Case Study 5

Monroe County Transportation Initiative

By Alicia Betancourt

Monroe County is the southernmost county in the state of Florida. Most of the 83,000 residents live on the island chain called the Florida Keys, which are accessed on land by one 113-mile road and 42 bridges. This scenic highway is heavily traveled, congested, and dangerous. The primarily two-lane road has not changed since the 1950s, despite an annual influx of five million tourists. Accidents and congestion can snarl traffic for hours.

Since 2009, the county and its five incorporated municipal partners struggled with ways to alleviate traffic congestion by supporting local bus routes, free ride programs, and bus shelters but the issues continued to affect both residents and visitors. The fact that the Overseas Highway is owned and operated by the State of Florida, Department of Transportation (FDOT) has been the main barrier to local adoption of any mitigation or adaptation measures desired by residents and local planners.

Audience and Community

As resident and visitor complaints about transportation issues mounted, county and city leaders began searching for solutions. UF/ IFAS Extension faculty provided examples of how the local Extension Service could organize and facilitate a community forum to hear from stakeholders such as business owners, residents, and municipal staff about how the issue is affecting them. Extension worked with county staff to ensure that there was a variety of perspectives from all areas of the Keys. Relevant experts such as regional transportation coordinators and public works directors were invited and an agenda for the forums was designed.

CIVIC Activities

In early 2019, three public forums were held to represent the three geographic areas of the Keys: upper, middle, and lower. More than 110 participants attended the forums. Participants were given a discussion framework tool describing possible actions surrounding traffic mitigation and adaptation strategies that would be discussed during the forum. While none of the issue guides from the National Issues Forum Institute are specific to traffic, Extension faculty referenced relevant frameworks (i.e., economic, land use) and worked with municipal staff to adjust and adapt options presented to ensure they reflected realistic and relevant topics, actions, trade-offs, data, and images. Each of the forums began with a welcome, an overview describing the objectives, and group agreements to guide the conversation. The goal was to provide feedback about possible traffic improvements throughout the county. Participants were asked to review three broad options: increase public transportation, widen the highway to 4 lanes at known “choke points,” and reduce the number of tourists. Many other suggestions were brought forward during the forums. After the discussions, a brief reflection exercise was conducted, and attendees were asked to complete a post survey.

Outcomes

Organizing and facilitating community forums on local issues using a discussion guide created specifically for that community provided a platform for a variety of stakeholders to voice concerns. The discussion guide could not capture all the potential solutions but was a good starting point to look at different types of solutions. Although there were clearly traffic specialists in the room, the forums allowed all participants the opportunity to be heard. Working, living, and traveling in the community were the only requirements for opinions about what could be improved.

Following each forum, UF/IFAS Extension faculty provided a written report to the Monroe County Commissioners and other municipal elected leaders. The report summarized the process, the discussion, and the results of participant surveys, along with conclusions and recommendations. Cumulative participant data from the traffic forums showed 89% (n=99) were very satisfied with the facilitators, the opportunity to discuss the issue, and the overall forum. Participants were asked to complete a retrospective assessment of their knowledge and motivations. In all three forums, participants were more knowledgeable on the subject and more likely to discuss the topic with others in their community. The discussions at the forums allowed residents to hear different perspectives on the same issue and contributed to increased knowledge and access to resources for participants. The primary outcome of the forums was the creation of a formal Monroe County Transportation Committee, which soon grew to include local stakeholders, experts, and elected officials. The committee met over several months, hired a contractor to complete a detailed traffic study, and began to implement several recommendations from the public meetings. Within a year, the committee made 11 recommendations to the county and the FDOT to ease congestion with left-turn lanes and more buses.

Conclusion

Deliberative forums democratize the process of engagement outside of the recognized public spaces for community input, i.e., commission meetings. Many participants are interested in accessing more opportunities to connect directly with local government and provide input, especially on quality of life and safety issues. While CIVIC activities can increase participation across diverse audiences, Extension alone cannot carry forward a complex process to solve community issues. Providing an opportunity to be heard only solves one side of the problem; leaders and stakeholders must act on those recommendations. The CIVIC framework helped begin the engagement process for this community issue in part because Extension leadership helped the community recognize the wide agreement that transportation was a problem that could be solved. Extension played an important role as a convenor and facilitator to provide a structured response to community needs.