From the newly approved, record-breaking extension of the Suncoast Parkway to the future Naples-area toll road toward Interstate 4 near Orlando, tollways are multiplying in the Sunshine State.
Tolls collected by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and local entities like Miami-Dade County and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) are reinvested into the roadways in the form of roadway extensions, maintenance ramps and lighting. Historically, governments paid for road projects through a gas tax, but revenues plateaued as cars became more fuel efficient, while tolls remained reliable.
In the last fiscal year ending July 2018, FDOT — which manages Florida’s Turnpike, the Turnpike Extension through Homestead, the Palmetto Expressway (State Road 826) and interstate express lanes — pulled in about $430 million from its tolls through Broward and Miami-Dade alone, according to financial reports.
Read more at our news partner the Miami Herald.
