Transportation | Smart Start Palm Beach

Transportation

WHETHER by water, air, rail, highway or mass transit, Palm Beach County Palm Beach International Airport boasts an efficient, integrated transportation system, from a major international airport and three commercial/executive airports to an expanding port that ranks among the state's finest.

Palm Beach International Airport, centrally located in West Palm Beach and easily accessible from I-95, is one of the largest medium-hub airports in the United States. PBIA underwent a major, $150 million expansion in 1988, including the construction of a new 530,000-square-foot terminal with 25 gates and the potential for 24 more.

Learn More about Palm Beach County's International Access in: Profile Magazine

PBIA's services include Customs Port of Entry, Immigration, private aircraft maintenance, air cargo and international air. Thirty-five airlines currently offer scheduled flights from PBIA to destinations throughout the continental United States, and direct international flights are available to the Bahamas and Canada. Flights to any destination in the world are available from Miami International Airport, just a commuter flight away.

Roughly 6 million people a year pass through PBIA, and that's expected to jump to nine million by the year 2011. Commercial airlines, including commuter aircraft, fly in and out of the airport about 80,000 times a year. General aviation, freight and other flights total 117,000 a year, Approximately 31,000 tons of cargo pass through PBIA annually.

Palm Beach County also offers three local commercial/executive airports: Boca Raton Airport in south county, which features a 5,200-foot runway; Palm Beach County Park Airport or commonly known as Lantana Airport in central county, with its 3,500-foot runway; and North County General Aviation Airport -- the newest of the three -- features a 4,300-foot runway within 700 acres west of Beeline Highway and Palm Beach County Glades Aiport located in wester Palm Beach County on the southeastern edge of Lake Okeechobee.

Rail

South Florida Tri Rail "Depending on what type of business you're talking about, there are fantastic opportunities with rail in South Florida," says Edwin Radson, South Florida's district railroad coordinator. "And as far as commuter rail, we're slowly moving into the mass transit system you would find in the nation's major cities."

Florida's rail system is comprised of 12 line-haul (freight) railroads and four terminal or switching companies. Of those, Palm Beach County is primarily served by CSX Transportation's 1,778 Florida route miles-- which connect with a total of 19,000 CSX miles covering 20 states, the District of Columbia and Canada-- and the Florida East Coast Railway Company's 442 Florida route miles. The South Florida Rail Corridor is a state-owned 81-mile corridor between West Palm Beach and Miami (formerly CSX trackage). As many as eight freight and 35 passenger trains operate within this corridor daily.

CSX and FEC are the largest carriers in the state, handling, among other things, such commodities as nonmetallic minerals, chemicals and allied products, coal, and various commodities moved in containers and trailers. Florida's Amtrak rail passenger system operates over CSX trackage, with daily intercity passenger services in both directions between the northeastern U.S. and South Florida, as well as the west coast of the U.S. and Miami. A multitude of destinations are available from Amtrak's West Palm Beach station.

Tri-Rail Commuter Rail, with its four double-decker passenger cars accommodating a total of 700 seated passengers, services Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties for convenient commuter travel between West Palm Beach and Miami. There are a total of 28 north- and south-bound trains running each weekday from dawn until midnight, and slightly fewer on the weekends, covering a 70-mile route. In 1998, a new station at Miami International Airport will be added to Tri-Rail's 18-station schedule. All Tri-Rail stations are served by a dedicated Tri-Rail shuttle system, interconnecting county transit buses or other transit systems.

Highways

Palm Beach County is served by several major highways-- Interstate 95, Florida's Turnpike, U.S. Highway One, Military Trail, Beeline Highway and State Road 7, to name a few-- as well as national, county-wide and local bus systems. "We're one of four or five counties in the state that has implemented enough gas tax to provide for extensive road improvements. We're aggressively improving the roadway system in Palm Beach County," says Randy Whitfield, director of the Metropolitan Planning Organization. "The mass transit system also has vastly expanded."

Palm Tran, a county-wide bus system with clean and attractive pink- and aqua-colored buses, covers every corner, from Boca Raton to Jupiter to the western communities and the Glades. In the summer of 1996, Palm Tran completed a multi-million expansion, resulting in daily service, as well as an increase in the number of buses from 68 to 145 and stops from 1,200 to more than 4,100. Palm Tran's downtown Shuttle Loop System in West Palm Beach offers convenient, free transportation between office buildings, restaurants, businesses and parking facilities. The shuttle makes continuous runs Monday through Friday, servicing some 30 stops downtown.

Greyhound/Trailways Bus Line maintains stations throughout the county, including downtown West Palm Beach, Jupiter, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach, Delray and Belle Glade, with daily travel and freight shipment available to destinations across the country.

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