TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT AND TRANSIT DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTIONS.
This item supports the Board’s Vision and Goals for "Cooperatively Creating an Efficient and Accessible Regional Intermodal Transportation Network" by providing funding to support transit operations.
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 transit 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 ten years and to provide annual updates to the TDP. The TDP is a short-range (ten-year horizon) transit plan that addresses operational and capital improvements for Broward County Transit's (BCT) system. Annual updates ensure that the provision of public transportation services is consistent with the travel needs and mobility goals of the local communities served by the transit system.
The last major TDP (2014-2023 TDP) was adopted by the Board at its October 1, 2013 meeting (Item No. 38), per Florida Administrative Code (FAC) Section 14-73.001. FAC 14-73.001 also requires an annual update in the years between each major ten-year TDP. This item is the fourth annual update of the TDP (2018-2027).
The 2018-2027 TDP Annual Update (Exhibit 2) for BCT serves as the strategic plan for public transportation in Broward County over the next ten years. This annual update documents the following: BCT’s 2017 accomplishments compared to the original implementation program; analysis of any discrepancies between the plan and its implementation for the past year with steps taken to attain original goals and objectives; any revisions to the implementation program for the coming year; revised implementation program and added recommendations for the new tenth year (Fiscal Year 2027); a revised financial plan, and list of projects or services needed to meet the goals and objectives, including projects for which funding may not have been identified.
The revised financial plan contains both a Status Quo Financial Plan and a Vision Financial Plan for the next ten years. The Status Quo plan focuses on maintaining current levels of transit service and the required FTA State of Good Repair for capital equipment (replacement, rehabilitation, and purchase of buses and related equipment, and the construction of bus-related facilities). Under the Status Quo plan, the total operating costs for the ten year period (2018-2027) are projected to be just over $1.7 billion and operating revenues are projected to be just over $1.3 billion, resulting in an estimated operating funding shortfall of nearly $362 million. Additionally, there is an estimated total capital funding shortfall of over $101 million. The Vision Plan focuses on implementing additional transit service and transit infrastructure projects expected to be in demand within the next ten years and includes the Status Quo financial projects. Under the Vision Plan operating costs are estimated at over $2.3 billion with operating revenues estimated at $1.5 billion, resulting in an estimated operating shortfall of over $801 million. Additionally, the Vision Plan has an estimated total capital funding shortfall of over $1.1 billion. Under the Status Quo and Vision Financial Plans, further investments in the transit system are still needed. Additional details about the TDP process and the 2018-2027 annual update are attached (Exhibit 3).
Upon approval of the TDP Update by the Board and FDOT, BCT is programmed to receive an estimated $9,463,471 in annual state public transit block grant funds in Fiscal Year 2019, allocated by FDOT specifically for assistance with BCT’s operating and maintenance costs. FDOT requires a 50/50 match (met by the funding which the County provides for operating fixed-route bus service).
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