After pivoting to operate its own metropolitan transportation planning organization, Alachua County and Gainesville leaders discussed what that new organization will look like and be called at their Monday regular meeting. 

Officials voted unanimously on a new name for the organization and a path for independent offices.  

The meeting followed the January hiring of Anoch Whitfield as executive director. Whitfield will begin to add staff members and lay out the vision for the organization over the next few years.  

Alachua County and Gainesville used to contract the operation of its Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization (MTPO) to the Regional Planning Council of North Central Florida.  

The decision to operate its own MTPO came after the Gainesville urbanized area hit the federal threshold to become a transportation management area. The board also voted to expand the service area to all of Alachua County.  

These MTPOs are federally mandated to receive funding for transportation projects and studies.  

Whitfield said different cities and counties use a combination of names, from metropolitan transportation organization to transportation planning organization or metropolitan planning organization.  

Some even adopt more public-facing names. In Pinellas County, the organization is known as Forward Pinellas.  

The Volusia and Flagler organization operated as the River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization before changing in 2024 to Volusia-Flagler Transportation Planning Organization. And Orlando operates as MetroPlan Orlando. 

Whitfield presented three options: Connect Alachua, Onward Alachua and Move Alachua.  

She said the recommendation would be the first name with a tag of metropolitan planning organization or transportation planning organization.  

Board members discussed the option and emphasized the need to include Gainesville in the name.  

County Commissioner Ken Cornell said Alachua County is known by other county officials, but residents and officials in other states know Gainesville because of UF.  

County Commissioner Mary Alford said she liked an action-oriented name, like Connect Alachua. Similar to Forward Focus Alachua County, an initiative analyzing development on the eastern side of the county, she said it could help spur public involvement and noted the former structure lacked a history of connection.  

Gainesville Commissioner Bryan Eastman said the name is of secondary importance. He said the public should know what the organization is based on the name, but the public will engage with the projects and staff based on outreach and actions—not just a name.  

Board member Adrian Hayes-Santos said he preferred to default to a standard name like other organizations and the airport authority, which he is also a part of. The airport authority goes by the Gainesville-Alachua County Regional Airport Authority. 

Hayes-Santos recommended the Gainesville Alachua County Transportation Planning Organization.  

The name received support, and then commissioners deviated from other transportation organizations. Instead of going with a traditional dash or slash between “Gainesville” and “Alachua County,” Cornell proposed an ampersand (&).   

Eastman noted that none of the 26 other MTPOs in Florida use an ampersand, but Cornell said the slash felt like an afterthought. Of the other Florida MTPOs, four use a dash, three use a slash and the others have neither. 

After board member comments and discussion, the ampersand was approved with a unanimous vote for the name. The vote also directed Whitfield to move forward with designs for a logo and brand package for the Gainesville & Alachua County Transportation Planning Organization (GACTPO).  

Whitfield also presented options for office space for GACTPO’s staff. She narrowed down options to rental space in the Seagle Building or the Wells Fargo Building.  

She recommended leaning toward the Seagle Building because the rent included everything except electricity and phones.  

Whitfield said the optics for an independent transportation organization are better with a stand-alone space. GACTPO is neither a part of the city nor the county—though the board includes all city and county commissioners.  

Whitfield said the meetings would be on neutral ground compared to being held at the county’s administration building.  

At the start of the meeting, the county highlighted $70,000 in new upgrades made to the board room to primarily accommodate GACTPO.  

Whitfield said the organization could hire the county as a vendor to conduct livestreams and other IT services in the new space. She said the new offices would also be more accessible to the public.  

However, the board said leased office space remained a little further down the road in the process of standing up the organization.  

Hayes-Santos said he’d like to approve a budget first and look at projected growth before committing more than $80,000 for annual rent. Board members agreed and said they wanted to hear what the projected growth of the organization would be, what projects would be tackled and bring on the new staff first.  

County Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler said the county had just worked hard to move its environmental protection department out of the Seagle Building. She also noted that the county will be undergoing major facilities changes that could open up opportunities for GACTPO staff to use.  

Cornell made a motion that directed Whitfield to bring forward a transition plan with budget and staffing, a timetable for using county resources (like legal, accounting and IT), continue conversations with the Seagle Building and work with the city and county’s real estate offices on the project.  

The motion passed unanimously.