Announcing an Oakland Park Boulevard Transit Corridor Study

The Broward County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) along with Florida Department of Transportation have initiated an Oakland Park Boulevard Transit Alternative Analysis Study to identify the most feasible and effective premium transit project(s) in the corridor.

The focus is improving:
 mobility
 congestion relief
 the linkage between established communities, activity centers and proposed transit enhancements.

The corridor directly serves the cities of Lauderhill, Sunrise, Lauderdale Lakes, Oakland Park, Wilton Manors, and Fort Lauderdale.

Corridor Facts
Oakland Park Boulevard:
 A six‐lane divided facility that carries 75,000 cars/day
 Congested over much of its length – particularly between Inverrary Boulevard and N Andrews Avenue
 Accommodates Broward County Transit ’s busiest and most productive route (Route 72) which carries 8,060 passengers/weekday
 45% of bus trips are work‐related and 51% are generated from zero‐car ownership households
 Route 72 connects to 17 Broward County Transit (BCT) routes and multiple Community Shuttle routes, and 64% of its passengers transfer to or from other routes
 Provides very frequent bus service ‐ every 15 minutes between 6AM and 6PM weekdays, and every 20 to 30 minutes for most of the Saturday and Sunday schedule
 With a stylized bus fleet ‐‐ 60 foot articulated buses with Wi‐Fi, low floor boarding
 Corridor also provides direct access to freeway system (I‐95)
 Adopted in LRTP as candidate for both Premium High Capacity Transit (HCT) and Premium Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service

Issues
 Corridor is home to mostly auto‐oriented land uses with a relatively large number of driveways.
 Very high traffic congestion levels which directly impedes bus service and results in unreliable transit travel times ‐ 50% of all buses are either early or late
 Bus speeds are very slow (10 mph vs. 25 mph during peak hours), and bus travel time is very long (69 minutes one‐way trip between the Sawgrass Expressway to Galt Ocean Mile)
 Restricted right‐of‐way limits the traffic and/or transit improvements that can be considered.
 Buses operate over capacity (crush loads)
 Pedestrian access to and from bus stops is often inconvenient and not well lit
 Limited amenities for bus riders at stops

The Project is being initiated now, and is expected to be concluded by Spring 2014 with a Public Hearing by the Broward MPO that will select a Locally Preferred Alternative.