Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Monica Cepero
Department: County Administration Division: MAP Administration
Information
Requested Action
title
MOTION TO ADOPT Resolution supporting the University of Florida’s (“UF”) application or the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration Exploratory Advance Research Grant, and committing to provide local matching funds from proceeds of the transportation surtax in an amount equal to 20% of the grant, if awarded to UF, up to a maximum amount of $70,000, subject to UF and the County entering into a data sharing arrangement associated with the research undertaken with the grant fund; and to authorize the County Administrator to negotiate, approve, and execute the data sharing agreement with UF, subject to review for legal sufficiency by the Office of the County Attorney, and to take all necessary administrative and budgetary actions to effectuate payment of the local match if the grant is awarded to UF.
body
Why Action is Necessary
County Commission action is necessary to adopt resolutions and to commit transportation surtax funding.
What Action Accomplishes
Adopts the referenced motion and commits the County to provide local matching funds to the University of Florida (UF) for a maximum amount not to exceed $70,000 if UF receives an award under the Federal Highway Administration’s Exploratory Research Cooperative Grant Program.
Goal Related Icon(s)
☒County Commission
☐Go Green
☒MAP Broward
Previous Action Taken
None.
Summary Explanation/Background
THE MOBILITY ADVANCEMENT PROGRAM AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THIS ITEM.
The goal of the Federal Highway Administration’s Exploratory Research Cooperative Grant Program (grant) is to use advanced technology to collect data related to pedestrian movements. This grant would complement several Broward County transportation surtax-supported initiatives, including the University of Florida (UF) Near- Miss Study (a collaborative pilot project between the UF Modern Artificial Intelligence and Learning Technologies Lab and the Broward County Traffic Engineering Division), Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan (a collaborative grant project between Broward County and the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization with the County providing $1.25 million in in-kind match support), and the Low-Stress Multi-modal Master Plan. UF will act as the lead applicant, with Broward County as a program and funding partner. County matching funds will be used to purchase fisheye cameras, other hardware devices, and associated software necessary for establishing mobile pedestrian data collection at critical intersections identified through crash history, traffic volume, near-miss events and previous incident reports, augmenting the existing UF Near-Miss pilot project along Stirling Road. Purchased equipment will be owned and operated by the County during and after the project.
The grant is due on June 5th and award announcements are expected in late September 2024.
If this item is approved, the Board will adopt a resolution (to be distributed as Additional Material) supporting UF’s application for the grant, and committing to provide the local matching funds, in an amount up to $70,000 from transportation surtax funds, subject to an agreement being entered into between UF and the County for the sharing of data derived from the research performed if deemed necessary by the Office of the County Attorney, and authorizing the County Administrator to execute any such data sharing agreement and to take all administrative and budgetary actions to effectuate the County’s involvement with the grant.
Source of Additional Information
Gretchen Cassini, Mobility Advancement Program Administrator; gcassini@broward.org, 954-357-7579
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
Up to $70,000 cash match is budgeted in the Surtax Capital Fund.