As a result of the 2000 U.S. census, the Miami Urbanized Area encompasses parts of Miami‐Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. The Federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) for each respective County responded to the potential of consolidating into a single MPO by committing to develop and implement a coordinated planning effort resulting in, but not limited to:
After several years of ad hoc cooperation, the Southeast Florida Transportation Council (SEFTC) was created, under Florida Statutes Chapter 339. 175, to serve as a formal forum for policy coordination and communication to carry out these regional initiatives agreed upon by the MPOs from Miami‐Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. An interlocal agreement between the three parties was completed in 2005 paving the way for the first SEFTC meeting in January 2006.
To support the decision‐making process of each SEFTC member, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) maintains a three county, regional travel demand model. The Southeast Regional Planning Model (SERPM) is utilized to measure the impacts of transportation improvements and inform the selection of projects to be implemented within each member's Long Range Transportation Plans (LRTP).
SERPM 7.0 covers the urbanized areas of Miami‐Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. The population of the modeled area in 2010 was estimated to have a little over 5,500,000 people and approximately 2,600,000 jobs. The SEFTC planning area also estimates school and college enrollment of 1,260,000 students.
The modeled area covers three MPOs (Broward, Palm Beach and Miami‐Dade) and two Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Districts (District 6 and District 4), as shown in Figure 2-1. Unlike many regions there is no single central city that attracts the majority of the trips; each county has its own central city, as well as numerous smaller areas of concentrations of trip attractors. The complexity of the SEFTC region dictated much of the model components. There are three international airports; three seaports; a huge tourist population, a huge seasonal population, a large college/university population, extensive toll facilities, managed lanes, commuter rail, heavy rail, three separate bus companies, and an extensive express bus network.
Figure 2‑1: SERPM 7.0 Model Geographic Boundary
(Source: Provided by Broward County MPO, May, 2015.)
