Executive Summary

The current strategy of road expansions to accommodate ever-increasing
automobile traffic will degrade our environment and will ultimately fail to
accommodate future growth in Tallahassee/Leon County. The Big Bend Group
of the Sierra Club presents a new strategy to meet our transportation needs
without sacrificing our environment. The main elements of the strategy are:

1. Design and build new development to be mixed-use, and more
pedestrian and bike friendly;
2. Promote urban infill and retrofit existing development to be
intermodal and;
3. Develop an effective Urban Services Area public transit system.

Through this plan, new growth and re-development could actually reduce
transportation demands on our roads and improve the livability of our
community. These initiatives could be funded through a County 2-cent per
gallon motor fuel tax, extension of the penny sales tax and other state and
federal transportation sources, if available. The ideas presented here
should be incorporated into the 2020 Long Range Transportation Plan now
being drafted by the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department and used
as guidance for City and County Commissioners regarding transportation and
land use decisions.

Introduction

Tallahassee's roads are increasingly clogged with traffic, our lakes are
being polluted from stormwater runoff, and Leon County's forest canopy is
being bulldozed to make way for more urban sprawl. So far, we have failed
to recognize the fundamental link between transportation and our
environmental problems. Only one approach is pursued for solving our
transportation problems: build and widen more roads to accommodate more and
more cars.

While some roads need to be widened and some new ones built, this
single-minded approach to meeting our transportation needs will ultimately
fail. A recent transportation study commissioned by the Florida Legislature
states: "no amount of funding will allow enough highways to be built to end
congestion and provide for easy movement of freight and people."
Experience across Florida and the rest of the United States has shown that
road improvement projects provide only temporary relief from traffic
congestion. Road improvements spur new development (i.e. sprawl), which
quickly fills new roads with traffic. Stormwater control and treatment,
while essential, can not solve all our water pollution problems caused by
ever expanding pavement. If Leon County continues on the current path, it
will become a network of six-lane roads, shopping centers with expansive
parking lots, and isolated residential communities. Our lakes and streams
will continue to decline, and there will be very little green space left
for people or wildlife. In short, Tallahassee will become like much of the
rest of Florida…and our traffic problems will be just as bad. A new
transportation strategy is outlined below.

Transportation Strategy

The current mode of transit and development in Florida segregates land
uses, creating greater distances between residential, work, and shopping areas.
This creates greater demand for transportation and is the reason why
Floridians spend more and more time in our cars each year. One way of
reducing the number and length of car trips is to decrease the distance
between land uses (destinations); another is to offer people alternative
modes of transit to the automobile. When these two ideas are combined they
offer a powerful tool that will allow Leon county to grow, while conserving
our land and environment.

I. Design new development to be mixed-use and multi-modal: By designing new
development to integrate residential, work, school and shopping areas we
can reduce the number and length of automobile trips. We can further reduce
auto dependence if sidewalks, bike paths, and transit routes are built into
new development so that they link the different land uses. Southwood can
be an example of multi-use and multi-modal community that creates a more
pleasant place to live. Intelligently designed communities can reduce
transportation demands. The Transportation 2020 planning process should
develop a set of specific recommendations for designing new development to
be mixed-use and multi-modal. These recommendations can then be
implemented through amendments to the Comprehensive Plan.

II. Retrofit existing development to be multi-modal and promote urban
infill: Existing development can be modified over time to achieve a
pleasant living environment that is less dependent on the automobile. The first
step toward this has already been taken with the establishment of
Urban-Pedestrian Zones in several areas of Tallahassee. This approach
needs to be expanded according the recommendations in the State Transportation
Report. Urban-Pedestrian Zones should be re-established as Multimodal
Transportation Districts, and policies regarding concurrency should be
changed to promote urban infill. Projects that emerge from these community
planning areas such as sidewalks, crosswalks, greenways, and traffic
calming must be funded and implemented.


III. Develop a better public transit for Tallahassee/Leon County: Most
cities in Europe and many in the United States of similar size as
Tallahassee have efficient public transit systems (e.g., Olympia, WA,
Portland OR, Gainesville, FL). These systems relieve traffic congestion
and provide people with a transportation alternative. Tallahassee does not have
an effective public transit system. The current system only attempts to
accommodate "captive riders" (people without a car or unable to drive). To
be successful, a transit system must be designed for everyone. The 2020
Transportation planning process should develop specific recommendations
with funding sources to start developing a viable public transit system for
Tallahassee and Leon County. Some of the characteristics of a successful
system that can be adopted here include: frequent trips, convenient routes
with travel times approaching that of the total time of driving and parking
your own car, and interconnections with other modes of transit (e.g. bike
trails, sidewalks and park and ride facilities). Additionally, state
agencies, local government, and universities in Tallahassee must end the
practice of "free and unlimited parking " and, instead, provide incentives
to employees and students who use transit or car pool.

Conclusion

We recognize that the current strategy of road expansion to accommodate
ever increasing automobile traffic will degrade our environment and will
ultimately fail to accommodate future growth. The three pronged strategy
presented here asks that we:

1. Design and build new development to be mixed-use, and more
pedestrian and bike friendly;
2. Retrofit existing development to be intermodal and promote urban
infill; and
3. Develop an effective Urban Services Area public transit system.

These initiatives could be funded through a county 2-cent per gallon motor
fuel tax, extension of the penny sales tax, and other state and federal
transportation sources, if available. We should not simply continue
building and widening roads because state and federal funds dictate us to
do so. Tallahassee can chart its own course, meeting transportation needs
without sacrificing the environment. New growth and redevelopment could
actually improve the livability of our community. For Tallahassee, it's
not too late. We don't have to pave paradise to learn the costly mistakes of
so many other Florida cities.