Florida Seaport System Plan - SeaCIP

Florida Seaport System Plan
Transportation Benefits
Florida’s ports function as part of a larger multimodal transportation network,
in which the functions of waterborne transportation are closely integrated with
highway transportation, rail transportation, and air transportation. A
multimodal transportation system allows for the most effective and efficient
movement of passengers and freight.
Because of its seaports, many commodities produced and consumed in Florida
can be moved by water instead of by surface transportation modes. That is,
materials and products that would otherwise be moved to and from Florida via
highway or rail can instead move via water. For example, fuel products can be
barged via the Gulf of Mexico, rather than via land modes, at far lower cost.
Seaport System Planning and Funding
Historically, each of Florida’s ports was created through local and/or state
legislative processes. Each port has developed over time, in accordance with
the needs of its local area. This has resulted in differing operating structures,
relationships to each other, and relationships to local, regional, and state
governments in different areas of the State. In the past, these independent
responsibilities and complex relationships have been adequate to address
seaport needs and the needs of Florida businesses, residents, and visitors. But
the benefits provided by Florida’s seaports are dynamic, and there are
contradictory forces at work both providing new opportunities and challenges.
Today, several factors are changing this dynamic, including expansion of the
Panama Canal, increased use of the Suez Canal, ongoing and increasing
competition from both domestic and international ports, ongoing developments
in global and intermodal freight logistics, and increasingly constrained financial
resources. Development of a systemwide approach to seaport planning is
needed to help deal with these challenges.
In order to preserve our current system and maximize future growth
opportunities, significant investment is needed. Increasing the overall amount
of funding that can be provided to Florida’s ports, through whatever local,
regional, state, and Federal resources may be available, is highly desirable;
using whatever funding is available in a strategic, focused manner to maximize
benefits to the State of Florida as a whole, is essential. This Seaport System
Plan will guide the State’s involvement and investment in the statewide seaport
system.
ES-2
Florida Department of Transportation
December 2010