Senate Bill 2494
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1999 SB 2494
By Senator Jones
40-1542-99
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the administration and
3 financing of public transit programs and
4 projects; amending s. 341.051, F.S.; increasing
5 the percentage of the nonfederal share of the
6 costs of certain eligible public transit
7 capital projects or commuter assistance
8 projects which may be funded by the Department
9 of Transportation; providing an effective date.
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11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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13 Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 341.051, Florida
14 Statutes, is amended to read:
15 341.051 Administration and financing of public transit
16 programs and projects.--
17 (5) FUND PARTICIPATION; CAPITAL ASSISTANCE.--
18 (a) The department may fund up to 100 50 percent of
19 the nonfederal share of the costs, not to exceed the local
20 share, of any eligible public transit capital project or
21 commuter assistance project that is local in scope; except,
22 however, that departmental participation in the final design,
23 right-of-way acquisition, and construction phases of an
24 individual fixed-guideway project which is not approved for
25 federal funding shall not exceed an amount equal to 12.5
26 percent of the total cost of each phase.
27 (b) The Department of Transportation shall develop a
28 major capital investment policy which shall include policy
29 criteria and guidelines for the expenditure or commitment of
30 state funds for public transit capital projects. The policy
31 shall include the following:
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 2494
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1 1. Methods to be used to determine consistency of a
2 transit project with the approved local government
3 comprehensive plans of the units of local government in which
4 the project is located.
5 2. Methods for evaluating the level of local
6 commitment to a transit project, which is to be demonstrated
7 through system planning and the development of a feasible plan
8 to fund operating cost through fares, value capture techniques
9 such as joint development and special districts, or other
10 local funding mechanisms.
11 3. Methods for evaluating alternative transit systems
12 including an analysis of technology and alternative methods
13 for providing transit services in the corridor.
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15 The department shall present such investment policy to both
16 the Senate Transportation Committee and the House Public
17 Transportation Committee along with recommended legislation by
18 March 1, 1991.
19 (c) The department is authorized to fund up to 100
20 percent of the cost of any eligible transit capital project or
21 commuter assistance project that is statewide in scope or
22 involves more than one county where no other governmental
23 entity or appropriate jurisdiction exists.
24 (d) The department is authorized to advance up to 80
25 percent of the capital cost of any eligible project that will
26 assist Florida's transit systems in becoming fiscally
27 self-sufficient. Such advances shall be reimbursed to the
28 department on an appropriate schedule not to exceed 5 years
29 after the date of provision of the advances.
30 (e) The department is authorized to fund up to 100
31 percent of the capital and net operating costs of statewide
2
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 2494
40-1542-99
1 transit service development projects or transit corridor
2 projects. All transit service development projects shall be
3 specifically identified by way of a departmental appropriation
4 request, and transit corridor projects shall be identified as
5 part of the planned improvements on each transportation
6 corridor designated by the department. The project
7 objectives, the assigned operational and financial
8 responsibilities, the timeframe required to develop the
9 required service, and the criteria by which the success of the
10 project will be judged shall be documented by the department
11 for each such transit service development project or transit
12 corridor project.
13 (f) The department is authorized to fund up to 50
14 percent of the capital and net operating costs of transit
15 service development projects that are local in scope and that
16 will improve system efficiencies, ridership, or revenues. All
17 such projects shall be identified in the appropriation request
18 of the department through a specific program of projects, as
19 provided for in s. 341.041, that is selectively applied in the
20 following functional areas and is subject to the specified
21 times of duration:
22 1. Improving system operations, including, but not
23 limited to, realigning route structures, increasing system
24 average speed, decreasing deadhead mileage, expanding area
25 coverage, and improving schedule adherence, for a period of up
26 to 3 years;
27 2. Improving system maintenance procedures, including,
28 but not limited to, effective preventive maintenance programs,
29 improved mechanics training programs, decreasing service
30 repair calls, decreasing parts inventory requirements, and
31 decreasing equipment downtime, for a period of up to 3 years;
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 2494
40-1542-99
1 3. Improving marketing and consumer information
2 programs, including, but not limited to, automated information
3 services, organized advertising and promotion programs, and
4 signing of designated stops, for a period of up to 2 years;
5 and
6 4. Improving technology involved in overall
7 operations, including, but not limited to, transit equipment,
8 fare collection techniques, electronic data processing
9 applications, and bus locators, for a period of up to 2 years.
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11 The term "net operating costs" means all operating costs of a
12 project less any federal funds, fares, or other sources of
13 income to the project.
14 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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17 SENATE SUMMARY
18 Allows the Department of Transportation to fund up to 100
percent, rather than up to 50 percent, of the nonfederal
19 share of the costs of certain eligible public transit
capital projects or commuter assistance projects.
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