Spotlight On: Gregory Stuart, Executive Director, Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization

Spotlight On: Gregory Stuart, Executive Director, Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization

2022-07-15T06:56:55-04:00February 1st, 2022|G.Fort Lauderdale, Spotlight On, Transportation|

Gregory Stuart broward2 min read February 2022 Gregory Stuart, executive director of the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization has reimagined the future for Broward County with a whole new infrastructure for autonomous electric vehicles on the highways, with quantum computers and more people living in concentrated urban centers. For all of that, the organization has a 100-year plan, he told Invest:. 

How do you think the pandemic has changed people and the way they work and live?

A very important factor for all the industries in South Florida is the pivot that occurred in the last year. We had about a 40% change in office occupancy and I’m not saying that offices are going away but some people are going to be working remotely and that is going to represent a change in terms of transportation. We’re already seeing that during peak hours as traffic flows and patterns are changing. Also, more people are getting groceries delivered. There is a good 20% to 30% of people who continue to get their groceries delivered straight to their house after they started doing that during the pandemic. The pandemic accelerated what was happening with the Amazon distribution sites and the mail-order business. People don’t go to the malls like they used to. There’s going to be social interaction, but it will be a different type of experience. The overall result is that there will be a long-lasting change in the pattern of how people live, work, and play.

How do you see the future of Broward County?

We have a 100-year plan. We have a plan to support 2.6 million people based on our growth rate, on our land-use patterns, and what transit-oriented development will look like over these 100 years. We also have a 25-year plan that considers the funding available from the federal government and other sources. Then, we have a five-year capital plan with money that is guaranteed by the federal government to Broward County.

One element that our 100-year plan lays out is quantum computing and fusion reactors. Those two things are going to drive what type of future we’re going to have here in the Southeast and the country in general. They will determine the next generation of how we move people and products around. If it is going to be electric, it requires a higher energy source. The whole idea of fusion power is what’s going to drive all our investment in the future. Quantum computing is another big trend because of the amount of computing speed necessary to not just take the recounting of vehicles and where they’re located but how they move and how they communicate with each other. This is where you’re going to see some monumental change over the next 100 years. These are the areas where Southeast Florida and Broward County need to focus on to remain competitive.

Is South Florida starting to see a shift away from the car and to a more multimodal system of transit?

Transit is becoming more multimodal. What we learned from the pandemic is that you can have your groceries and your medicines delivered to your house, telemedicine means your doctor’s visit can happen on a computer screen. All that is allowing infrastructure to scale smaller. Walkability is more important, as is your ability to go on a bike ride just to get some exercise. That is going to change the overall dynamic. It’s just a different experience from the world we lived in before. Our western suburbs or suburban areas are going to change over time. That also means changes in the type of infrastructure we need to put in.

What are those key ways in which Fort Lauderdale is going to look different as a result of all the developments that you’re working on right now?

The Greater Fort Lauderdale area in Broward County is going to be a more urban-centric environment. People are going to be living closer together. That’s going to be our environment. If you look back over time, that’s how cities were built. Cities grew in a small concentric area and then during the advent of the automobile, everybody sprawled out. But that’s not a natural environment for people. People like knowing their next-door neighbors. People like being around other people.

What is the general near-term outlook for the transportation planning sector?

We have some challenges ahead. There probably are not going to be enough engineers and construction companies. We will run into issues with concrete and steel, and the rest of it because we’re going to have so much growth. We are going to see some factors of inflation and limited resource availability.  

However, the opportunities far outstrip the concerns. It’s an exciting opportunity that is going to be life-changing for the good.

For more information, visit: 

https://www.browardmpo.org/ 

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