Miami MetroZoo, Florida

The Miami MetroZoo monorail crosses zoo walkways 30 times, a safety nightmare if surface rail had been chosen. But it wasn't, so zoo visitors in Miami are safe. The zoo wasn't so safe when Hurricane Andrew devastated the area in August of 1992. Just about everything at the park was shredded. However, most of the monorail guideway survived, as well as the trains. The monorail was giving tours of the devastation soon after and today the zoo is back in full swing. The monorail was built by Universal Mobility Inc. The rights to the technology have since been acquired by Bombardier. With modifications by Bombardier, new UM monorails have since opened at Tampa and Jacksonville (see below). Photograph by TMS Associate Editor Dale Samuelson.