Florida Seaport System Plan - SeaCIP

Florida Seaport System Plan
1.0 Background
1.1 Florida’s Ports Provide Critical Economic and
Transportation Benefits
Florida is served by 14 publicly owned deepwater seaports. Over 98 percent of
Florida’s population is within 50 miles of one of these 14 seaports. Florida’s
quality of life is directly impacted by these seaports as they serve as gateways
for a large majority of what Florida’s population, businesses, and visitors
consume and generate. Collectively, they move a variety of cargo such as
apparel, automobiles, cement, computer parts, fertilizer, fresh and frozen foods,
lumber, and petroleum.
Some ports specialize in specific commodities while others serve a diverse
market. In addition to cargo movement, half of the ports also provide service to
passengers with single- and multi-day cruises. This ready access to water
transportation has afforded many communities the opportunity to develop
industry (cargo) and tourist (passenger) operations that otherwise would not
exist.
This extensive and diversified 14 seaport system is a major driver for the
State’s economy, as well as an irreplaceable component of its transportation
system, including the critical role seaports play in national defense and
deployment activities.
Economic Benefits
Research completed by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) in
2006 found every $1 in state funds spent for seaports results in $6.90 in
economic benefits to the State. 1
Subsequent analyses performed using the
FDOT Seaport System Planning Framework tool confirmed this level of benefit
for new capacity projects. 2
Maintenance projects and bottleneck elimination
projects, which allow existing facilities and assets to function at their maximum
capacity, tend to generate even higher economic benefits per dollar invested.
This clearly demonstrates an important premise, which is at the heart of this
Seaport System Plan: namely, investments in Florida’s seaports – whether by
the ports themselves, or by private sector partners, or by other public agencies,
1
Evaluate Florida’s 14 Deepwater Seaports’ Economic Performance and the Return on
Investment of State Funds, Cambridge Systematics, Inc., 2006.
2
FDOT developed a benefit/cost analysis tool to evaluate the impact of seaport projects; this
tool relies on seaport-provided data.
Florida Department of Transportation 1-1
December 2010