How much time do you spend circling airports in rental car shuttles? Add up the hours lost starting and stopping, picking up and dropping off at terminal after terminal as the van snakes its way to your rental car agency.

In many of the larger international airports, getting to your rental car is a journey in itself. Miami International Airport (MIA) just took a huge leap forward with its new MIA Mover, a 1.25-mile-long automated monorail system that connects the terminal and the Miami rental car center.

Fully operational this month, the people mover whisks passengers from the airport to the rental car center in less than three minutes — a fraction of the time it took shuttle vans to navigate the traffic to get to the remote lots. The new system has the capacity to transport more than 3,000 passengers per hour. There’s no charge for the service and all rental customers follow the same signs to the same people mover for the ride to their pick-up location, regardless of rental company.

On the other end, a large and well-organized building has counters for the various companies situated around a big oval area and the car lots are down below. Return your car and hop aboard the same monorail for complimentary transport back to the terminal. Relax and forget about traffic jams: The monorail is an anxiety-free zone.

The new system replaces 1,400 daily shuttle van trips. We doubt a single passenger will reminisce about the bad old days. For more information, go to http://www.miami-airport.com/cip_mia_mover.asp.