THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT AND TRANSIT DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL
This item supports the Board’s Vision, Values, and Goals 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 Broward County Transit (BCT) system and is updated annually. This requirement is intended to ensure that the provision of public transportation services are 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 2014-2023 TDP) was approved at its October 14, 2014 meeting, Item No. 7. The Fiscal Years 2014-2023 TDP 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 January 9, 2018 meeting, Item No. 5, the Board approved the last of the four required Annual updates (BCT Fiscal Year 2018 TDP Annual Update).
The 2019-28 TDP for BCT serves as the strategic guide for public transportation in Broward County over the next ten years. TDP development 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:
http://www.tindaleoliver.com/BCT/BCT%20TDP%20Final%20Draft.pdf
The 2019-28 TDP contains a Status Quo component and a Vision Plan. The Status Quo component of the 2019-28 TDP focuses on maintaining existing service levels and capital facilities based on available funding from existing sources prior to the successful passage of the Transportation Surtax. The Vision Plan component of the 2019-28 TDP focuses on improving the transit system to better meet the needs of the community and reflects the vision for future services as confirmed through this TDP process. The Vision Plan reflects the projects and budgets that compose the overall Transportation Surtax Plan recently approved by Broward County voters and includes funding for over 26 miles of rail projects; exact corridors to be determined. For the purpose of meeting the TDP Rule, the 2019-28 TDP provides a ten-year (2019-28) and 30-year (2019-48) overview of the overall Surtax Plan, with particular emphasis on BCT’s projects and needs. All shortfalls identified in the Status Quo and Vision Plan sections of this plan are now balanced due to the passage of the Transportation Surtax Plan.
Upon official approval by the Board and FDOT, BCT is programmed to receive an estimated $9,985,972 in annual state public transit block grant funds in Fiscal Year 2020, 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.