TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The much-anticipated return of toll relief for Florida drivers is here.
The year-long program giving bill credits to frequent toll-road users began Monday after getting approval last month from state lawmakers.
“This is not an April Fool's joke,” Governor Ron DeSantis said during an appearance at the Greater Miami Expressway Agency Monday. “You are getting toll relief in the state of Florida for all of our commuters.”
As lawmakers last month completed talks on a new state budget and a separate tax relief package, DeSantis said his office called for reviving a toll-credit program that had provided breaks to motorists in 2023.
The program, which is expected to cost about $450 million, will provide 50% credits to motorists with SunPass or other Florida transponders, like E-ZPass, who make 35 or more toll-road trips a month. Only two-axle vehicles are allowed, so mostly cars and light trucks. Not big commercial vehicles and no motorcycles, either.
The credits will start to appear on May bills, DeSantis said.
The toll rebate program has been a big hit, saving more than 1.1 million drivers a total of $500 million in 2023, according to the governor's office. That's an average of $400 per driver.
In some cases, it saves those who qualify up to $100 a month, the governor said.
Proponents of the toll rebate program said it mostly benefits local working-class people who could use some relief from higher fuel prices and insurance costs.
DeSantis also announced construction moving forward on the $150 million Golden Glades highway project in Miami-Dade County. DeSantis and the state Cabinet last Tuesday approved bond sales that included assisting the Golden Glades work, which is part of a transportation initiative known as Moving Florida Forward.
“It’s not going to be done by next month, but you know, it's going to be done earlier than it would have been had we not done Moving Florida Forward,” DeSantis said.
The Golden Glades work is expected to link Florida’s Turnpike with Interstate 95, the Palmetto Expressway, State Road 9 and State Road 7. Introduced by DeSantis in January 2023, Moving Florida Forward is a $7 billion, four-year plan designed to advance a series of transportation projects across the state.
10 Tampa Bay reporter Eric Glasser contributed to this story.
