Transportation in Florida
With over 12,000 miles in its State Highway System and approximately 1,350 miles of coastline, Florida is a driver’s paradise.
This guide from the State Library of Florida explores the role of transportation in Florida history and in modern times.
Transportation and motor vehicle professionals employed by the State of Florida who have a State Library card can access e-books, online journals and other resources for free.
We can also deliver books and research articles directly to your office.
Other researchers can request most of these materials through their local public library.
Links within the bibliographies take you to information in our catalog or to more information on external sites.
Transportation in history
- Bass, Bob. When Steamboats Reigned in Florida. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2008.
- Florida East Coast Hotel Company. Some Letters From the Alcazar: A Mystery of St. Augustine. St. Augustine, FL: 1903.
- Florida Railroad Commission. Annual Report. Tallahassee, FL: 1888-1960.
- Ingram, Tammy. Dixie Highway: Road Building and the Making of the Modern South, 1900-1930. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2014.
- Noll, Steven, and David Tegeder. Ditch of Dreams: The Cross Florida Barge Canal and the Struggle for Florida’s Future. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2009.
- Punnett, Dick. Beach Racers: Daytona Before NASCAR. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2008.
- State Archives of Florida. “Early Auto Registrations, 1905-1917.” Florida Memory. Florida Division of Library and Information Services.
- State Archives of Florida. “Tracks Toward the Future: Scenes From Florida’s Railroad History.” Florida Memory. Florida Division of Library and Information Services.
- State Library of Florida. “Florida’s Air and Space History.” Florida Division of Library and Information Services.
- Turner, Gregg M. A Journey Into Florida Railroad History. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2008.
- Wynne, Nick. Tin Can Tourists in Florida 1900-1970. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Press, 1999.
Transportation today
Reports and statistics
- Florida Bicycle and Pedestrian Partnership Council. The Florida Bicycle and Pedestrian Partnership Council: Annual Progress Report. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of Transportation, 2011.
- Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Florida CDL Handbook. Tallahassee, FL: 2007-present.
- Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Florida Driver’s Handbook. Tallahassee, FL: 1943-present.
- Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Licencia de Conductor Comercial: Manual Para Conductores de Camiones y Autobuses. Tallahassee, FL: 1990-present.
- Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Manual de Conductores de la Florida. Tallahassee, FL: 1978-present.
- Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Quarterly Report. Tallahassee, FL: 2002-present.
- Florida Department of Transportation. Florida Aviation System Plan 2025 (PDF). Tallahassee, FL: 2012.
- Florida Department of Transportation. Florida’s 511 Progress Report. Tallahassee, FL: 2004.
- Florida Department of Transportation. Research Showcase. Tallahassee, FL: 2007.
- Florida Public Service Commission. Report on Electric Vehicle Charging (PDF). Tallahassee, FL: 2012.
- Transportation Research Board. “Transport Research International Documentation (TRID).” National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
- U.S. Department of Transportation. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Professional resources
- Aldrich, Mark. Death Rode the Rails: American Railroad Accidents and Safety, 1828-1965. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
- Beckmann, Jon P., ed. Safe Passages: Highways, Wildlife, and Habitat Connectivity. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010.
- Garrett, Mark Evan, ed. Encyclopedia of Transportation: Social Science and Policy (E-Book). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2014.
- Hamilton, Michael S. “Transportation and Electricity Transmission.” Energy Policy Analysis: A Conceptual Framework. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2013. 209–230.
- Leinbach, Thomas R., and Cristina Capineri, eds. Globalized Freight Transport: Intermodality, E-Commerce, Logistics and Sustainability (E-Book). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2007.
- Naylor, David. Railroad Stations: The Buildings That Linked the Nation. New York, NY: Norton, 2012.
- Petroski, Henry. The Road Taken: The History and Future of America’s Infrastructure. New York, NY: Bloomsbury, 2016.
- Sipes, James L., and Matthew L. Sipes. Creating Green Roadways: Integrating Cultural, Natural, and Visual Resources Into Transportation. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2013.
- Staley, Sam, and Adrian T. Moore. Mobility First: A New Vision for Transportation in a Globally Competitive Twenty-First Century. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.
- Swift, Earl. The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.
