Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Coree Cuff Lonergan
Department: Transportation
Information
Requested Action
title
MOTION TO ADOPT Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners of Broward County, Florida, adopting the Broward County Transit Development Plan 2024-2033 Major Update.
body
Why Action is Necessary
Section 341.052, Florida Statutes, and Section 14-73.001, Florida Administrative Code, require the Board of County Commissioners (Board), as the transit system’s governing body, to develop and adopt a Transit Development Plan (TDP) based on a ten year planning horizon to receive state public transit block grant funds.
What Action Accomplishes
Approves the Broward County Transit Ten-Year (Fiscal Years 2024-2033) Transit Development Plan (TDP) Major Update, which serves as the strategic guide for public transportation in Broward County over the next ten years, and upon final approval by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) provides annual Block Grant funding assistance for fixed-route bus service operating expenses.
Goal Related Icon(s)
☒County Commission
☐Go Green
☐MAP Broward
Previous Action Taken
None
Summary Explanation/Background
THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
This item supports the Board’s Connected Community Goal of "Cooperatively delivering an efficient and accessible regional intermodal transportation network."
In 1990, the Florida Legislature enacted Section 341.052, F.S., which established a State Public Transit Block Grant Program to be administered by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). The program provides Broward County funding assistance on an annual basis for fixed-route bus service operating costs. Each transit agency in Florida that receives Block Grant funding is required by FDOT to prepare a Transit Development Plan (TDP) every five years. The TDP is a short-range (ten-year horizon) transit plan that addresses operational and capital improvements for the Broward County Transit (BCT) system and is updated annually. This requirement is intended to ensure that the provision of public transportation services is consistent with the travel needs and mobility goals of the local communities that are served by the transit system.
The last ten-year TDP adopted by the Board (Fiscal Years 2019-2028 TDP) was approved at its December 11, 2018 meeting, Item No. 20. It was considered a major ten-year TDP, per the TDP Rule, Florida Administrative Code Section 14-73.001. Per the same statute, BCT is required to provide an annual update in the years between each major ten-year TDP effort. At its November 15, 2022 meeting, Item No. 11, the Board approved the last of the four required Annual updates (BCT TDP 2023-2032 Annual Update).
The 2024-2033 TDP serves as the strategic guide for public transportation in Broward County over the next ten years. Development of this TDP included a number of activities including: documentation and analysis of the demographic conditions in BCT’s service area; an evaluation of existing transit services in Broward County; market research and extensive public involvement efforts; an analysis of immediate and longer term transit service and capital project needs; and a funding analysis and plan that initiates strategic approaches to maintaining and expanding transit services in Broward County within the next ten years and beyond. Exhibit 2 is the Executive Summary. The full document and its appendices are located at the following link:
<https://www.broward.org/BCT/pages/transitdevelopmentplan.aspx>
The 2024-2033 TDP plan incorporates the recommendations from the PREMO Plan, adopted by the Board at its June 13, 2023 meeting, and an annual percentage increase in service hours (e.g., 2%) assumed for local fixed-route services that will be further defined as part of the Comprehensive Operational Analysis in 2024, and included in a future TDP annual progress report.
Upon official approval by the Board and FDOT, BCT is programmed to receive an estimated $11,201,070 in annual state public transit block grant funds in Fiscal Year 2024, which are allocated by FDOT specifically for assistance with BCT’s operating and maintenance costs. These funds require a 50% local match (met by the funding which the County provides for operating fixed-route bus service) and are available to offset operating expenses incurred by the County in providing fixed-route bus service.
Source of Additional Information
Coree Cuff Lonergan, Director, Transportation Department (954) 357-8361.
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
Final approval of this TDP by the Board and FDOT will provide an estimated $11,201,070 in Fiscal Year 2024 state block grant funds allocated by FDOT specifically for BCT’s operating and maintenance expenses