Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/161733
Sarasota News Leader August 30, 2013 Page 51 However, he added, "This community, in my tionship with the agency. The county relies on opinion, is not ready for [BRT] yet. … We're FTA support for other transit issues, includstruggling so hard to fund these things." ing the operation of its bus system, Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT). In spite of that decision, the commissioners did direct staff to continue research into a "Doing it face-to-face is the better way, be"BRT lite" option as it proceeds with the de- cause you could answer any concerns they velopment of a 10-year transit development may have," Chairwoman Carolyn Mason plan for the county, which is scheduled to be agreed. completed next year. County Administrator Randall Reid will travel to Washington, D.C. soon to inform representatives of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of the board's vote. Reid told the commissioners their lobbyists in the nation's capital had made it clear to him that he needed to discuss the situation in person with FTA staff so as not to jeopardize the county's rela- THE COSTS FOR THE OPTIONS Jonathan B. Paul, the county's interim transportation planning director, told the commissioners on Aug. 27 that, because of new federal transit rules released this summer, it probably would cost the county between $700,000 and $850,000 for a new analysis to support a BRT system along U.S. 41. Additionally, to gain FTA An illustration shows how land-use design would be incorporated in a successful BRT system plan. Image courtesy of Sarasota County