Stalling Sprawl:
A Transportation Reform Initiative

A Three Year Project Funded By
The Surdna Foundation
With Assistance from The Energy Foundation

1000 Friends of Florida

December 1997

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Florida faces fundamental problems with its transportation planning process, including failure to adequately recognize the interrelationship between transportation systems and land use decisions, failure to take into account the effects of transportation decisions on the environment and on quality of life, and the need for greater and more meaningful public participation in making decisions regarding transportation and land use.

To better address these problems, 1000 Friends of Florida initiated a three-year transportation reform initiative in 1994, which concluded in the fall of 1997. The study was funded by The Surdna Foundation and The Energy Foundation for the first two years, and solely by The Surdna Foundation for the third and final year. The goal of the project was:

1000 Friends of Florida selected two demonstration areas--the Orlando urban area, located in central Florida, and the Loxahatchee region north of the West Palm Beach urban area. These two areas, in different stages of growth and development, offered a variety of opportunities for the study. 1000 Friends of Florida developed the framework for an integrated transportation planning process which could be utilized by areas in any stage of development throughout the state and the nation.

1000 Friends’ transportation reform initiative was more process oriented than project oriented, focusing on establishing a policy and citizen participation framework to promote the consideration of transportation and land use linkages. This allowed for improving the transportation planning and decision making process, transportation modeling, and land use policies to better reflect the interrelationship between transportation and land use. Over the course of the study, a viable framework was established to serve as a model for other areas struggling with transportation and land use issues: citizen participation, government advocacy, public education, and specific projects.

Accomplishments

The three-year transportation reform initiative brought about significant improvement to the transportation planning process, both at the state level and in the two study areas. At the state level, the Florida Department of Transportation requested assistance and input into the state long range transportation plan. 1000 Friends made recommendations and FDOT incorporated changes related to improving citizen participation, strengthening the role of local comprehensive plans in the decision making process, and allowing greater use of flexible design standards and other techniques to help reduce adverse impacts of projects. The inclusion of these factors is a major accomplishment and illustrates a shift in standard policies and procedures.

1000 Friends of Florida also worked with the Metropolitan Planning Organization Advisory Committee (MPOAC), the state umbrella organization for the local Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). Solely through the efforts of 1000 Friends of Florida, the MPOAC included language in their mission statement addressing the importance of the linkages between transportation and land use. The committee also included a goal in their strategic plan to recognize these linkages.

To generate greater understanding of the linkages between transportation, land use and the environment, 1000 Friends of Florida participated in numerous workshops and seminars. Recognizing the need for need for easily-understandable materials on transportation planning, 1000 Friends developed and widely distributed informational material. These included The Dictionary of Transportation Acronyms, providing a translation of the universally used acronyms in the transportation field, and Merge Lanes Ahead, a series of nine fact sheets dealing with the links between transportation, land use, and the environment. The Fall 1996 issue of 1000 Friends’ newsletter, Foresight, included a lead article on traditional neighborhood development, and the Winter 1997 issue is devoted to the transportation reform initiative. 1000 Friends has also produced short, simple guide to citizen participation for general distribution. All of these materials are also on 1000 Friends of Florida’s web site at www.1000fof.usf.edu.

1000 Friends of Florida played an active role in advocating for the reauthorization of the federal ISTEA legislation, and will to push for its adoption in 1998. Much of 1000 Friends’ work, however, focused on bringing about change at the local level, to provide a model for other communities struggling with transportation planning and citizen participation.

Orlando--In Orlando, the impetus for the formation of the citizens group was project specific. 1000 Friends worked with a citizens group, the I-4 Environmental Advisory Committee (I-4 EAC), to proactively insert meaningful citizen input into the design and development of proposed improvements along the Interstate 4 corridor. Although the group began as corridor specific, in the later stages of the project it would expand to examine other issues of regional concern.

Comprised of representatives from local governments, the regional planning council, the water management districts, involved federal and state agencies, and environmental and citizen activists groups, this diverse group focused its immediate attention on identifying community and environmental planning issues raised by the I-4 Master Plan, and to bring about changes in future design where needed. The broader goal of the group was to illustrate to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) that citizen participation can occur in a cooperative manner, early in the stages of a project when the recommendations made by citizens, meeting outside the formal public hearing process, can be incorporated into the design.

Over the course of the three-year project, the I-4 EAC expanded its membership from an Orlando urban area base, which included Orange and Seminole Counties, to a more regional one, including members from the adjacent counties of Volusia and Osceola. The committee provided recommendations to FDOT on the I-4 Master Plan. FDOT accepted these recommendations, representing a radical departure from the normal public participation process, both in the timing and the structure of the citizen involvement.

FDOT received positive feedback from the Federal Highway Administration regarding the I-4 EAC, and with the conclusion of 1000 Friends’ transportation reform initiative, has taken on the formal responsibility for scheduling and maintaining its activities of the I-4 EAC. FDOT has committed to working with the I-4 EAC on the PD&E studies of the I-4 corridor. There are also opportunities for involvement by the I-4 EAC in other transportation planning activities including the proposed light rail system, running from Seminole County to Orlando, currently under study. 1000 Friends of Florida will continue to encourage FDOT to use the I-4 EAC as a citizen participation model in other parts of the state.

Loxahatchee--1000 Friends of Florida laid the groundwork for establishing a citizens group in the Loxahatchee region in the first year by identifying primary issues, public forums, local activists, staff and elected officials. The Loxahatchee Citizens Transportation Coalition (LCTC) was formed and began meeting in the second year of the project. Originally composed of nine representatives from Martin County and nine representatives from Palm Beach County, the initial focus was the inter-county road dispute between these counties and the adjacent Town of Jupiter and City of Tequesta.

1000 Friends facilitated meetings with diverse interest groups, regional planners, and environmental specialists to highlight transportation and land use linkages. After several meetings of the LCTC, the affected local governments agreed to initiate a mediation process to further address transportation and land use issues in the region. 1000 Friends emphasized the need for citizen involvement in the mediation process, monitored the proceedings, and provided input to members of the LCTC and the mediator regarding non-traditional transportation solutions. During the second year, 1000 Friends of Florida also organized a meeting with project consultants from the Florida Overland eXpress (FOX) to present information to the group about the high speed rail proposal and to receive public comment.

In the third year of the study, the focus of the group shifted to Martin County due to citizen interest and the scaling back of resources because of the unanticipated loss of funding from the Energy Foundation. The LCTC continued actively reviewing transportation and land use proposals and issues potentially affecting the community and natural resources in the region. Members of the LCTC were active in the development of the Martin County Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, and laid the groundwork to provide input into the Florida Department of Community Affairs’ "Sustainable Communities Demonstration Project" proposed to begin in Martin County in 1998.

Over the course of the project, policy level changes were brought about in the Loxahatchee area, reflecting that positive change will continue beyond the three-year initiative. Martin County recently requested letters of interest from consultants to perform a comprehensive land use and transportation planning analysis within the county. The transportation and land use linkages are to be considered a major factor in the analysis, as well as the consideration of nontraditional transportation solutions. The inclusion of these linkages and nontraditional solutions are a result of the efforts initiated by the study. This, along with the Sustainable Communities Demonstration Project, offers the opportunity for the LCTC to stay involved in dealing with transportation and land use issues and alternative modes of transportation.

Lessons Learned

There are several valuable lessons learned from the transportation reform initiative. The transportation planning process is regulated by policies from all levels of government, which makes it extremely time-consuming to bring about change. Recognition within the process of how transportation and land use decisions affect each other is vital to any change and a strong, meaningful citizens participation effort should be the most fundamental element of the process.

It is only with fundamental changes in the process that transportation proposals will be more responsive to the needs of citizens and more responsible in dealing with developmental impacts. This shift in the process should come from working within the system and the most effective way to accomplish this change should come from a cooperative stance, rather than an adversarial position. Making progress in changing the process can seem to be very slow, and can be very discouraging. However, it is through committed, long term, meaningful citizen participation that change will occur.

Beyond the Transportation Reform Initiative

With the end of the three-year project, 1000 Friends of Florida will no longer be directly involved in managing and directing the citizen participation efforts implemented in the Orlando and Loxahatchee areas. A framework for sustained activities and citizen involvement was established, however, and 1000 Friends will continue to offer support and assistance to these groups. Hopefully, this framework will be used as a model to establish active citizen coalitions in other urban areas. 1000 Friends has developed reader-friendly materials to share this model with others.

Government advocacy activities will also continue by 1000 Friends of Florida. On the federal level, 1000 Friends will continue its advocacy for ISTEA reauthorization. On the state level, advocacy for improving the planning process through policy changes and better, more meaningful citizen participation will continue. Advocacy for addressing land use and transportation linkages will continue on both the local and state level, as well as promoting change or removal of regulations impeding more responsible developments.

Through the transportation reform initiative, 1000 Friends of Florida has laid a firm foundation for bringing about positive change in transportation planning in Florida. We will continue to work hard to share this model with other communities around Florida and across the nation. Only with greater citizen participation will we be able to effectively deal with the transportation pressures that have such a major impact on our natural resources and quality of life.