2020 Annual Report The North Florida TPO

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