Broward County Transit is doing something South Florida rarely pulls off: redesigning the whole board at once, from daily bus frequencies to a brand-new $1.56 billion light rail line — and the two efforts are explicitly designed to reinforce each other.

TransitFORWARD 2040 Is the Network Reset Broward Has Needed

Broward County Transit (BCT), working alongside commissioners from all nine county districts, completed a major public engagement phase for its long-range TransitFORWARD 2040 Vision Plan in spring 2026, marking the most consequential network rethink in the agency's history. The plan is not just a list of capital projects; it is a top-to-bottom rewrite of how BCT serves 74,600 weekday riders across 410 square miles of the second-largest transit system in Florida.

  • TransitFORWARD 2040 is a multi-phase strategy to strengthen the county's transit system through improved connectivity, expanded access, increased service frequency and hours, new microtransit service zones, and enhanced system amenities.
  • The plan proposes new bus routes and expanded coverage to serve areas without BCT service today, including North Military Trail, Rock Island Road, and parts of Pembroke Pines and Weston.
  • The plan will be implemented over a 15-year period, introducing new light rail transit (LRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors alongside supporting upgrades for local fixed-route service.
  • BCT CEO and General Manager Coree Cuff Lonergan said the analysis identified transit deserts across Broward County — areas where transit access is limited or unavailable — which "created an opportunity to think differently about service delivery."

The planning process included a comprehensive review of system performance, rider feedback, and demographic and travel data; early phase work includes corridor studies for a potential light rail link between the airport and seaport, as well as planning for an initial Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line along Oakland Park Boulevard.

The Connector Puts Light Rail Between Broward's Three Biggest Economic Engines

While TransitFORWARD 2040 reshapes the network from the ground up, The Connector — BCT's fully elevated light rail Project Development and Environmental (PD&E) study — is building toward the marquee investment that anchors the whole vision. BCT is exploring a premium, high-capacity transit link designed to move people quickly, comfortably, and sustainably between Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, Port Everglades, and the Broward County Convention Center.

  • The Connector is a 3.5-mile LRT project with three stations, mostly elevated along Broward County property, with a PD&E Study contract awarded May 6, 2025, notice to proceed issued June 4, 2025, and an estimated investment of $1.56 billion.
  • The project team will evaluate potential routes and alignments, consider environmental impacts, and assess engineering feasibility; a second analysis began in early 2026 to refine the top two alignment options in greater detail.
  • Plans for the PREMO Light Rail system were announced as part of BCT's Premium Mobility Plan (PREMO), a $4.4 billion, 30-year program to improve public mass transportation service within the county.
  • The program was approved by county residents in 2018, when a 1% transportation surtax to fund the new projects was passed by voters.

The alignment's logic is straightforward and powerful: Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport is the second-busiest airport in South Florida, and Port Everglades is one of the world's leading cruise ports — yet today, getting between them by transit requires a time-consuming transfer chain. A direct, elevated rail link dissolves that friction and gives every convention delegate, cruise passenger, and airport worker a single-seat ride that no car can reliably match during peak hours.

The Two Plans Snap Together Into a Coherent Regional Strategy

What makes this moment genuinely exciting is that TransitFORWARD 2040 and The Connector aren't parallel tracks — they are designed as a system. TransitFORWARD 2040 recommendations aim to reshape the BCT network to be fast, reliable, frequent, and easy to use, building on the Premium Transit Network (PREMO) and responding to current and future travel demand. The Connector is the flagship node in that network; TransitFORWARD 2040 is the feeder web that delivers riders to it.

As Cuff Lonergan put it: "When people can travel faster and more efficiently, that creates economic value." That logic applies at every scale, from the new Sunday service on Route 48 to the $1.56 billion elevated rail link threading three of Broward's busiest destinations. BCT already carries 74,600 weekday riders and logged 24,462,000 annual trips in 2025, a foundation that the TransitFORWARD 2040 redesign is built to grow.

The final TransitFORWARD 2040 plan is expected to be completed later in 2026 following additional public consultation. When it lands, Broward will have done something rare in South Florida transit: paired a long-range capital vision with a simultaneously rebuilt operating network, giving riders a reason to board today and a destination worth waiting for tomorrow.