Greg Stuart, Executive Director, Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization

May 2026 — In an interview with Invest:, Greg Stuart, executive director of the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization, discussed shifting federal transportation priorities, the use of AI in project prioritization, and major infrastructure investments in Broward County. “I want to make this place better than I found it,” Stuart said.

What changes over the past year have had the greatest impact on Broward County’s transportation system, and how have they influenced your priorities?

A lot has to do with changes in priorities with the new administration coming in and what is perceived to be important to Washington. We are funded with federal gas tax dollars, and the incoming secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation has been very direct in saying roads should be designed for families. That means taking into consideration children, adults, and senior members of households.

That has changed the dynamic in the way we approve projects. What used to be our Complete Streets program has now become Roads for Families. What used to be our Transportation Alternatives Program is now Roads for Economic Vitality because the prioritization in Washington has been geared toward whether a project can be delivered and whether it can make a difference in the economics of a place. That has probably changed the most in terms of how we do business and prioritize projects.

The second thing that happened last year is that we worked with Deloitte to develop artificial intelligence that is now helping with project prioritization. It takes the criteria identified by our 38-member board and by Washington and uses that information to help cities like Miramar or Broward County government understand how their projects rank and score for eligibility for federal dollars.

AI is only as good as the information it uses, so we worked with NYU to rank the responses the AI brings in. That has made a big difference. The rollout was here in Broward with the city of Miramar, and we are continuing to move forward with Miramar.

How is your team thinking about connectivity between different modes of transportation to create a more seamless system?

Our agency introduced fare card interoperability, so you can go from Tri-Rail to Broward County Transit, Miami-Dade Transit, and Palm Tran with one card. You tap on and tap off. We were the first to put that together. That was another couple of million dollars spent on technology because it is all about technology. We were contacted by both Google and Microsoft, and they have been incorporating that into their platforms. It has made a difference for ridership. Tri-Rail is off the chart based on previous years’ numbers, and that is because of the convenience factor.

The final piece we are working on is with Uber and Lyft, so when you get off the train, you can use that same card to pay for your Lyft or Uber and get from the station to wherever you need to go. That is something our MPO did here in Broward, with partners in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade.

The other piece is that the card went over to Broward County Transit, and the buses have that same technology. For a captured audience in a transit system, connectivity is extremely important.

I live in downtown Fort Lauderdale now. I do not use my car often because we walk to stores. That connectivity, in areas designed for higher density, is not necessarily just connectivity to the bus system or train system. It is connectivity to the sidewalk, and the sidewalk to the grocery store, the drugstore, the doctor’s office, and other daily needs.

Everything is a more walkable experience. What we need to push is how those neighborhoods connect to the infrastructure and the things around them. Sometimes people ask why we have to build sidewalks. The answer is simple: people have to walk, and they have to get to grocery stores. 

How do transportation investments influence broader development patterns, including where businesses invest and where people choose to live?

That is what makes the conversation about changes in Washington so direct. The question is how do we get businesses to expand and operate. In Broward, unlike Miami, which has a heavy rail system, we have large warehousing and manufacturing facilities tied to delivery trucks and semis. We are looking at ways to move semis around and eventually do some of that autonomously, because that is business.

From living in downtown Fort Lauderdale, I have noticed that many people in the buildings around me work remotely, or they go to the university in Davie and do not drive. They Uber together and find different ways to get there. The way the transportation industry affects real estate and economic development investment is by putting infrastructure in place to support this type of lifestyle.

This is the way people want to live, and I can see that from the 6,000 or 7,000 units near my apartment. People are not all leaving during the day or flooding the streets from parking garages. They are still here. It is not the traditional type of experience.

There is still room for suburban development in western cities, but we offer many different lifestyles in South Florida because we have different transportation options.

What are the key opportunities to strengthen Broward’s position as a connected and competitive region?

It is directly tied to the technology piece. Look at what we are doing now. Los Angeles is copying us. Houston and Denver have put out bids to implement the technology we have already created.

Our leadership in this space will come from the way we take technology and keep growing it. A lot of people do not do that because they go back to what they know. It is easier. But you are not going to save money on asphalt, concrete, or rebar. You are going to save money on the technology pieces that we keep reinventing. That is why it is so important that we are operating in that space and creating technology that will be resilient for the long term and can be used anywhere in the world, not just here.

We have talked to people in Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris, and they are interested in the technology we have developed as well. 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

As I am watching the sun set on my career in this area, I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to do these things. Unlike most people getting ready to retire, I have not given up hope of making this place better for my nieces and nephews, and hopefully some of them will come back from North Carolina.

I want to make this place better than I found it. That has always been my goal since I got my job here, even before being in an executive position. That is the song everybody should be singing: How are you making this better than when you got here?