Many systems are best described in terms of their constituent parts. An important component of the boating geography of Sarasota Bay is its trafficsheds (as defined in section 1.3.3). The trafficshed geography of Sarasota Bay has been described recently (Antonini and Box, 1996, page 34): trafficsheds are a major component of the bay's recreational boat traffic and are important in understanding traffic dynamics. Most of the boats (more than 90%) and boating resources in Sarasota Bay are contained in trafficsheds, though they contain less than 1% of the bay's surface area and less than 10% of it's shoreline.
Antonini and Box (1996) classified the trafficsheds of Sarasota Bay into five categories according to their complexity, number of entrances, whether from dredge-and-fill or in a natural state. The categories are described in table 5.1, diagrammed in figure 5.1 and mapped in 5.2. For this study, only two categories of trafficshed are considered based on properties that affect boat traffic: ones with a single entrance, and ones with multiple entrances. Two multiple entrance (number 21, Boat Name Lanes, and number 30, Bird Key), and two single entrance (number 47, Mt. Vernon/Coral Shores and number 42, Whitaker Bayou) were selected for more detailed analysis. Their locations are noted in figure 5.3.
