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Connecting Florida
ULI spells out the importance of transit and land use to Florida’s future


The five District Councils in Florida are in the midst of a statewide educational and outreach strategy focused on the integration of land use and transportation. “Connecting Florida” engages state government and public and private sector leaders in Florida’s five largest metropolitan regions.










Outreach and Impacts
See the outreach strategy in action:

Statewide Outreach

With a new legislature and governor in place for 2011, the District Councils have reached out to the elected policymakers with a letter from all five District Council Chairs distributing the Connecting Florida report and Urban Land article. This follows a briefing paper delivered to the state legislature during the December 2009 special session on expanding the state’s support for regional transit service.

Presentations of Connecting Florida include to the Transportation 2060 Steering Committee and the MPO Advisory Council.

ULI SE Florida/Caribbean

What can an integrated transportation system really mean for South Florida? This question brought over 200 representatives from transportation agencies, governments, and the private sector to a program sponsored by ULI Southeast Florida/Caribbean on April 30, 2010. Coinciding with the release of the Connecting Florida report, the program led to a series of presentations and report distributions to leading transportation and economic development organizations across the region.

Program Flyer, April 30, 2010

Our Regional Systems, a joint presentation by Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization, Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization, Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization, South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, and the Florida Department of Transportation

A greener way to commute (Miami Herald, April 18, 2010)

ULI Central Florida

ULI Central Florida’s first Connecting Florida program, held April 29, 2010, capitalized on the region’s coming commuter rail and high speed rail lines. The panel discussions on Integrating Rail in Central Florida captivated the standing-room only crowd of about 135 participants. Distribution of Connecting Florida: Transit + Florida’s Economy, unveiled at the program, continues to local and regional leaders and interest groups.

Transit-oriented development (TOD) held the attention of the audience at the second Connecting Florida program held on September 24, 2010. Right Track/Wrong Track: TOD and Central Florida’s Future featured a distinguished panel of transportation and land development leaders from across the region.

Trains will transform Orlando, leaders say (Orlando Sentinel, April 29, 2010)

Panel discussion predicts sweeping changes when the rail lines start running (The Ledger, April 29, 2010)

Leaders Look to Link Rail Lines (CF News 13, April 30, 2010)

ULI North Florida

The average commute time in the greater Jacksonville area is over 25 minutes and driving continues to increase as residents locate in areas farther and farther from employment and services. Transit use is low, though climbing, and pedestrian safety continues to be a significant concern. Transportation is a challenge in northeast Florida.

ULI North Florida’s Connecting Florida initiative is reaching out to transportation and land use decision-makers across the region. Presentations include at the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) Board Meeting (May 28) and at the ULI Breakfast Series event with Alan Moseley, FDOT D2 Secretary, (June 24).

ULI Southwest Florida

With some of the fastest growth rates in the state during the boom of the 2000s, southwest Florida burgeoned from a collection of small cities into a metropolitan region of over 1 million inhabitants. Success as a metropolitan region requires new efforts linking housing, jobs, services, and travel corridors. Starting with a presentation at the Collier County Master Mobility Plan Workshop on May 13, 2010, ULI Southwest Florida will be reaching out to government and community groups interested in the connection between transportation, land use and southwest Florida’s economy throughout the year. 

Connecting Florida presentation at the Collier County Master Mobility Plan Workshop, May 13, 2010

ULI Tampa Bay

Major advances in federal, state, and local policy are moving Tampa Bay’s transit opportunities forward -- while overcoming obstacles are forcing residents and public officials to thoroughly evaluate the costs and benefits of transit. The federal government’s funding for high speed rail, the creation of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA), and the ONE BAY regional visioning partnership all indicate that Tampa Bay is preparing to take a major leap forward in creating a regionally integrated transit system. The future of high speed rail in Florida hangs in the balance with the inauguration of a new gubernatorial administration and the state of Florida's economy.

Tampa Bay is rebounding from an initial setback for the region’s transportation future. Voters in Hillsborough County voted down a penny tax for light rail and improvements in bus transit and roads in November 2010, and the surrounding counties are rethinking their strategies. ULI Tampa Bay has implemented several outreach and education efforts. Through volunteer committees and programs, the Connecting Florida report has made it into the hands of key stakeholders, government officials, and the public. Events such as 2010 Super Regional Leadership Conference in May 2010 and a joint forum with the Tampa Bay Partnership and the Tampa Downtown Partnership in November 2010 focused on next steps in the transit discussion.

ULI Tampa Bay’s Transportation Committee has moved forward with its dual purposes:
  1. educate the community on the benefits of transit and transit oriented development through a Speakers Bureau; 
  2. produce an informational joint forum centered on best practices in integrating transit into automobile-dependent communities like Tampa Bay. The committee's presentation, “TOD for Tampa Bay” is available on YouTube and has been distributed to interested parties from across the globe.
2010 Report
Transit & Florida’s Economy
               
Connecting Florida: Transit + Florida’s Economy, released in April 2010, lays out the case for regionally integrated transit systems and explains why transit service and compact, walkable development go hand in hand. Following assessments of transit in each of Florida’s five largest metropolitan regions, brief profiles of “new transit metros” from across the United States provide models for building, organizing, and funding regionally integrated transit systems.

Read the press release »
Download the report »
Working Group
Learn more about ULI’s District Councils and Infrastructure Initiative, including contact details:

ULI Southeast Florida/Caribbean
ULI Central Florida
ULI North Florida
ULI Southwest Florida
ULI Tampa Bay
ULI Infrastructure Initiative 

List of Connecting Florida Working Group Members
Tampa Bay on TOD
View ULI Tampa Bay’s new presentation explaining the importance of transit-oriented development to the region’s future.

Connecting Florida in UrbanLand


Read about Connecting Florida in the Nov/Dec 2010 issue of Urban Land magazine.

Read more UrbanLand articles about Infrastructure and Transit
Local Leaders on Central Florida Panel

From left to right: James Moore, Event Moderator, Senior Vice President, HDR and incoming Chair of ULI Tampa Bay; The Honorable Buddy Dyer, Mayor, City of Orlando; The Honorable Bill Segal, Orange County Commissioner and current Chairman of Metroplan Orlando; Harry Barley, Executive Director, Metroplan Orlando; Todd Hammerle, Florida Department of Transportation, SunRail Project Manager; Linda Watson, Chief Executive Officer, LYNX 

Watch the discussion on Integrating Rail in Central Florida:
About the ULI/Curtis Regional Infrastructure Project
The ULI/Curtis Regional Infrastructure Project, supported by ULI trustee James Curtis, addresses the relationship between infrastructure and land use at the regional level, including sustainability and housing, and aims to improve decision making and develop national models of best practices.