Florida Senate - 2017                             CS for SB 1570
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Transportation; and Senator Garcia
       
       
       
       
       
       596-02752-17                                          20171570c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to express lanes; amending s. 338.166,
    3         F.S.; requiring the Department of Transportation to
    4         ensure reasonable and practicably feasible entry and
    5         exit points on its express lanes and to undertake
    6         efforts to expand reasonable and practicably feasible
    7         entry and exit points for certain purposes;
    8         prohibiting a toll from being charged on express lanes
    9         under certain circumstances; providing for measurement
   10         of the average speed of vehicles; amending s.
   11         338.2216, F.S.; requiring the Florida Turnpike
   12         Enterprise to ensure reasonable and practicably
   13         feasible entry and exit points on its express lanes
   14         and to undertake efforts to expand reasonable and
   15         practicably feasible entry and exit points for certain
   16         purposes; requiring a toll charged to be the same for
   17         the use of express and general toll lanes under
   18         certain circumstances; providing for measurement of
   19         the average speed of vehicles; providing an effective
   20         date.
   21          
   22  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   23  
   24         Section 1. Present subsections (5) and (6) of section
   25  338.166, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (6) and
   26  (7), respectively, and a new subsection (5) is added to that
   27  section, to read:
   28         338.166 High-occupancy toll lanes or express lanes.—
   29         (5) The department shall ensure reasonable and practicably
   30  feasible entry and exit points on its express lanes and shall
   31  undertake efforts to expand reasonable and practicably feasible
   32  entry and exit points to increase accessibility and ease of
   33  entry and exit to and from its express lanes while meeting
   34  operational performance goals. If the maintained average speed
   35  of vehicles traveling in an express lane is equivalent to or
   36  less than that of vehicles traveling in adjacent general-use
   37  lanes, no toll shall be charged. The average speed of vehicles
   38  shall be measured at the middle point between an entry point and
   39  an exit point.
   40         Section 2. Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (1) of
   41  section 338.2216, Florida Statutes, to read:
   42         338.2216 Florida Turnpike Enterprise; powers and
   43  authority.—
   44         (1)
   45         (e) The Florida Turnpike Enterprise shall ensure reasonable
   46  and practicably feasible entry and exit points on its express
   47  lanes and shall undertake efforts to expand reasonable and
   48  practicably feasible entry and exit points to increase
   49  accessibility and ease of entry and exit to and from its express
   50  lanes while meeting operational performance goals. If the
   51  maintained average speed of vehicles traveling in an express
   52  lane is equivalent to or less than that of vehicles traveling in
   53  adjacent general toll lanes, the toll charged for the express
   54  lane must be the same as the toll for the general toll lanes.
   55  The average speed of vehicles shall be measured at the middle
   56  point between an entry point and an exit point.
   57         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.