Study determines cumulative financial shortfalls of Florida MPO long range transportation plans
Federal and State legislation requires each of Florida’s 25 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to develop a long range transportation plan (LRTP) and to update the plan every three to five years. An important part of each MPO’s plan is a needs assessment and the calculation of expected financial shortfalls. To aid in transportation planning for the state, the Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization Advisory Council asked CUTR to conduct a study to determine the cumulative, statewide financial shortfall of the 25 Florida MPO LRTPs.
To determine the overall financial shortfall, each MPO’s needs assessment (needs plan) costs--the costs associated with the transportation facilities and/or services that would be necessary to accommodate forecasted transportation demand through the horizon year of the LRTP--were compared with the total financial resources available to each MPO to implement its LRTP. Data used to develop the cost/revenue comparisons were taken directly from each MPO’s long-range plan, with input from MPO staffs.
Because the 25 MPOs report their cost and revenue information differently, several items had to be addressed before an estimate of the cumulative financial shortfall could be developed. Items that varied among plans include:
- the degree to which operations and maintenance (O/M) costs and revenues were included (some plans explicitly accounted for O/M costs and revenues, others simply stated that such costs would be funded with separate FDOT and/or county sources);
- the degree to which transit facilities and services were addressed, depending on the extent of available transit services;
- the base year of the revenue and cost information, which ranged from 1991 dollars to 1996 dollars; and
- the horizon year of the plans (the majority were based on 2020, the remainder on 2015).
The results of the analysis indicate an estimated cumulative shortfall of approximately $22.3 billion through year 2020, in 1995 dollars. Considering the inconsistencies in the plans and the treatment of those inconsistencies, it is likely that this estimate understates the overall financial shortfall. Given the portion of the roadway facilities found within the boundaries of the state’s 25 MPOs, it might be expected that approximately 75 percent of the roadway facilities in the state are covered by this financial shortfall estimate.
According to Howard Glassman, Executive Director of the Florida MPOAC, "The CUTR study is very valuable to Florida’s MPOs as we wrestle with how to meet our transportation needs into the next century."
Based on the review, several suggestions were made to improve the quality of future cumulative shortfall estimates. Subsequent shortfall analyses could provide more valuable information if future LRTP updates were developed in anticipation of such a cumulative assessment. Accordingly, recommendations for future LRTP updates include:
- developing general guidelines for consistent reporting of financial information prior to development of future LRTPs;
- presenting more detailed breakdown of costs and revenues in future LRTPs; and
- presenting improvement cost and revenue information by responsible agency and facility type in future LRTPs.
For further information, contact CUTR Deputy Director Ed Mierzejewski, (813) 974-9797, mierzeje@cutr.usf.edu.
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