TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped an idea during a Wednesday cabinet meeting that could save Florida residents hundreds of dollars a year — shifting the cost of toll roads to non-residents.
During the meeting, DeSantis suggested that out-of-towners should be footing more of the bill for Florida’s 700-plus miles of toll roads.
DeSantis has given residents toll relief in the past by discounting costs by 50% while drivers hit 35 or more tolls in a single month. His current suggestion would mean a 100% discount for Floridians, and shift the cost completely to non-residents.
“How long do we keep the tolls? These tolls, they’ve been here since I can remember, like as a kid, the tolls on the turnpike,” DeSantis said Wednesday. “You know, at what point is all this going to be paid off now? Now maybe we have uptake. Look, you could charge the visitors, and they could probably support it all and give our Florida residents a break. I think that would be a really good idea.”
DeSantis did not give any details on how the toll program would work or how the pricing structure would make up for the funds lost if residents no longer pay tolls.
In the previous half-off program, state officials said it saved motorists about $400 each in 2023, with a total cost of about $500 million to the state.