"I am very proud and pleased with our city’s Best Practices on Local Traffic Safety. We are continuing to encourage our citizens to utilize the available public transit facilities as well as our own bus transportation to our senior citizens, who are in need of transportation to medical and shopping facilities within our city. By doing so, we are helping to reduce use of automobiles and the pollution of our environment."
- Mayor Schreiber

With over 50,000 people and located in northwestern Broward County, the City of Tamarac has a transit ridership that is approximately twice that of the entire county. The city encourages this heavy use of transit through a combination of fixed-route transit services, demand-responsive transit service, and transit-oriented design.

Extensive Fixed-Route Services

Broward County Transit provides seven routes in the city that allow residents to circulate within Tamarac or travel to the rest of the county. Wider travel is possible through Tamarac’s shared transit center within a shopping center at the intersection of two major roads. From this site Tamarac residents not only are able to travel across the county, but also north to Palm Beach County or south to Miami-Dade County. This system provides Tamarac residents about 7,800 rides a week and slightly over 404,000 rides a year. The reduction in automobile traffic stemming from use of the bus system eliminates three to four serious accidents a year and reduces 24 tons of automobile emissions from the atmosphere.

Dial-A-Ride

The Tamarac Social Services Department provides a demand-response or dial-a-ride system that allows elderly residents to call in advance for transportation between their homes and medical offices or shopping centers. This system provides about 32,000 rides a year, further reducing accidents and pollution.

Expansion of Pedestrian Ways

The city also encourages the development of pedestrian ways to further reduce traffic congestion by providing this alternative mode of transportation. In fact, the city recently obtained funding to construct just over 11 miles of new sidewalks. This will allow for parts of the existing sidewalk system to be connected with parks, shopping centers, and new residential development.

Transit-Oriented Design

In cooperation with Broward County, the South Florida Regional Planning Council, and the Florida Department of Community Affairs, the City of Tamarac is a leader in efforts to encourage transit ridership through transit-oriented design. This approach encourages people to use pedestrian, bicycle, and bus transit, thus reducing the number of automobiles on the road and thereby decreasing the number of automobile accidents.

In the latest edition of the Tamarac Comprehensive Plan, the city encourages transit-oriented design. This translates into designing residential and commercial developments that include bus stops and shelters; bus lanes; and connections to the sidewalk system. In support of this goal, the city has granted density bonuses along transit corridors in return for increasing the number and type of transit services. In the city’s overall view, increasing the density of housing and commercial developments along transit corridors will expand the number and percentage of transit trips in Tamarac.

Contact: Mayor Joe Schreiber, Tamarac, 954/724-1221.

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The United States Conference of Mayors

J. Thomas Cochran, Executive Director
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Telephone (202) 293-7330, FAX (202) 293-2352

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