Florida Seaport System Plan - SeaCIP

Florida Seaport System Plan
A Vision for Florida’s Seaports
Florida’s seaport system is driven by two overarching themes: freight and
passenger transportation and trade and economic development. These two themes
represent the reason Florida’s seaports are so important to Florida’s economic wellbeing
– they stimulate economic development through the efficient movement of
waterborne trade and passengers, while complementing and adhering to established
local government comprehensive plan policies. The vision statement illustrates the
significant level of integration of Florida’s seaports into the foundation of Florida’s
business community and transportation system.
Florida’s Seaport System Vision Statement
Florida’s seaports will provide world-class facilities and services to meet
the waterborne trade and transportation needs of freight shippers and
receivers, trade-dependent businesses, cruise lines, residents, and
tourists. Florida’s ports will continue to serve as vital economic engines
for their host communities and the State as a whole, and will compete
successfully for both historic markets and emerging opportunities.
Florida’s ports will invest to meet their respective current and
anticipated needs, and the State of Florida will partner in these
investments in a manner that provides the highest levels of
demonstrable transportation and economic benefits to the State of
Florida. Florida and its ports will seek to increase the level of strategic
investment in Florida’s ports by making the best use of available funds
and by exploring opportunities for additional funding sources at the
local, regional, state, and Federal levels.
Relationship to Other Plans
Florida’s transportation network consists of an integrated multimodal and
intermodal system of hubs, corridors, and intermodal connectors guided by
state-level transportation policies. The Seaport System Plan provides specific
policy guidance for development, enhancement, and preservation of Florida’s
seaport system. It builds on established transportation goals and objectives as
laid out in the Florida Transportation Plan (FTP) and Strategic Intermodal
System (SIS). In addition, it recognizes and incorporates the adopted policy
language from the Seaport Mission Plan, including the seaport visioning
exercise completed in 2006, which identified eight critical seaport vision
elements. Existing policy language from FDOT and the seaport community
complement each other with each providing a comprehensive listing of what is
needed to ensure Florida’s transportation system meets the needs of residents
and businesses.
Florida Department of Transportation
December 2010
ES-3