Monday, August 26, 2024

State says Toll Relief Program has already saved drivers nearly $165M

By Drew Dixon on August 26, 2024

A new Florida program to lower toll costs for drivers in the Sunshine State has already saved an estimated $164.5 million since it was introduced in April.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) announced that the state's Toll Relief Program has made a dramatic impact in its first four months. The initiative offers financial relief for motorists who drive on the state's vast network of toll roads.

About 1.2 million motorists are taking advantage of the program each month, per the state. In July alone, there were credits issued amounting to $41.5 million in savings, FDOT officials said.

"The Toll Relief Program offers FDOT a chance to provide commuters, small business owners, and other frequent travelers with relief in a time when prices on everything else are rising," said FDOT Secretary Jared W. Perdue. "Thank you Gov. Ron DeSantis for your leadership in bringing this highly successful program back for another year."

The Toll Relief Program is aimed primarily at SunPass customers already using toll roads regularly in the state, though it is not exclusively for SunPass members. Each motorist with 35 or more paid transactions that occur within a calendar month automatically receives a 50% toll credit on the pay roads.

While the current Toll Relief Program was initiated in April, it is set to run through March 2025 in its current form. The 50% savings passed along to SunPass customers is on top of their 25% reductions on tolls they get for enrolling in SunPass. Once a motorist joins the program, they are issued a transponder by the state, which is mounted on the vehicle and read at toll gates as the vehicle passes through.

The program is administered by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, and the current turnpike savings program isn't the first in the state. There was a Toll Relief Program in 2023 that saved an estimated $470 million for motorists in Florida. An estimated 1.2 million motorists benefited from that program last year, which amounted to an annual savings of just under $400 per driver.