Telecommuting refers to employees working from their own homes or other remote locations, connecting with coworkers via online platforms. Employees who telework may work a hybrid schedule with time in the office and remotely or work full-time remotely. This study was completed to understand the impact that telecommuting has on the region’s transportation system and provide a snapshot of telecommuting within the Capital Region.

In 2020, the Coronavirus 19 (COVID 19)  pandemic stay-at-home orders significantly increased  telecommuting, which drastically reduced daily traffic throughout the Capital Region, especially during peak hours. In the subsequent years area traffic has rebounded to pre-COVID levels. The study provides a look back at telecommuting and traffic congestion before, during and post COVID-19 pandemic.

Building upon lessons learned about pandemic travel behavior, as well as input from regional employers, the study demonstrates that telecommuting:

• Supports the region’s economic resilience by making employers more adaptive.
• Creates more flexible work opportunities that attract top talent to the region.
• Reduces peak-hour congestion throughout the region.

The decision to establish an advisory committee by the CRTPA Board reflects a commitment to further explore and promote telecommuting as a viable transportation and economic strategy. Clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the committee, as well as including stakeholders, will be crucial in ensuring the success and visibility of any telecommute program implemented in the region. This proactive approach indicates a recognition of the long-term potential of telecommuting in shaping the region’s transportation landscape.

LATEST UPDATE

At the March 18, 2024 CRTPA Board meeting, members approved the CRTPA Regional Freight Study.  Below are the FINAL documents for the project.

Existing Conditions

Future Conditions

Future Conditions Appendix

Needs Assessment and Recommendations

Needs Assessment Appendix

February 26, 2024 – The Draft Needs and Recommendations Report will be presented to the CRTPA Board at their March 18, 2024 meeting.  This report and the associated appendix can be found below.

Draft Needs and Recommendations Report

Draft Needs and Recommendations Appendix

INTRODUCTION

The CRTPA Regional Freight Study is being conducted to identify freight movement trends, challenges, and opportunities for improvement within the Capital Region. The onset of global freight, trade and logistics has played a significant role on the impact of transportation and the economy prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but an even more significant role post-pandemic. The increase of on-demand consumption expanded the e-commerce phenomena, and stressed supply-chains and transportation networks. In addition to shifts in global supply-chains and pandemic impacts, CRTPA’s freight movements and local industry are expanding, spurred by statewide growth. This study will assess the CRTPA’s freight-related conditions and trends from national to local levels and their impacts on the region. It will analyze the governmental policies, transportation systems, and stakeholder operations; and provide recommendations for improving freight mobility needs through project, policy, and strategy development.

GOAL

The overall goal of the study is to provide a freight mobility framework that serves as a reference and tool for promoting safe and efficient movement of freight and contributes to the economic viability for the region. In addition, the study will align with the federal and state freight mobility goals, objectives, and recommendations to promote a collective freight vision and account for policy requirements, leverage funding opportunities, and foster partnerships.

EXISTING CONDITIONS

The freight study development starts with building a foundation for assessing CRTPA freight mobility framework using stakeholder outreach and peer literature reviews. This collaborative approach provides CRTPA a bottom-up assessment of demand/impact profile from an all-user perspective; and it empowers collective visioning for strategy development and needs resourcing. Through the outreach and review, general guidance and best practices were captured for CRTPA freight mobility assessment.

CRTPA Freight Study Existing Conditions Report

FUTURE CONDITIONS

Identifying future conditions of the transportation system’s framework and characteristics is imperative for understanding the benefits, needs, and issues experienced by the CRTPA Region. The following future conditions assessment identifies CRTPA future freight-related conditions and trends that build from the existing conditions framework relative to impacts on the region. It analyzes factors that collectively define the regional freight mobility impact profile while providing a point of reference for impacts on the benefits, needs, or issues experienced by the region. Below are the two reports for these efforts including:

CRTPA Regional Freight Study Future Conditions Report (DRAFT)

CRTPA Regional Freight Study Future Conditions Report Appendix (DRAFT)

This information will be presented to the CRTPA at their January 16, 2024 Board Retreat.

As the region’s Transportation Planning Agency, the CRTPA is required to manage the solicitation, ranking and submittal of eligible TAP projects prior to provision to FDOT District 3 for annual funding consideration. Applications are solicited by the CRTPA every two years.  The initial review and draft ranking of applications is performed by the CRTPA’s TA Subcommittee (consisting of members from the CRTPA’s two committees) prior to consideration and adoption of ranked projects on the CRTPA’s annual Transportation Alternatives Project Priority List by the CRTPA Board.

Transportation Alternatives programs and projects encompass a variety of smaller-scale transportation projects such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities, recreational trails, safe routes to school projects, community improvements such as historic preservation and vegetation management, and environmental mitigation related to stormwater and habitat connectivity.  Funding for the TAP was most recently authorized in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” (BIL)) which provides a set-aside of Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program funding for transportation alternatives.  The following types of activities are eligible for TA funding:

• • Pedestrian and/or Bicycle facilities (Construction, planning, and design of off-road trail facilities or on-road facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other nonmotorized forms of transportation); Safe Routes for Non-Drivers (Construction, planning, and design of infrastructure related projects and systems that provide safe routes for non-drivers, including children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities to access daily needs); Conversion of Abandoned Railway Corridors to Trails (Conversion and use of abandoned railroad corridors into trails for pedestrians, bicyclists, or other nonmotorized transportation users); Scenic Turnouts and Overlooks (Construction of turnouts, overlooks, and viewing areas); Outdoor Advertising Management (Inventory, control, or removal of outdoor advertising); Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation of Historic Transportation Facilities (Projects providing historic preservation or rehabilitation of historic transportation facilities); Vegetation Management (Vegetation management in public transportation ROW to improve roadway safety, prevent invasive species, and erosion control); Archaeological Activities (Archaeological activities related to impacts from transportation projects funded by FHWA); Stormwater Mitigation (Environmental mitigation activities addressing stormwater management, control, and water pollution prevention or abatement related to transportation projects); Wildlife Management (Wildlife mitigation and reduction of wildlife mortality, or to restore and maintain connectivity among terrestrial or aquatic habitats); Boulevards (Boulevards, defined as a walkable, low speed (35 mph or less) divided arterial thoroughfares in urban environments designed to carry both through and local traffic, pedestrians, and bicyclists. These may be high ridership transit corridors; serve as primary goods movement and emergency response routes; and use vehicular and pedestrian access management techniques that promote economic revitalization and follow complete street principles); Recreational Trails Program (Recreational trails compliant with 62-S-2, Florida Administrative Code, and 23 U.S.C. 104 (b)); Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) (SRTS projects, codified as 23 U.S.C. 208, that substantially improves the ability of kindergarten through 12th grade students (vulnerable road users) to walk and / or bicycle to school]. Traditionally includes sidewalks, traffic calming and speed reduction, traffic diversion improvements, pedestrian and bicycle crossings, on-street bicycle facilities, off-street bicycle facilities, and bicycle parking facilities at public schools).

NOTE: Applications and forms may be found on the Florida Grant Application Program (GAP) at www.flgap.com (access to the site may be obtained by clicking the link at the bottom of the webpage that states, “Request User Access”).  The CRTPA’s TA Evaluation Criteria that will be used in the evaluation of TA applications may be viewed by clicking here.  Additional information may be found at the following FDOT link.