Gov. Crist Can Improve Florida Transportation by Signing HB 1271
By Doug Callaway
Floridians for Better Transportation
Gov. Crist has demonstrated strong leadership by vetoing the Legislature’s effort to raid $160 million from Florida’s Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for needed transportation projects with revenue collected from gas taxes.
This action will ensure that money paid by Florida motorists through state gas taxes will continue to serve its intended purpose — creating jobs and keeping Florida’s transportation system safe, efficient and effective.
With this accomplishment under his belt, Gov. Crist can now finish the job and leave a lasting and positive legacy on transportation issues by approving a second piece of the puzzle – HB 1271, a comprehensive bill containing key priorities for Florida’s transportation system.
Some of the most important items in the bill are of critical importance to Florida’s commuters. To ensure the future of our state’s crucial I-4 corridor is one of freely flowing traffic rather than gridlock, HB 1271 streamlines the bonding process for projects approved by the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority and the Tampa–Hillsborough County Expressway Authority. The bill also creates the Osceola County Expressway Authority to reduce future traffic congestion in the fast-growing region southeast of Orlando.
Other items in the bill work to reduce transportation costs while protecting Florida’s air quality. One such provision promotes the use of Auxiliary Power Units in trucks to provide truck drivers a fuel-saving and emissions-reducing alternative to idling their main engines during required rest stops. These smaller generators will reduce air pollution, conserve fuel and save money.
The bill also includes a compromise between Florida’s harbor pilots and operators of the cruise and shipping vessels they guide into port. This measure will promote cooperation to create safer ports while reducing costs to consumers and tourists alike.
Another measure that would reduce consumer costs is a provision to allow Florida’s Department of Transportation to permit trucks to carry additional freight along pre-determined safe routes. This measure would help improve efficiency by reducing the number of trips needed to deliver maximum loads, thus reducing traffic congestion, fuel consumption and air emissions.
Next, the bill would update rules to improve the swift collection of tolls and promote efficient management of toll roads. A separate provision promotes the reasonable pricing of fares for riders on the new public rail systems expected to come online in the next decade.
Finally, the bill contains a key provision that would promote security at small, public-use airports that are too often ignored by airport security programs. This measure will help protect our citizens while ensuring that small airports remain open for business.
In summary, HB 1271 contains a basketful of common-sense improvements to Florida’s transportation system that together will achieve results greater than the sum of their parts.
In conjunction with Gov. Crist’s leadership to return $160 million in critical transportation funding, signing HB 1271 would truly be the right thing to do. As our economy begins to recover, Floridians need HB 1271 to help create jobs, improve trade and travel, and secure a prosperous future for our state.
Doug Callaway is president of Floridians for Better Transportation.
