Saturday, October 27, 2012

FDOT Secretary Hattaway's vision for multi-modal transportation in District 1

Back in March, Secretary Billy Hattaway, FDOT District 1, wrote this article about his vision for multi-modal transportation in District One.  As Lee County works towards its goal of a more balanced multi-modal transportation system, it is good to know that FDOT District 1 is a leader in this effort and that we have a great resource available to us. (thanks to Naples Pathways Coalition for posting this on their blog...which I tripped over while searching for something else on the Internet!) 
FDOT District 1 - From the desk of Secretary Billy Hattaway

Secretary Billy Hattaway
FDOT District One First Edition Issue 1, 2012 (March 2012)
From the Desk of
Secretary Hattaway
This article was created based on a request from one of our employees to share my vision for multi-modal transportation in District One.
I’m interested to know about the Secretary’s vision for Public Transportation in the District with the new projects such as Bus Rapid Transit, The Commuter Service Program (biking, walking, carpool, vanpool, telecommuting, green initiatives, parking management, etc.)”

My vision is based on many years of experience in working nationally with state DOTs and local governments on improving the balance between all modes of transportation for their communities and thorough review of reports and articles concerning the changing trends and demographics in the United States.

We have been blessed for decades with the freedom to drive with little expense to take care of our daily needs or travel recreationally. That freedom has allowed us to live at increasing distances from work, school and our downtowns. More recently, there is an increased recognition that the costs of sprawl development patterns, such as costs of personal transportation, municipal services, schools and busing of children, are becoming less sustainable. That combined with demographic changes of baby boomers (like me) and many in younger generations wanting to live in more urban walk-able communities is driving an increased demand for local governments and state transportation agencies to improve the balance between all modes.

District One has numerous communities along our coast who recognize this trend and are working to implement changes in their development patterns and transportation systems to create communities that are more supportive to walking, biking, and transit. I believe our role as a transportation agency is to provide leadership in these efforts and we have a responsibility to work with them collaboratively in achieving their goals. This will involve increased partnerships with local governments who are willing to truly partner with us to achieve mutual goals to increase mobility for our citizens and visitors.

Local governments are looking to the Department for support in creating streets that are more comfort-able and safer for pedestrians and bicyclists which also supports increased transit ridership. This includes both working with them in planning and designing “complete streets” and providing technical expertise to them in achieving their goals for redevelopment and improving their local transportation network.

In my role as Secretary I have already begun discussions with some of our local governments who have begun planning or implementation of redevelopment of their downtown and along some of our corridors. Their roles include planning efforts that truly engage their citizens in creating a vision for the area they are focused on, recruiting champions who will ensure their plans are carried out, developing implementation plans that are financially feasible, and committing to change development patterns to support the changes they are requesting of the department. I have expressed to them that we will work with them to achieve their goals.

My commitment to our employees is to work with you and support you during our transition into this expanded role of the department, which will involve learning new skills for public outreach, planning and design. This is an exciting opportunity for those who are interested in learning new skills and expanding their capability and value to the Department.
   Consistent, Predictable, Repeatable

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