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Comprehensive Plan <br />Transportation Element <br />establishments along SR 60 brought commercial centers closer to some of the new development, <br />many of the newer subdivisions remain several miles away from commercial centers. <br />Overall, population growth and growth in the number and length of trips are the primary <br />contributors to increased transportation demand. In order to maintain the existing quality of life in <br />the community, this demand must be met by providing appropriate roadway and transit capacity, by <br />maximizing the efficient use of the transportation system, and by coordinating land use and <br />transportation. <br />Roadway Capacity <br />Overall, roadway levels -of -service have declined in recent years in Indian River County. The <br />primary cause of the lower service levels is that the demand for the transportation system (as <br />reflected in growth in population, trips, and miles traveled) has increased faster than the supply of <br />new transportation facilities. One indication of new capacity is the increase in roadway system <br />centerline miles. Ike -past -c ecadeSince 2010, roadway centerline mileage increased only 4.5%, <br />far below the growth in population and the growth of daily person trips. Consequently, the average <br />commute time increased 9.1% in Indian River County. <br />One reason for the lack of growth in the supply of transportation facilities is the increase in cost in <br />providing those facilities. At the same time, many of the transportation revenue sources, <br />particularly at the state and federal level, have experienced stagnant or negative growth. For <br />example, the federal gas tax has remained constant at 18.4 cents/gallon since 1982. Recognizing <br />that revenue shortfalls were jeopardizing the implementation of the county's long range <br />transportation plan, the county took the initiative to increase transportation revenues locally. These <br />increases have enabled the county to make substantial progress in delivering new roadway capacity. <br />Level of Service Assessment <br />According to Rule 9-J5, each local government in the state must establish a roadway level of <br />service in its comprehensive plan. As indicated in the FDOT Quality and Level of Service <br />Manual, roadway level of service is a measure of user satisfaction of a roadway expressed in <br />letter -grade format, from "A" to "F", based on travel speed and volume of traffic on various <br />classifications of roadways. Adopted and actual levels of service on the Indian River County <br />roadway network appear in Table 4.7.1. <br />• Level of Service Standard <br />Throughout Florida, most local governments have adopted Level of Service "D" peak <br />season/peak hour as their roadway system standard. In the urbanized areas of the state, a level of <br />Community Development Department Indian River County 72 <br />APPENDIX A — Transportation Amendments <br />