Transportation in Florida

The State of Florida is served by a variety of transportation options, including Interstate Highways, United States and Florida State Roads, Amtrak and commuter rail services, scheduled passenger airline service and other airports, public transportation, and ports, in a number of the state's counties and regions.

Transportation in Florida

Highways

Florida's interstates, U.S. Highways, and state highways are maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation, with the exception of a few highways in Miami, which are maintained by the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX).

Florida's interstate highway system contains 1,473 miles (2,371 km) of highway, and there are 9,934 miles (15,987 km) of non-interstate highway in the state, such as Florida state highways and U.S. Highways.

State highways are numbered according to convention. The first digits of state highways with some exceptions (such as State Road 112 (SR 112) connecting Interstate 95 (I-95) to the Miami International Airport) are numbered with the first digit indicating what area of the state the road is in, from 1 in the north and east to 9 in the south and west. Major north-south state roads generally have one- or two-digit odd route numbers that increase from east to west, while major east-west state roads generally have one- or two-digit even route numbers that increase from north to south. Roads of secondary importance usually have three-digit route numbers. The first digit x of their route number is the same as the first digit of the road with two-digit number x0 to the immediate north. The three-digit route numbers also increase from north to south for even numbers and east to west for odd numbers.

Following this convention, SR 907, or Alton Road on Miami Beach, is farther east than SR 997, which is Krome Avenue, or the farthest west north-south road in Miami–Dade County. One notable exception to the convention is SR 826, or the Palmetto Expressway (pictured at the right heading north) which, although even numbered, is signed north-south. State roads can have anywhere from one to four digits depending on the importance and location of the road.[1] County roads often follow this same system.

A law introduced on January 1, 2013, required all non US drivers to possess an International Driving License to drive within the state. The Florida Department for Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issued a statement on February 14, 2013, announcing that the law would not be enforced.[2]

Interstates

Road name South or west terminus North or east terminus Notes
I‑4 Tampa Daytona Beach Has junctions with I-75 in Tampa and I-95 in Daytona Beach.
I‑10 Alabama state line, near Pensacola Jacksonville Has junctions with I-75 near Lake City and I-95 in Jacksonville.
I‑75 Georgia state line, near Lake City Hialeah/Miami Lakes Has junctions with I-10 in Lake City and I-4 in Tampa.
I‑95 Georgia state line, near Jacksonville Downtown Miami Has junctions with I-10 in Jacksonville and I-4 in Daytona Beach.

Auxiliary Interstates

Road name Notes
I‑110 A spur from I-10 into downtown Pensacola.
I‑175 Connects I-275 to southern downtown St. Petersburg.
I‑195 An extension of Miami's Airport Expressway (SR 112); a spur eastward from I-95 to Miami Beach.
I‑275 A 60 miles (97 km)[3] westward half-loop from I-75 north of Ellenton, over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, through St. Petersburg, to Tampa International Airport and downtown Tampa, reconnecting with I-75 in Tampa's northern suburbs.
I‑295 A beltway around Jacksonville.
I‑375 Connects I-275 to northern downtown St. Petersburg.
I‑395 An extension of Miami's Dolphin Expressway (SR 836); a spur eastward from I-95 to Miami Beach.
I‑595 Connects I-75, I-95, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and Port Everglades.

Toll roads

Florida has several toll roads, totaling 515 miles (830 km) of the state highway system. Major toll roads include:

U.S. Routes

Intercity rail

Amtrak service exists in Florida: Sanford, in Greater Orlando, is the southern terminus of the Amtrak Auto Train, which originates at Lorton, Virginia, south of Washington, DC. Orlando is also the eastern terminus of the Sunset Limited, which travels across the southern United States via New Orleans, Houston, and San Antonio to its western terminus of Los Angeles. Florida is served by two additional Amtrak trains (the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor), which operate between New York City and Miami.

High Speed Intercity Rail

The Florida Department of Transportation was preparing to build a high-speed rail between Tampa, Lakeland and Orlando. This is the first phase of the Florida High Speed Rail system. Soil work began in July 2010 with the federal government expecting full construction to begin in 2011. However, Governor Rick Scott declined the federal funding.

Airports

Major international airports in Florida which processed more than 15 million passengers each in 2005 are Orlando International Airport (34,128,048 est. 2006), Miami International Airport (32,533,974 est. 2006), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport(22,390,285 est. 2006) and Tampa International Airport (19,045,390 est. 2006).

Secondary airports, with annual passenger traffic exceeding 5 million each in 2005, include Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers) (7,518,169 est. 2006), Palm Beach International Airport (West Palm Beach) (7,014,237 est. 2006), Jacksonville International Airport (5,741,652).

Regional Airports which processed over one million passengers each in 2005 are Pensacola (1,638,605), Sarasota-Bradenton (1,337,571), and Tallahassee (1,129,947) and Sanford (1,649,237) which is primarily served by international charter airlines.[4]

Other smaller, regional airports with commercial service (with passengers served in 2005, where available) include those at Daytona Beach (615,841), Fort Walton Beach (520,000), Gainesville (345,788), Key West, Marathon Key, Melbourne (466,367), Naples, Panama City (382,551), and St. Petersburg-Clearwater (596,510).

Public transportation

A Miami Metrorail train at Government Center in Downtown Miami.

Miami's public transportation is served by Miami-Dade Transit that runs Metrorail, a heavy rail rapid transit system, Metromover, a people mover train system in Downtown Miami, and Metrobus, Miami-Dade's bus system. Metrorail runs throughout Miami-Dade County and has 22 stations on a 22.4-mile (36.0 km) track connecting to Downtown Miami's Metromover and Tri-Rail. Metromover has three lines and 21 stations on a 4.4-mile (7.1 km) track connecting Uptown and the Brickell Financial District inside of Downtown Miami. Outside of Miami-Dade County, public transit in the South Florida metropolitan area is served by Broward County Transit and Palm Tran; intercounty heavy rail service is provided by Tri-Rail, with 18 stations including the region's three international airports.

Tampa and its surrounding area use the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority system, called "HARTLINE" or simply "HART" for short. In addition, downtown Tampa has continuous trolley services in the form of a heritage trolley powered by Tampa Electric Company. Pinellas County and St. Petersburg provide similar services through the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority or "PSTA". The beaches of Pinellas County also have a continuous trolley bus. Downtown St. Petersburg also has a trolley system, called the Looper.

Orlando utilizes the Lynx bus system as well as a free public transport downtown. A commuter rail service – SunRail – also serves the Metro Orlando area.

Public transportation in Jacksonville is provided by Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA), operating bus service, trolleys, paratransit, and a people mover. The people mover, known as the JTA Skyway is located in downtown Jacksonville, and operates 8 stations along a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) track. Bus service as well as paratransit service is provided around Duval County and partially in Clay County. JTA operates three trolley lines in three different neighborhoods: Downtown, Riverside, and Jacksonville Beach. The entire JTA system has a daily ridership of over 42,000.[5]

In Volusia County, VoTran provides bus transportation throughout the entire county. Express service to Orlando was provided between 1998 and 2014 and has since been replaced by SunRail.

In Polk County, the Citrus Connection and Winter Haven Area Transit (WHAT) provide regional transportation in the cities of Lakeland, Bartow, Winter Haven, Auburndale and smaller surrounding municipalities and unincorporated areas.

Florida voters approved a state constitutional amendment in 2000 for the construction of a high-speed rail network. Due to public skepticism about the multi-billion dollar price, voters repealed this amendment.[6] The first segment of this network, projected to have opened in 2009, would have connected Tampa and Orlando, in hopes of alleviating traffic on the busy Interstate 4 corridor. Later segments would have connected Miami, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, and Pensacola.

See also

References

  1. ↑ FHP State Road Listings. Retrieved March 29, 2009. Archived August 22, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Florida's International Driving Permit Guidelines,
  3. ↑ I-275 Florida
  4. ↑ 2005 North America Airports Traffic Statistics URL retrieved September 15, 2006
  5. ↑ http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Documents/Ridership/2012-q3-ridership-APTA.pdf
  6. ↑ http://www.siteselection.com/ssinsider/snapshot/sf041108.htm

External links