Many Central Floridians check traffic conditions every morning before they leave for work to figure out which route has the fewest delays. Traveling through the area can require planning. Central Florida Public Media explored the expense of commuting in our region through our in-depth series Central Florida Seen and Heard: Costly Commute which culminated with a live panel discussion at the Art and History Museums of Maitland last week.
Gary Huttmann brings more than 30 years of experience as a leader in Central Florida’s transportation industry as Executive Director of MetroPlan Orlando, the transportation planning organization for Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. Emily Bush is Executive Director of Bike/Walk Central Florida, a nonprofit organization that advocates and educates on active transportation, safe mobility and multimodal transportation. Bush is also an adjunct professor at UCF teaching land use and planning topics. Eric Grimmer is a representative with Orlando YIMBY. YIMBY stands for Yes In My Backyard. The organization works to improve livability, affordability, and mobility of greater Orlando. He is also chair of Orange County's new citizen-led board, the Transportation Mobility Advisory Commission, tasked with holding public hearings and making recommendations on transportation expenditures to county leaders. Huttmann, Bush, and Grimmer joined Engage to discuss making transportation safer, encouraging more people to use alternate forms of transit, and the biggest failures happening in Central Florida. The panel discussion also dove into the price of prioritizing cars over public mass transit and developing a system to serve both urban and rural residents.
