A Renaissance Planning presentation on mobility fees. Mobility fees are a transportation system charge on development that allows local governments to assess the proportionate cost of transportation improvements needed to serve the demand generated by new development projects. Whereas older methods of charging developers only allow for specific roadway improvement, mobility fees allow for funding transit and other multi-modal improvements.

1. USING MOBILITY FEES:
WHAT? WHERE? HOW?
AUGUST 2017

2. 1
2
3
WHAT ARE MOBILITY FEES?
2
WHERE ARE MOBILITY FEE PROGRAMS IN ACTION?
HOW TO DEVELOP A MOBILITY FEE PROGRAM?
USING MOBILITY FEES: WHAT? WHO? HOW?

3. 1 WHAT ARE MOBILITY FEES?

4. WHAT?
RECENT HISTORY
4
1985- EARLY 2000s 2009 2011 2013 2016
Concurrency fell short in
addressing congestion
and infrastructure
demands while creating
unintended negative
consequences;
numerous legislative and
rulemaking modifications
to concurrency.
Florida Community Renewal Act
provided legislative direction for
establishing mobility fees.
Florida adopts the
Community Planning
Act, removing the
requirement for
transportation
concurrency and
allowing local
governments to adopt
an alternative mobility
funding system; the
first mobility fee is
adopted.
Legislature
encourages the
adoption of
mobility fees if a
local
government
repeals
transportation
concurrency.
More than 20
jurisdictions have
implemented
mobility fee
programs.
CUTR evaluates mobility
fee concept.
Florida Department of
Community Affairs and Florida
Department of Transportation
develop Joint Report on the
Mobility Fee Methodology Study.

5. Transportation system charge on development that allows local
governments to assess the proportionate cost of transportation
improvements needed to serve the demand generated by
development projects.
WHAT?
ABOUT MOBILITY FEES
5
MOBILITY FEE =
Additional transportation demand from development
X
Identified cost for transportation improvements to mitigate associated
development impact

6. MOBILITY FEE REQUIREMENTS
 May not be used to deny, time, or phase an application
 Revenue collected is used to implement needs of local gov’t plan
 Comply with rational nexus test
 Cannot fund existing transportation deficiencies
 Consistent with enabling legislation Section 163.3180
WHAT?6

7. SECTION 163.3180 NEW TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
 Long-term strategies to facilitate development patterns that
support multimodal solutions
 Area wide level of service standards not dependent on any single
road segment function or multimodal level of service standards
 Exempting/discounting impacts or impact/local access fees of
locally desired development (i.e. urban, MMTDs, redevelopment,
mixed use, or affordable housing)
 Primary prioritization of ensuring a safe, comfortable, and
attractive pedestrian environment with convenient interconnection
to transit
WHAT?7

8. BENEFITS OF MOBILITY FEES
 Provides an alternative to concurrency
 Allows greater flexibility in use of collected
funds
 Funds transit supportive capital improvements
& operations
 Promotes compact, mixed-use development
 Supports the development of new tools &
techniques
WHAT?8

9. 2 WHERE ARE MOBILITY FEE PROGRAMS?
9

10. EXISTING PROGRAMS
WHERE?10
CITIES
1 - Altamonte Springs Mobility Fee
2 - Boca Raton Planned Mobility Developments
3 - Destin Multimodal Transportation District (MMTD)
4 - Gainesville Transportation Mobility Program*
5 - Jacksonville Mobility Fee
6 - Jacksonville Beach Mobility Fee*
7 - Kissimmee Mobility Fee*
8 - Maitland Mobility Fee*
9 - Miami Lakes Mobility Fee
10 - Orlando Multimodal Transportation Impact Fee
11 - Ormond Beach Mobility Fee
12 - Panama City Mobility Fee
13 - Plant City Transportation Mobility Fee*
14 - Sarasota Multimodal Fee
15 - Tampa Multimodal Impact Fee
16 - Tarpon Springs MMTD
* indicates if the jurisdiction has also rescinded transportation concurrency in their
Comprehensive Plan, as provided by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (4/2016)
COUNTIES
17 - Alachua County Multi-Modal Transportation Mitigation
18 - Broward County Transportation Concurrency Assessment
19 - Hillsborough County Mobility Fee
20 - Nassau County Mobility Fee*
21 - Osceola County Mobility Fee*
22 - Pasco County Multimodal Mobility Fee*
23 - Sarasota County Mobility Fee*

11. DISTINGUISHING FEATURES
 Trip basis of fee – how is the trip accounted
(ends vs. length)
 Cost basis of fee – what is included in the
cost calculation
 Disposition of expenditures – how the
collected funds are spent
 Credits and discounts – what project
elements reduce cost of fees
WHERE?11
No two
mobility fees
are the same

12. 12
21 Florida programs allow use of
funds towards transit-supportive uses
20 Florida programs allow use of
funds towards transit capital

13. 13
8
Florida programs
allow use of funds
towards transit
operations

14. 14
13 Florida programs include transit capital in the cost basis of fee
5 Florida programs include transit operations in the cost basis of fee

15. 15
13 Florida programs base costs on
planned projects
3 Florida programs base costs on
unfunded needs
Photo courtesy of seefloridago.org

16. 16
14 Florida programs base trips on VMT/PMT
4 Florida programs base trips on # of trips
Photo courtesy of seefloridago.org

17. 17
4 Florida programs have dedicated
transit accounts for funds
Photo courtesy of seefloridago.org

18. 18
5 Florida programs apply
discounts for design elements
6 Florida programs apply credits
for gas tax/other revenues
Photo courtesy of seefloridago.org

19. 3 HOW TO DEVELOP A MOBILITY FEE PROGRAM?

20. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
 State of the practice – 50+ programs reviewed
 Inventory existing programs in Florida
 Identify programs similar to mobility fee programs nationwide
(GA, MD, WA, ID, MA, CO, CA, OR, WY)
 Notable Programs
 Florida (Boca Raton, Broward County, Kissimmee, Ormond
Beach, Pasco County, Sarasota County)
 Nationwide (Bellingham, WA; Portland, OR; Sacramento, CA;
San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA)
HOW?20

21. OTHER FINDINGS
 Common definition of a mobility fee and understanding of an ideal
program.
 Very diverse practices
 Multiple decision points and approaches
 Different drivers and rationales
 Varied methodologies
 Common framework of five phases
 Set of emerging best practices
HOW?21

22. FIVE COMMON PHASES
HOW?22
To plan, develop, and implement mobility fees
 Think through key considerations and questions
 Consider various approaches and options
 Leverage notable practices
Phase
1
Phase
2
Phase
3
Phase
4
Phase
5
PRE-PLANNING
PLANNING &
PROGRAM
CONCEPT
METHODOLOGY &
COMPUTATIONS
ADMINISTRATION &
COLLECTION
PROJECT FUNDING
& PROGRAM
MONITORING

23.  PHASES
PRE-PLANNING: Why implement a mobility fee?
HOW?23
Phase
1
 Supporting compact development
 Providing greater transportation
funding flexibility
 Increasing overall local
transportation funding/additional
revenue generation
 Exploring alternatives to
concurrency
 Increasing funding for transit
Best Practice:
Communicating the
program goal to
clearly guide
program
development

24.  PHASES
PRE-PLANNING: Is a mobility fee feasible?
HOW?24
Phase
1
 Evaluating all potential sources of transportation funding
 Assessing political feasibility
 Analyzing and establishing the basis for rational nexus
 Determining project types to include in the program

25.  PHASES
PLANNING & PROGRAM CONCEPT: What are the basic parameters of the
program?
HOW?25
 What is the appropriate geographic
scale?
 How is the transit agency involved?
 What is the timeframe on which the
program of projects is based?
 How will the policy and program be
justified and documented?
 How is the plan or fee adopted?
Phase
2

26.  PHASES
PLANNING & PROGRAM CONCEPT: What is the trip and cost basis?
HOW?26
Trip basis:
 Vehicles trips
 Person trips
 Vehicle miles traveled
 Person miles traveled
 Corridor capacity consumed
 Multimodal level of service
Cost basis:
 Roadway v. multimodal
 Transit capital v. transit capital and operations
Phase
2

27.  PHASES
METHODOLOGY AND COMPUTATIONS
HOW?27
 How to determine the fee levels?
 Standard fee = Cost Basis ($) / Trip Basis
 Will the program include credits,
discounts, or complementary programs?
 Incentivizes development in desired
locations
 Reductions by known sources of
transportation program revenue (i.e. funds
that are earmarked for programed capital
improvement projects)
 Reductions by gas tax and other revenue
sources
Phase
3

28.  PHASES
ADMINISTRATION AND COLLECTION
HOW?28
Phase
4
 When and how to collect fees?
 General fund or separate account?
 How to communicate the fee
effectively?
 Develop a collection process and ensure
internal communication within local
government
 Continued coordination with outside
agencies (i.e. Transit agency)
 Clear communication
 Straightforward instructions
 Preliminary fee estimates
 Maps and/or online GIS tools
4
Florida programs
have dedicated
transit accounts for
funds

29.  PHASES
PROJECT FUNDING AND PROGRAM MONITORING
HOW?29
Phase
5
 What projects are funded/how are
they prioritized?
 How are the projects funded?
 Why and how to evaluate the
mobility fee program (performance
evaluation, fee updates, etc)?
 When to update the fee?
Potential Projects:
Sidewalks, bike paths, bus
shelters
Transit queue jumps/
priority sys.
Transit circulators
Regional rail elements
Strategic Intermodal
System (SIS) facilities
Commuter rail and
streetcar

30. BEST PRACTICES
HOW?30
 Basing fees on VMT/PMT vs. trip ends
 Including transit supportive improvements and transit capital in cost basis and
in allowable expenses
 Including transit operations in the cost basis of the fee and in the allowable
expenses
 Supplementing mobility fee with other sources of revenue if funding transit
services
 Indexing the mobility fees
 Updating program of projects every 5 years and update fees accordingly

31. Kathleen Rooney
Project Manager
Renaissance Planning
krooney@citiesthatwork.com