE 2 Ave	Map
11	Downtown Miami ↔ Florida International University (FIU) Modesto Maidique Campus via Flagler Street and West 107 Ave (SR 985)	Map	24-hour service
21	Northside station via West 12 Ave	Map
77	Downtown Miami ↔ Miami Gardens at Miami Gardens Drive/North 183 St or 199 St via NW 7 and NW 2 Ave. (US 441)	Map	24-hour service
95	95 Express (Golden Glades Tri-Rail station and Park and Ride Lot via I-95)	Map	Afternoon rush hours only
100	Aventura Mall via Miami Beach and Collins Avenue	Map	24-hour service
203	Biscayne MAX (Aventura via Biscayne Boulevard)	Map	Rush hours only; limited-stop
207	Little Havana Connection (Downtown Miami ↔ Little Havana via SW 7 St & 1 St)	Map
208	Little Havana Connection (Downtown Miami ↔ Little Havana via Flagler Street & SW 8 St)	Map
211	Flagler MAX (Downtown Miami ↔ Sweetwater via Flagler St)	Map	Rush hours only; limited-stop
400	South OWL (Downtown Miami ↔ Dadeland South station)	Map	Overnight only
401	North OWL (Downtown Miami ↔ 163 St Mall Terminal)	Map	Overnight only
836	Express (Downtown Miami ↔ Dolphin Station Park and Ride)	Map	Weekday rush hour only; limited-stop
837	Express (Downtown Miami ↔ Tamiami Station Park and Ride)	Map	Weekday rush hour only; limited-stop

Broward County Transit

Route #	Route Name	Route Map	Note
109	95 Express (Downtown Miami ↔ Pines Boulevard (SR 820) at Flamingo Road (SR 823) via I-95 and Pines Blvd)	Map	Weekday rush hour only; limited-stop
110	595 Express (Sunrise BB&T Center ↔ Downtown Miami and Brickell via I-95)	Map	Weekday rush hour only; limited stop

Miami Trolley

Route Name	Route Map
Coral Way	Map

Places of interest

• Downtown Miami
  • Neighborhoods: Arts & Entertainment District, Park West, and Miami Jewelry District
• Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts
• Kaseya Center
• Bayfront Park
• Bayside Marketplace
• The Congress Building
• Courthouse Center
• David W. Dyer Federal Building and United States Courthouse
• Flagler Street
• Freedom Tower
• Historical Museum of Southern Florida
• Miami Art Museum
• Miami Dade College (Wolfson Campus)
• Miami-Dade County Courthouse
• Miami Main Library
• Museum Park
• Museum Tower
• New World School of the Arts
• Olympia Theater
• Stephen P. Clark Government Center

Gallery

• 
  A Metromover car waiting on the lower level of the Government Center station.
• 
  A Metrorail train is approaching the upper level of the Government Center station with the Dade County Courthouse in the background.
• 
  The Government Center Metromover transfer station
• 
  A Metromover train is approaching Government Center station
• 
  Passengers exit a northbound Metrorail train during rush hour
• 
  Platforms overlooking the contemporary US Courthouse building.
• 
  The ghost platform that is on the mezzanine level
• 
  A closer view of the ghost platform
• 
  A Metrorail sign in the plaza
• 
  View toward the southeast of the city center, with the FEC passenger trains and the Dade County Courthouse foreground, circa 1930s
• 
  Critical Mass Miami assembling at Government Center
• 
  Government Center with the Dade County Courthouse in the background and HistoryMiami in the foreground on the right

See also

• Transportation in South Florida