Florida Expressway Authority Takeover

[realjd]

So a bill that just left committee in the FL Senate called for an elimination of toll discounts for SunPass users and, more shockingly, the state takeover of the local expressway authorities.

Apparently, the Garcon Point Bridge is causing the Santa Rosa County expressway authority to go bankrupt. The senator sponsoring this bill represents Santa Rosa County. He essentially wants Tampa and Orlando to bail out his district's mismanaged toll bridge. The other big support from this is from SW Florida where the politicians want to spend Tampa and Orlando toll money to construct the Heartland Parkway toll road between Polk County and Fort Myers.

Interestingly, MDX is the only toll agency exempt from state takeover.

http://www.wftv.com/news/27363008/detail.html
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/politics/031511-could-expressway-authority-be-taken-over
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/os-xway-consolidate-20110330,0,5543084.story

I could see this being disastrous for Orlando and Tampa. Currently, with tolls set locally and spent locally, we have fantastic freeways. I don't see anywhere near as much money being kept locally if the state takes over the expressway authorities.

Another theory going around locally is that this is an excuse to get all of the toll roads (outside of Miami) into one system so the state can get a big fat corporate lease for them, similar to what Indiana did with it's turnpike.

[froggie]

I don't think it's so much a case of a mismanaged toll bridge as it is a bridge that never has and never will have the traffic volumes to support paying off the bridge bonds.

[xcellntbuy]

From my readings of the past, Florida State-seizure of local toll expressway authorities is certainly not new.  The old Broward County Expressway Authority mismanaged the Sawgrass Expressway after it was built in the late-1980s and apparently corrupt politicians had a hand in making the roadway a big money loser for what was then known as a "road to nowhere."  The Florida's Turnpike Enterprise has long since taken over operations and maintenance of the Sawgrass Expressway, widened the entire road to six lanes and installed electronic toll gantries.  Exact change booths still exist on almost all exits.

[realjd]

If the bridge is having financial problems like the articles state, I'm fine with FDOT/FTE taking over that. I didn't know about Broward, but that shows that is a feasible solution. It makes absolutely no sense though for the state to take over two local toll agencies that are financially stable and do a good job taking care of local transportation needs. It seems like a big power grab to me and is only going to be a bad thing for Tampa and Orlando.

MDX was most likely exempt because the politicians involved knew better than to get on the wrong side of the powerful Miami political machine. I doubt the fact that MDX only took over its roads relatively recently had anything to do with it.

The articles also don't mention other smaller toll roads like the Card Sound Bridge, Osceola Parkway, the Lee County bridges, or the bridge to Pensacola Beach. The only plus side I can see is that, if the state takes them over also, the ones that don't will probably start accepting SunPass!

[Ace10]

The one thing I don't like about this is that the discounts may go away. Those discounts are really nice to have! They exist on nearly every road that is owned by FTE, and FTE has deals with the other authorities (OOCEA, LeeWay, etc) so that SunPass users benefit from discounts with those authorities.

I can understand why MDX would not be reabsorbed, because all of their roads were originally FTE-owned, and then the state created MDX in order to keep the toll revenue from their roads strictly in Miami-Dade - which I agree with. Users of those roads should be the beneficiaries of any improvements their toll funds go towards. That's also why I agree with those above who state OOCEA's roads are in good shape and it would be a good idea to keep the toll revenue local instead of state-wide.

[DeaconG]

Looks like the Florida senate woke up and decided not to pursue the repeal of the toll discounts:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/state/os-sunpass-discount-repeal-dropped-20110408,0,5564814.story

Living close to Orlando and all I'd much rather the state leave OOCEA alone and let it get on with trying to get the Wekiva Parkway (and the last link to a Orlando beltway) completed.

[Ace10]

Awesome. Though I did see in the article it mentioned a "5 percent discount". Isn't the SunPass discount closer to ... 25 percent? (Though there is a 5% discount applied to OOCEA roads for SunPass users (and E-Pass users too?) for a certain number of transactions per month...) Just was wondering about that small detail.

Also living near Orlando, even though I'm more of a fan of FTE than OOCEA, I still support the localization of toll revenue. I generally use OOCEA roads more than FTE around town, though I do some short trips on SR 528 and the Turnpike.

[xcellntbuy]

The Florida's Turnpike discount is 25 cents.

[Ace10]

The Florida's Turnpike discount is 25 cents.

Well, in some parts, it is. I know that the northernmost toll barrier on the Turnpike (the one near US 27) is $2.50 for cash customers, but $2.00 for SunPass users. Same thing for the Lake Jessup toll barrier on FL 417. Regular toll is $2.00 for cash customers, but $1.50 for SunPass users. Lots of ramp tolls are discounted by 25 cents though.

[xcellntbuy]

Undoubtedly it is a better discount outside of Broward County, where I reside.  Whenever I travel one of my area's toll roads, it is always a quarter per ramp or toll booth.  Thank you for that clarification.

Nonetheless, I just read in this morning's Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel that the Senate has dropped the Sunpass discount elimination plan since it was considered a minor part of the bill.

[Ace10]

Undoubtedly it is a better discount outside of Broward County, where I reside.  Whenever I travel one of my area's toll roads, it is always a quarter per ramp or toll booth.  Thank you for that clarification.

Nonetheless, I just read in this morning's Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel that the Senate has dropped the Sunpass discount elimination plan since it was considered a minor part of the bill.

Awesome. If anything, I think that may make some SunPass users reconsider using the toll roads - at least the ones FTE-owned. I sometimes hop on the first few miles of 417 near Celebration (where it's still FTE-owned) just to avoid the US 192 traffic, and only pay a quarter. Doing that would then double if that part of bill was passed, and I'd rethink doing that from then on. Glad to hear that, at least now, that's out of the picture.

[xcellntbuy]

I would hope the Florida Legislature would try to encourage even more use of Sunpass not only by retaining the discount, but also start a process of eliminating the toll suspensions when there are hurricane emergencies.  The Turnpike Enterprise lost millions when the tolls were lifted after Hurricane Wilma from the Keys through the three Gold Coast counties.  If I remember correctly, something like $66 million in tolls were lost during the hurricane suspension period.  The possibility of continued toll collection during emergencies exists with elimination of all toll booths on the Homestead Extension of the Florida's Turnpike from Exit 47, south.

[NE2]

They don't suspend tolls solely because of delay caused by collecting tolls and the need for workers...

[realjd]

I would hope the Florida Legislature would try to encourage even more use of Sunpass not only by retaining the discount, but also start a process of eliminating the toll suspensions when there are hurricane emergencies.  The Turnpike Enterprise lost millions when the tolls were lifted after Hurricane Wilma from the Keys through the three Gold Coast counties.  If I remember correctly, something like $66 million in tolls were lost during the hurricane suspension period.  The possibility of continued toll collection during emergencies exists with elimination of all toll booths on the Homestead Extension of the Florida's Turnpike from Exit 47, south.

It becomes a safety issue during hurricanes. They need to move traffic quickly away from the coast. And how would they implement toll collection during contraflow operations?

The state (FTE) is converting Miami area toll roads, along with MDX, to toll-by-plate. Sunpass still offers a discount, but if you don't have a SunPass, they'll just send the registered owner of the car a bill. It's just a matter of time before this is extended statewide.

And in other news (since I'm thinking about it), the SunPass Mini sticker can be read if you're just holding it up to the windshield. The nonsense about the windshield acting as an antenna is just that - nonsense. Glass antennas aren't a thing. I work with a guy who owns a motorcycle and stuck it to the top of his helmet.

[xcellntbuy]

I have one of the old, original Sunpass devices and have never attached it to the windshield so that I can take it from one car to another of my four cars.  I do the same with my EZPass when I travel back to the Northeast.

[Alex]

Mid-Bay Bridge Authority fighting for its life

The Mid-Bay Bridge Authority is fighting for its life as legislation moves through the state capitol that would do away with it.

Retired Air Force Gen. Gordon Fornell, the authority's board chairman, and Mary Kraemer, its attorney, have been lobbying for support to oppose the proposed dismantling, said Jim Vest, executive director of the agency.

"It takes away all local control of the Mid-Bay Bridge,"  Vest said.

The bill that would eliminate the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority, the Orange County Expressway Authority and the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority was introduced by another local, state Sen. Don Gaetz.

Read the bill analysis and fiscal impact statement.

And as chairman of the subcommittee that puts together the Senate's transportation budget, Gaetz has clout.

A Niceville resident himself, Gaetz said his plan to bring the three authorities under the control of the Florida Turnpike Enterprise "would save at least $24 million on a recurring basis."

"We do not lose local control,"  Gaetz argued. "What we lose is $24 million in administrative overhead that is duplicative and triplicative across the state."

One provision in the original bill that would have done away with Sunpass discounts was pulled from the Senate version by Senate President Mike Haridopolos and will not be considered, Gaetz said.

Vest said the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority has joined forces with the Orlando and Tampa authorities in their lobbying efforts.

Since April 7, those efforts have been focused on state House members. The Senate budget that includes Gaetz's bill has already passed the Legislature's upper chamber.

Working in the authority's favor, Vest said, is that there is no companion bill in the House.

But Gaetz said there is no need for a conforming bill to have a companion bill. His bill will be considered in conference committee.

Vest said the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority isn't responsible for driving up administrative costs. The authority employs just two staff members and office costs are "less than $200,000,"  he said.

He said the authority's budget was "in the neighborhood of $700,000."

Last May, Okaloosa County commissioners approved a fiscal 2011 budget of $792,000 for the Bridge Authority.

Vest said the authority's lobbying efforts have included making contact with local House members Brad Drake, Marti Coley and Matt Gaetz.

Drake, R-DeFuniak Springs and Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, said if given the chance they'd likely support Don Gaetz in his effort to eliminate the three local authorities.

"At first glance when you look at the bill it sounds like we'd be losing local control, but we would not lose local control,"  Drake said. "We'd also be the beneficiaries of the added bond capacity of up to $3.5 billion."

He said consolidating the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority with the two much larger authorities under one agency's purview would create a pool of money all would draw from.

Thirdly, Drake said, Gaetz's bill would eliminate several executive directors' salaries of close to $200,000 each and give their duties to a director presently making $110,000.

Matt Gaetz also said the state would save "tens of millions of dollars"  in interest costs lost because of the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority's very low BBB bond rating.

The bill has nothing to do with the Garcon Point Bridge, Don Gaetz said.

"The Bo's bridge (the Garcon Point Bridge's nickname) problem is very different from the problems of these authorities,"  Gaetz said. "The Bo's bridge problem is a problem of insolvency and that problem can only be solved by the institutional investor who bought the bonds.

"This is a cost-saving bill."

[Alex]

No longer going to happen...

Mid-Bay Bridge Authority is off the chopping block

The Mid-Bay Bridge Authority will live to see another day after state budget leaders abandoned a proposal calling for its elimination.

Senate President Mike Haridopolis and House Speaker Dean Cannon emerged from budget talks Tuesday with a deal that did not include the provision.

Niceville Republican Sen. Don Gaetz spearheaded the push for the state to take over the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority, the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority and the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority. The Senate proposal would have folded the three agencies into Florida's Turnpike Enterprise.

Gaetz said elimination of the agencies would have saved taxpayers $24 million in administrative costs.

The Bridge Authority, along with the Destin Area Chamber of Commerce, the Okaloosa County Economic Development Council and the Okaloosa County Commission opposed the measure and launched a strong lobbying campaign against it.

Gaetz said Tuesday the "intensive"  lobbying efforts eventually forced the Senate to withdraw the proposal.

[realjd]

Great news!

[xcellntbuy]

Very good news, indeed.

For fellow Florida residents, our new Governor Rick Scott has not been enjoying much, if any, of a political honeymoon with the state legislature on a host of budget items and political topics despite large 2/3 Republican majorities in both houses of the Legislature.  The legislative session ends on May 6 so it will be interesting to see what develops concerning transportation.