Florida Law Targets ‘Activist’ Road Diets

Gov. DeSantis signed a transportation law that complicates the process for lane reductions, despite the rising number of pedestrian deaths in the state.

1 minute read

April 8, 2024, 5:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


View of blurred traffic on South Beach, Miami street at nighttime.

Traffic in South Beach, Miami, Florida. | lucky-photo / Adobe Stock

In a move that politicizes road safety, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that both accelerates funding for major transportation projects and complicates the public process for road diet and lane adjustment projects. “This, DeSantis said, was needed to prevent ‘activists’ from promoting congestion on roads to convince people to give up gas-powered cars.”

Florida has the distinction of being the deadliest state for cyclists and ranks third in pedestrian deaths.

As Gray Rohrer explains in Florida Politics, “The bill prevents public transportation agencies from using state funds for marketing or advertising on public vehicles. DeSantis suggested that such funds could be used to push diversity, equity and inclusion or other progressive ideology, but didn’t cite an example of that happening in Florida.”

Another provision bars state funding for airports, seaports, or other transportation agencies that enact Covid-19 mask mandates.

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