Office of Operations Freight Management and Operations
Table of Contents

Urban Freight Case Studies - Orlando

Institutional Involvement

Acknowledging the need to plan for future freight transportation needs, METROPLAN ORLANDO, the Florida DOT, Port Canaveral, and the Brevard MPO initiated the Freight, Goods, and Services Mobility Strategy Plan. The task began with the establishment of a Freight Mobility Steering Committee to guide the plan's development. The Steering Committee was comprised of representatives from both the private and public sectors, such as the Florida DOT, several railroad operators, trucking companies, and the aviation authority. Additional technical support was provided by the Freight Mobility Working Group, a subcommittee of METROPLAN ORLANDO.

METROPLAN ORLANDO

METROPLAN ORLANDO is the lead agency for improving goods movement in Central Florida. It was instrumental in developing the Freight Goods and Services Mobility Strategy Plan, which suggests policies and regulations, infrastructure improvements, and planning technique to address regional transportation issues.

Since METROPLAN has no regulatory authority, the success of the plan is dependent on the willingness of local jurisdictions to implement the proposed projects and strategies. By including representatives from surrounding governments in its Freight Mobility Working Group, METROPLAN ensured that each jurisdiction's concerns were addressed and that each jurisdiction felt a sense of project ownership.

Central Florida Government Agencies

Government agencies throughout the region have made freight-related improvements to varying degrees. Several smaller jurisdictions with less money to spend on capital-intensive projects, such as the City of Kissimmee, have added freight policies to their Comprehensive Plan, which includes clustering warehouses and developing freight staging activities.4 Jurisdictions with greater populations and, therefore, greater freight movement concerns, have initiated larger projects. For example, Orange County participated in a demonstration project that incorporates goods movement into land-use planning.

City of Orlando

The City of Orlando has been aggressive in planning for future freight transportation needs. A recent study identified several roads as potential truck and truck-restricted routes. Truck route designation enables Orlando to restrict commercial vehicle access to other roads.

4 Ibid.

previous | table of contents |next