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Over the past 15 years, the population of the West Central Florida region has grown by 30 percent – in that same time, our total annual delay in travel time due to congestion has increased by almost 110 percent. As we look to the future and our growing travel needs, how will we build our transportation system to meet those needs?

What will be our interstate for the next 50 years?

The Florida Department of Transportation, in cooperation with its partners, is committed to providing long-term transportation solutions, including all modes – airports, seaports, roads, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian. Regionally, the FDOT has already made a commitment to improving highways – with plans for 6 to 8 lanes on the interstates and 6 lanes on arterials. After those commitments are fulfilled, it will be difficult to add more roadway capacity on the existing corridors.

There are three major elements that indicate there is a mounting sense of urgency for the creation and implementation of a regional transit system. One is the public and business community desire to invest in transit. Organizations such as the Tampa Bay Partnership are taking bold steps to demonstrate a commitment to the long-term vitality of the region by focusing strategic efforts on the advancement of our transportation system. Secondly, the narrowing gap between the costs of investing in different types of solutions makes transit a cost-effective way to add significant capacity to the overall transportation system. Thirdly, planning and implementing the regional transit system now will provide local officials and the development community opportunities to support transit with growth around the regional system.

The Department began the SRTNA project to objectively identify key regional travel patterns, and transit operations and infrastructure opportunities in the West Central Florida region for the next 50 years, and to assist prioritization of transit funding for regional needs. Project implementation is a primary focus of the study - essentially determining how to get beyond planning and get a regional transit system in the ground and operating. After many months of technical work and communication with local decision makers, the Department has identified what regional transit elements would be needed to create a balanced transportation system in the region and now proposes the “Interstate of Transit”.