Florida Department of Transportation

Last updated
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)
Florida Department of Transportation logo.png
Official Seal
Agency overview
Formed1969
Preceding agency
  • State Road Department (SRD)
Jurisdiction Florida
Headquarters605 Suwannee Street, Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
Agency executives
Website fdot.gov

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida. [1] The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the powers of the State Road Department (SRD). The current Secretary of Transportation is Jared W. Perdue.

Contents

History

The State Road Department, the predecessor of today's Department of Transportation, was authorized in 1915 by the Florida Legislature. For the first two years of its existence, the department acted as an advisory body to the 52 counties in the state, helping to assemble maps and other information on roads.

The 1916 Bankhead Act passed by Congress expanded the department's responsibilities and gave it the authority to: establish a state and state-aid system of roads, engage in road construction and maintenance, acquire and own land, exercise the right of eminent domain, and accept federal or local funds for use in improving roads.

The Office of Motor Carrier Compliance created in 1980 transitioned from the Florida Department of Transportation to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) division of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) on July 1, 2011. [2] The consolidation is a result of Senate Bill 2160, passed by lawmakers during the 2011 Legislative Session, and placed the commercial vehicle licensing, registrations, fuel permits, and enforcement all under the purview of DHSMV. [3]

Structure

The Florida Transportation Commission, made up of nine commissioners chosen by Florida's Governor and Legislature, provides oversight for the state's department of transportation. [4]

Each of FDOT's eight semi-autonomous districts is managed by a district secretary. Following the 2002 legislation, the Turnpike District (now known as Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, or FTE) secretary became known as an executive director.

There are seven geographic districts plus the FTE. [5] The FTE owns and maintains 483 miles (777 km) of toll roads. The department also owns and maintains other toll roads and bridges: the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Alligator Alley, the Beachline East Expressway, the Pinellas Bayway System, and the Seminole and Lake County portions of otherwise Central Florida Expressway Authority owned roads. Tolls on all Department-owned facilities are collected by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise.

In addition, the FDOT operates and manages several park-and-ride lots and Commuter Assistance Programs throughout the state. The seven districts each have a Districtwide Commuter Assistance Program.

Districts

Map of FDOT Districts FDOT district map.jpg
Map of FDOT Districts

Florida has seven transportation districts and a separate unit for tolled facilities under Florida's Turnpike Enterprise. Each district is managed by a district secretary. Each district also has major divisions for administration, planning, production, and operations. [5]

FDOT Districts Overview
District NumberDistrict NameHeadquartersCounties
1Southwest Florida Bartow Charlotte, Collier, De Soto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee, Okeechobee, Polk, and Sarasota
2Northeast Florida Lake City Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, and Union
3Northwest Florida Chipley Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington
4Southeast Florida Fort Lauderdale Broward, Indian River, Martin, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie
5Central Florida DeLand Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, Volusia
6South Florida Miami Miami-Dade and Monroe
7West Central Florida Tampa Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas

Notable projects

In 1954, the State Road Department completed the original Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the first fixed span to connect Saint Petersburg directly to Bradenton. This greatly shortened the travel time between the two cities, as before cars would have to either use a ferry or drive about 70 miles (110 km) around Tampa Bay. A parallel span was completed in 1971 to make the bridge Interstate standard, and it became part of I-275. After the newer, southbound span was destroyed in 1980 when the SS Summit Venture collided into it, a replacement bridge was finished in 1987.

In 1974, FDOT completed Florida's Turnpike, a 312-mile (502 km) limited access toll highway that connected the panhandle area through Orlando to Miami. The turnpike is part of an initiative to finance transportation with user fees. [6]

In 2021, FDOT funded a review by scientists from Florida State University, University of Talca and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, which showed following advantages of on autonomous trains: [7]

  1. Eliminating sources for human errors
  2. Raise of capacity by stronger utilization of existing rail tracks
  3. Reduction of operational costs. Metro Paris reduced its operational costs in case of GoA4 by 30%. [8]
  4. Higher overall service reliability
  5. Better fleet management and service flexibility
  6. Energy efficiency

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 4</span> Interstate Highway in Florida, United States

Interstate 4 (I-4) is an Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Florida, maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Spanning 132.30 miles (212.92 km) along a generally southwest–northeast axis, I-4 is entirely concurrent with State Road 400 (SR 400). In the west, I-4 begins at an interchange with I-275 in Tampa. I-4 intersects with several major expressways as it traverses Central Florida, including US Highway 41 (US 41) in Tampa; US 301 near Riverview; I-75 near Brandon; US 98 in Lakeland; US 27 in unincorporated Davenport; US 192 in Celebration; Florida's Turnpike in Orlando; and US 17 and US 92 in multiple junctions. In the east, I-4 ends at an interchange with I-95 in Daytona Beach, while SR 400 continues for roughly another four miles (6.4 km) and ends at an intersection with US 1 on the city line of Daytona Beach and South Daytona.

E-ZPass is an electronic toll collection system used on toll roads, toll bridges, and toll tunnels in the Eastern United States, Midwestern United States, and Southern United States. The E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG) consists of member agencies in several states, which use the same technology and allow travelers to use the same transponder on toll roads throughout the network.

Florida's Turnpike, designated as unsigned State Road 91, is a toll road in the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE). Spanning approximately 309 miles (497 km) along a northwest–southeast axis, the turnpike is in two sections. The SR 91 mainline runs roughly 265 miles (426 km), from its southern terminus at an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95) in Miami Gardens to an interchange with I-75 in Wildwood at its northern terminus. The Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike continues from the southern end of the mainline for another 48 miles (77 km) to US Highway 1 in Florida City. The slogan for the road is "The Less Stressway". The mainline opened in stages between 1957 and 1964, while the extension was completed in 1974. The turnpike runs through Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, where it parallels I-95, and through Orlando, where it crosses I-4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida's Turnpike Enterprise</span> State-owned enterprise operating toll roads in Florida

Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) is a unit of the Florida Department of Transportation that operates toll roads in Florida. The current executive director is Nicola Liquori.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida State Road 528</span> Highway in Florida

State Road 528 (SR 528), alternatively named the Martin Andersen Beachline Expressway, is a partially-tolled state road in the U.S. state of Florida; it is maintained by the Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE), the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX), and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Spanning approximately 53 miles (85 km) along a west–east axis, it connects Interstate 4 (I-4) in Orlando with I-95, Titusville, and Cape Canaveral on the Space Coast. It passes close to the tourist areas of Orlando, including SeaWorld and Universal Orlando, and serves the north entrance to Orlando International Airport. Near its east end, it passes over the Intracoastal Waterway on the Emory L. Bennett Causeway, and ends at SR A1A and SR 401 near Port Canaveral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Florida Expressway Authority</span> Highway authority in Florida

The Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) is a highway authority responsible for construction, maintenance and operation of toll roads in five counties of Greater Orlando. It was created in 2014 to replace the Orlando–Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA), which only had authority in Orange County, and as of 2016 no roads outside that county have been added to the system. Other toll roads in the area are operated by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise and the Osceola County Expressway Authority; with the latter of which possibly merging into CFX some time after 2018.

State Road 417 (SR 417), also known as the Central Florida GreeneWay, Seminole County Expressway, Eastern Beltway and Orlando East Bypass, is a tolled limited-access state highway forming the eastern beltway around the city of Orlando, Florida, United States. It is owned and maintained by the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) and Florida's Turnpike Enterprise. The CFX section was posthumously named after former Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority chairman Jim Greene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SunPass</span> Electronic toll collection system in Florida, United States

SunPass is an electronic toll collection system within the state of Florida, United States. It was created in 1999 by the Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT's) Office of Toll Operations, operating now as a division of Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE). The system utilizes windshield-mounted RFID transponders manufactured by TransCore and lane equipment designed by companies including TransCore, SAIC, and Raytheon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacksonville Transportation Authority</span> Agency responsible for public transit in Jacksonville

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) is the independent agency responsible for public transit in the city of Jacksonville, Florida, and roadway infrastructure that connects northeast Florida. However, they do not maintain any roadways. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 6,646,100, or about 22,100 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.

State Road 589 (SR 589), also known as the Veterans Expressway and Suncoast Parkway, is a north–south toll road near the Florida Gulf Coast. Maintained and operated by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, this 68-mile (109 km) transportation corridor extends from State Road 60 in Tampa, north to State Road 44 near Lecanto. The Veterans Expressway was built to accommodate the increasing commuter traffic in the Tampa-St. Petersburg metropolitan area, with the Suncoast Parkway opening in 2001, extending from near the northern terminus of the Veterans Expressway to U.S. Route 98, with a possible northern extension to U.S. Route 19/U.S. Route 98 in Crystal River in Citrus County in the planning and development stages. As of February 28, 2022, Phase I of the extension is now open between US 98 and Florida State Road 44. Phase II, which would further extend the highway to County Road 486, is undergoing the design phase.

State Road 570 (SR 570), also known as the Polk Parkway, is a 24-mile (39 km), limited-access toll road which runs through Polk County, Florida. It is operated as part of Florida's Turnpike Enterprise system of limited-access expressways. The Polk Parkway mainly serves as a beltway around Lakeland forming a semicircle, which along with I-4 circumscribes most of the city limits of Lakeland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Roy Selmon Expressway</span> Highway in Florida

The Lee Roy Selmon Expressway is a 14.168-mile (22.801 km) all-electronic, limited access toll road in Hillsborough County, Florida. It connects the South Tampa neighborhood near MacDill Air Force Base with Downtown Tampa and the bedroom community of Brandon. The expressway was built in stages, opening between 1976 and 1987. An approximately 1.9-mile extension to the thoroughfare's western terminus opened to traffic on Monday, April 19, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida State Road 869</span> Highway in Florida

Florida State Road 869 (SR 869) is a 24-mile-long (39 km) state road located in western and northern Broward County, acting as a de facto bypass of Fort Lauderdale as well as the northern coastal and southern parts of the county extending north from a junction of I-75 (SR 93), I-595 (SR 862) in Sunrise to Coral Springs where it heads eastward towards Florida's Turnpike and intersecting I-95 before terminating at Southwest 10th Avenue in Deerfield Beach. The 21.242-mile (34.186 km) section west of the Turnpike is known as the Sawgrass Expressway, a six-lane, limited-access, all-electronic toll road; the 2.745-mile (4.418 km) section east of the Turnpike is a surface street known as Southwest 10th Street. The expressway opened in 1986 and was added to Florida's Turnpike Enterprise in 1990. The at-grade section east of the Turnpike is maintained by FDOT.

The Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (HEFT), designated as unsigned State Road 821 (SR 821), is the southern extension of Florida's Turnpike, a toll road in the U.S. state of Florida maintained by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE). Spanning approximately 48 miles (77 km) along a north–south axis, it supplements the 265-mile (426 km) mainline to form the complete 309-mile (497 km) turnpike. The extension begins at its southern terminus at U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Florida City, and transitions into the SR 91 mainline in Miramar at its northern end. Despite their designations as different state roads, the mainline and the extension are continuous in their exit numbering.

The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) owns, operates and maintains the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway in Tampa. The Selmon Expressway is a tolled highway. The Reversible Express Lanes (REL), a highway within a highway, runs in the middle on the eastern side of the highway with two non-tolled feeder roads, Brandon Parkway in Brandon and Meridian Avenue in Tampa, providing the entrance and exit to the REL. Additionally, THEA owns and operates the Selmon Greenway, a multipurpose recreational pathway running beneath and alongside the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 75 in Florida</span> Highway in Florida

Interstate 75 (I-75) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from the Hialeah–Miami Lakes border, a few miles northwest of Miami, to Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I-75 begins its national northward journey near Miami, running along the western parts of the Miami metropolitan area before traveling westward across Alligator Alley, resuming its northward direction in Naples, running along Florida's Gulf Coast, and passing the cities of Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, Venice, and Sarasota. The freeway passes through the Tampa Bay area before turning inward toward Ocala, Gainesville, and Lake City before leaving the state and entering Georgia. I-75 runs for 471 miles (758 km) in Florida, making it the longest Interstate in the state and also the longest in any state east of the Mississippi River. The Interstate's speed limit is 70 mph (110 km/h) for its entire length in Florida.

The I-4/Selmon Expressway Connector is a toll road that between I-4, the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway (SR 618), and the Port of Tampa east of Ybor City in the city of Tampa, Florida. It primarily comprises four parallel one-way roadways west of 31st Street, continuously elevated over local streets, railroads, and vacant land, with a SunPass/toll-by-plate electronic toll gantry spanning the structure near the southern end. All movements were opened to traffic on January 6, 2014, and the direct connections to the Port of Tampa are signed as Truck Routes.

The North Carolina Turnpike Authority was created in 2002 to speed the implementation of needed transportation improvements by funding some projects with tolls. Governed by a nine-member authority board, it is located within the Department of Transportation and under the direct supervision of the Secretary of Transportation. The authority has the power to study, plan, develop and undertake preliminary design work on up to eleven turnpike projects. At the conclusion of these actives, the authority is authorized to design, establish, purchase, construct, operate and maintain toll highways and bridges. The authority is also authorized to designate one or more lanes of any highway, or portion thereof, into a high-occupancy toll lanes or other type of managed lanes; provided that such designation does not reduce the number of existing non-toll general purpose lanes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Polk Parkway</span>

The Central Polk Parkway, also known as State Road 570B (SR 570B), is a proposed toll road in Polk County, Florida. The proposed road is actually two separate roads—called legs by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). The western segment will connect the Polk Parkway with SR 60 between Bartow and Lake Wales. The eastern leg will start a few miles east of SR 60 and run north, parallel to US Highway 27 (US 27), and terminate at Interstate 4 (I-4) north of Davenport. The most recent, and viable, proposed routing will connect the two legs together near the CSX Intermodal Facility south of Wahneta. In December 2015, FDOT announced the cancellation of any further work on the project, citing insufficient funds and low traffic volume. The project continued to have the support of the local business community and local politicians, however, and it was revived in 2018.

References

  1. "Florida Statutes 334.044 Powers and duties of the department". Florida Statutes. Florida Legislature. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  2. "Motor Carrier Compliance officers become "troopers" July 1, 2011" (PDF) (Press release). Florida Highway Patrol. June 29, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  3. "SB 2160: Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles". The Florida Senate. 2011.
  4. "About the Commission, Florida Transportation Commission". Archived from the original on November 9, 2005. Retrieved November 2, 2005.
  5. 1 2 Florida Department of Transportation (2020). "Districts". Florida Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
  6. "Florida's Turnpike: The Less Stressway" . Retrieved November 2, 2005.
  7. Singh, Prashant; Dulebenets, Maxim A.; Pasha, Junayed; Gonzalez, Ernesto D. R. Santibanez; Lau, Yui-Yip; Kampmann, Raphael (2021). "Deployment of Autonomous Trains in Rail Transportation: Current Trends and Existing Challenges". IEEE Access. 9: 91427–91461. doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3091550 . hdl: 10397/92123 . ISSN   2169-3536. S2CID   235749326.
  8. Cohen, J. M.; Barron, A. S.; Anderson, R. J.; Graham, D. J. (2021), Impacts of Unattended Train Operations (UTO) on Productivity and Efficiency in Metropolitan Railways

Further reading