A crowd of over 130 people from 40 unique areas inside and outside of Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) District 1 gathered at the Venice Community Center to participatein the Southwest Florida 2045 TransForum. Each guest had the opportunity to meet and engage Five Futurists who set the stage for long range transportation planning.

Keynote Speakers: 
Alice Ancona, Florida Chamber of Commerce
Wayne Gaither, Florida Department of Transportation
Mark Bontrager, Space Florida
Ben Walker, HNTB
Dave Sanford, Port Manatee

Over 100 community members attended the TransForum: Neighborhoods | Bus, Bike, Walk at the Sarasota Bayfront Community Center and shared their insight on proposed walking, biking, and transit connections.

The outcome identified community priorities including bicycle and pedestrian safety education, building off road multi-use paths/trails, and widening sidewalks to accommodate bicycles and pedestrians (shared-use paths) in addition to adding bicycle lanes on roads. Improvements to reduce congestion, improvements to public transit, rebuilding roads and stormwater systems for flooding, storms, and sea-level rise, and using technology to improve signal timing and traffic management proved to be top priorities for the community as well.

Elected officials, professionals, and citizens arrived to the 2045 Long Range Transportation TransForum eager to learn about the future of the Sarasota/Manatee region’s transportation system. Participants heard from the region’s municipalities and three keynote speakers.

Keynote Speakers: 
Bob McQueen, Bob McQueen & Associates
Sean Sullivan, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
Carolyn Griffin, United Way Suncoast