First, I want to thank our board, staff, partner agencies, consultants and the public for their responsiveness and flexibility as we navigated the challenges brought by the global pandemic. Fortunately, we were able to quickly pivot to a remote and eventual remote-office hybrid work environment, using digital communications and outreach tools.
We completed planned studies to improve safety and mobility in targeted areas across the region. While people were driving less, the interest in pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure continued to increase as shown by the 2,847 people who participated in our online St. Johns County Sidewalk Survey.
The pandemic also brought to light the need for improved social services and mobility in our underserved communities – issues now under study in the Smart North Florida Mobility for the Underserved initiative. We convened non-profit and social service providers to learn how we can help them leverage data sharing and technology.
Indeed, these efforts to forge new relationships and connect digitally have resonated with not only citizens who were previously unfamiliar with our work, but also our federal oversight agencies who lauded our achievements in our quadrennial certification.
No matter the challenge, we will continue to plan, fund and mobilize people and resources to meet the mobility needs of our region’s current and future citizens.
Jeff Sheffield
Executive Director
James Johns
St. Johns County Commission
Charlie Latham
Mayor, City of Jacksonville Beach
Wayne Bolla
Clay County Commission
Diane Hutchings
Clay County Commission
Danny Leeper
Nassau County Commission
Steve Kira
St. Augustine/St. Johns Airport Authority
James Bennett
Baker County Commission
Ex Officio Member
Danny Becton/Sam Newby
Jacksonville City Council
Randy White
Jacksonville City Council
Kevin Holzendorf
Jacksonville Transportation Authority
Al Ferraro/Randy DeFoor
Jacksonville City Council
Mike Cole
Nassau County Ocean, Highway and Port Authority
Vacant
Putnam County Commission
Ex Officio Member
Matt Shellhorn, USN Ret
Representative for Capt. Brian Weiss, Navy
Scott Wilson
Jacksonville City Council
Representative for Lenny Curry Mayor, City of Jacksonville
Nancy Sikes-Kline
City of St. Augustine Commission
Daniel K. Bean
Jacksonville Port Authority
Patrick Kilbane
Jacksonville Aviation Authority
Gregory Evans, P.E.
District 2 Secretary
Florida Dept. of Transportation
Non-Voting Adviser
Jeff Sheffield
Executive Director
Denise Bunnewith
Planning Director
Wanda Forrest
Transportation Planning Manager
Elizabeth De Jesus
Transportation Programs Manager
Marci Larson
Public Affairs Manager
Milton Locklear
Transportation Planner/Modeling Specialist
Angela Session
Chief Financial Officer
Jennifer Lott
Executive Assistant
Kristen Sedlak
Receptionist
This past year, the North Florida TPO created its second non-profit - Smart North Florida, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization. The founding board members are TPO Executive Director Sheffield, JEA Director of Information Technology Strategy and Solution Development Steve Selders and UNF Vice President of Jobs Karen Bowling. Becoming a non-profit creates additional opportunities and funding sources.
Jeff Sheffield’s 2020 Smart North Florida project recap
The IDE serves a critical role in the Ladders of Opportunity program by providing a platform for social service providers to share data, create custom dashboards and coordinate solutions.
The TPO’s Congestion Management Dashboard pulls from a variety of data sources within the exchange to create a snapshot of transportation data that continually updates over time.
Our 2020 clean fuels focus was fleet education. Watch our educational webinars to learn about fleet fueling alternatives - electrification and propane autogas.
Federal law requires the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to jointly certify the transportation planning processes of urbanized areas with a population greater than 200,000 at least every four years. The North Florida TPO was re-certified in 2020 and received praise from the review team for innovative ideas and best practices. Highlights include:
Through the Smart North Florida program, the TPO has created unique non-traditional partnerships with the non-profit and tech communities. Interagency planning among the TPO, JTA and City of Jacksonville for the Bay Street Innovation Corridor was also cited as collaborative, cooperative and comprehensive.
The TPO’s collection and use of cutting-edge data to both inform and analyze its decisions through an online engagement tool has resulted in the highest level of participation and adds value to an already robust traditional public outreach program.
The TPO demonstrates robust public participation in all planning processes including the LRTP and the TIP and effectively employs visualization techniques in all documents and especially on the TPO website