"Knock Out the Tolls": Governor DeSantis Weighs Toll-Free Roads for Floridians"

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has a hypothetical he floated at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting: “What if we didn’t have tolls in Florida?”

He said this while the state has been using a budget surplus to pay down debt sooner than scheduled. So it got him thinking, at least out loud, about tolls on state roads, including the Turnpike. “We’re going to be able to be paying off taxpayer-supported debt … ,” DeSantis said. “But what about these tolls? I know other folks have purview on that, but I just want to have an aspiration on the table if there’s a way to do it where Florida taxpayers aren’t paying tolls. We subsidize these roads with tolls. People pay tolls, sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars in tolls every year, and then they’re like, ‘What are you doing for our roads?’”

DeSantis suggests shifting the burden to tourists. “I’m looking at tolls, like why are we even doing this?” he added. “We got some visitors in this state, and we should have them pay the freight here, too, instead of every time it’s locals for the first time.”

He also reiterated the question several times, including, “How long is it going to be before we say, ‘Okay, we’re done with tolls’? I mean, they go back as long as I can remember. When are we going to get paid off?”

Ben Watkins, Florida’s Director of Bond Finance, said an analysis of eliminating tolls would be done by his office. Florida has around 700 miles of toll roads. Orange County has over 150 of those miles. A recent Turnpike System report said it collected $1.3 billion in tolls last year, but only spent $275 million in operations and maintenance on those roads. However, the system still has more than $3.2 billion in bonded debt remaining — about a third of the maximum allowed under state law.

This isn’t DeSantis’ first move on tolls. He’s ordered their suspension during hurricanes, and he started a relief program that refunded half of monthly toll costs to drivers who used at least 35 tolls in a month. That 2023 toll relief program for Florida drivers saved more than 1.2 million commuters about $500 million in total, or about $400 each, based on the math.

If the governor can push for his suggestion in earnest, it could be the first time that residents of the Sunshine State will be able to drive without paying tolls.