Things are changing in Boca and it’s not just the demographics. Our downtown becomes more urban with every development project and traffic congestion makes it harder to access. But attitudes are also changing. Fading away is the old guard car centric mindset. Incoming is the mindset that walking, rolling and cycling are desirable ways to get around. Below are our 2024 Live/Work/Play Survey results. While that city branding encompasses many aspects of Boca Raton, our 2024 survey focussed on:
“Do you get around Boca in something other than a car? Why or why not?”
Survey Accuracy
Our survey was open to everyone interested in participating. It included those who live outside Boca Raton City limits but use county and city infrastructure in Boca. The survey also utilized a variety of technologies that detected and filtered ballot stuffing attempts. Using a population size consisting of registered voters in Boca and West Boca, the calculated margin of error of a given question in our results is 5%-7% (not all participants answered all questions). Here is a map of the zipcodes of the participants:
Boca Raton has a significantly more Enthusiastic & Confident population and a significantly fewer No Way, No How population.
Types of Cyclists
Some people judge all cyclists as the same when the truth is, they are not. The industry standard cyclist categories are well defined and used nationally. We wanted to know how the different types in Boca compared to the general population. Using the recent Palm Beach County data from the TPA, we compared Boca to the county in each of the four standard categories. According to the data, Boca Raton has a significantly more Enthusiastic & Confident population and a significantly fewer No Way, No How population. This would seem to confirm an increased interest and desire to use alternative means of getting around other than a car.
- Strong and the Fearless: I will ride regardless of roadway conditions. Riding is a strong part of my identity and I am generally undeterred by roadway conditions.
- Enthusiastic and Confident: I am fine sharing the roadway with automotive traffic if there is space between me and cars.
- Interested but Concerned: I like riding a bicycle but I am concerned about safety. I need a barrier between me and cars.
- No Way No How: You will never see me on a bicycle. I am not interested in bicycling at all due to inability or lack of interest even if high-quality bicycle infrastructure is in place.
Level of Traffic Stress and Risk
Traffic stress is a measure of the speed and proximity of cars and other users of a road. It is related to how safe non-motorists feel when using a given roadway.
Urban planners and engineers too often treat roll and stroll infrastructure as a variation of vehicles. We asked how respondents felt about using alternative routes to get from Point A to Point B that were lower traffic stress.
Basically half the population of Boca Raton favor the proposed routes be made Safe Routes to School for the greater good over objections of a few.
Safe Routes to School
SRTS is a nationwide program that defines an approach that promotes walking and bicycling to school through infrastructure improvements, enforcement, tools, etc. Past proposals by the city to make certain routes safe were stopped by local residents. We asked respondents how they felt about each of the four proposed SRTS routes identified by the Pedestrian and Bike Citizen Advisory Board as candidates for the program. Basically half the population of Boca Raton favor the proposed routes be made Safe Routes to School for the greater good over objections of a few.
| ROUTE | Percent in Favor of being a SRTS |
|---|---|
| 12th Ave from FAU to SW 18th St | 56.28% |
| Both North and South Sides of Palmetto Park Road from 12th Ave to City Hall with Pedestrian crossing at 7th Ave | 61.13% |
| NW 7th/8th St and 15th from Boca High to Boca Middle to Boca Raton Library | 49.80% |
| SW 8th Ave to 9th Ave Canal Crossover | 43.32% |
Respondents overwhelmingly favor connecting the disconnected strategic trails for the greater good over objections of a few.
Strategic Trails
One area of disconnectedness in Boca’s infrastructure is its strategic trails. We asked how users of Boca’s infrastructure felt about improvements to four of these trails to make them more connected even if local landowners objected. Respondents overwhelmingly favor connecting the disconnected strategic trails for the greater good over objections of a few.
| ROUTE | Percent in Favor of being a SRTS |
|---|---|
| El Rio Trail under Glades Rd and South to Palmetto Park Rd using the existing City owned easement | 84.21% |
| Patch Reef Trail south to Camino Real | 63.60% |
| I favor wide shared use paths on both sides of Palmetto Park Rd from 12th Ave to 2nd Ave | 60.96% |
| I favor the strategic connection of the Spanish River trails to Palmetto Park Rd along the Tri-rail right of way | 68.42% |
Access to the beach
The dangerous East Palmetto Park road to the beach has long been ignored by the City for anything other than a car. It’s commonly blamed on the County but nothing is done without City approval. This is how respondents feel about the lack of access to the beach via Palmetto Park Rd.
60% of Boca Raton wants safe pedestrian and bike access on East Palmetto Park Rd to the beach
Prioritizing the top four initiatives
In order help Boca planners, we asked respondents to prioritize the four major initiatives proposed by the Boca Raton Pedestrian and Bike Citizen Advisory Board. The most popular prioritization was:
- Safe Routes to School
- Extending El Rio Trail to Palmetto
- Access to beaches
- Commuter lanes on Dixie Hwy and 4th Ave
Opinion of Boca Raton for getting around in something other than a car
For this topic, we asked a series of questions about the overall design, safety, culture and priorities of the last ten years of Boca Raton’s development.
As a city, Boca Raton has not served resident interests very well over the last 10 years
Safety Issues
Pedestrian/Bike safety is more than infrastructure design. It includes motorist culture and maintenance to name a few. We asked which of these things are regular occurrences and how safe people felt where they lived.
Overall description of getting around Boca in something other than a car
