ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced a six-month SunPass toll rebate program during a news conference at Florida’s Turnpike headquarters in Orlando.
The project, dubbed the “SunPass Savings Program,” will credit drivers a portion of the cost for a certain amount of tolls per month on most FDOT and Turnpike-operated toll roads. The program will begin Sept. 1; the savings percentages and required number of trips vary, but it will automatically apply to anyone with a SunPass-compatible transponder on a 2-axle vehicle.
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“This is small but important savings, and when you look at everything else we’re doing, you know, this adds up to give people some breathing room because the inflation is costing people thousands of dollars a year,” DeSantis said.
For 40-79 tolls in a month, drivers will receive a 20% credit to their SunPass account the following month, and those who pay 80 tolls or more will receive a 25% rebate.
“We’re really focusing on the people that are commuters because, you know, you have tourists come, they’ll pay a toll or something like that, OK, we’ll take that ... sorry, I’d rather them pay than us pay, but the people that are on our roads a lot, obviously these are our people and we want to be able to provide relief,” DeSantis said.
The SunPass program will apply to the following roadways:
- Turnpike Mainline (SR 91 / SR 821)
- Sawgrass Expressway (SR 869)
- Alligator Alley
- Polk Parkway (SR 570)
- Sunshine Skyway Bridge
- I-4 Connector
- Veterans Expressway (SR 589)
- Suncoast Parkway (SR 589)
- Beachline East (SR 528) MP 0-8
- Beachline West (SR 528) MP 31-46
- Western Beltway (SR 429) MP 0-11
- Southern Connector Extension (SR 417) MP 0-3
- Seminole Expressway (SR 417) MP 38-55 A/B
- Wekiva Parkway (SR 429) Mount Plymouth Road to SR 46
- First Coast Expressway (SR 23)
- Garcon Point Bridge
- Pinellas Bayway
- 95 Express
- 75 Express
- Palmetto Express
- 595 Express
- I-4 Express
- 295 Express East
- 295 Express West
DeSantis said he would announce “the biggest tax relief package in the history of this state” at a future news conference.
“So, part of what we’re going to be doing is we’re going to be working with the legislature to advance a big package for toll relief for motorists and for commuters,” DeSantis said.
With regard to the roadways left out of the SunPass program, DeSantis said he lacked the authority to credit drivers unilaterally on the Central Florida Expressway, as well as on the Miami-Dade Expressway, issues he expects to be addressed in “a bold proposal for the next legislative session.”
“Obviously we have the Turnpike authority, but legislatively, we can work with the (Florida) Legislature to probably provide relief across the board for all of that. So that’s going to be on the agenda,” DeSantis said.
“We think the Governor’s proposal is a great idea,” Central Florida Express Authority Communications Manager Brian Hutchings said in a statement. “E-PASS customers have been receiving volume discounts since 1998. When someone chooses E-PASS, they are automatically enrolled in the volume discount program. Last year we gave back over $17.5 million through our volume discount program to E-PASS customers. Our board has been talking about expanding our volume discount program since March 2022. This will be an agenda item at our September 8th board meeting.”
DeSantis said the program will benefit about 400,000 SunPass customers, and he forecast nearly $40 million would be returned to drivers on toll roads between September and March.
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