This is a widely shared experience in Florida, Governor. It is miserable for all who drive in it.
Florida’s highways and side roads are congested, but Florida drivers are constantly bombarded with the stupidity of being told that more roads lead to more growth and more growth will lead to better results. As Florida does, more growth creates more traffic congestion. Poverty will accelerate because the more we grow, the worse it gets, and everyone knows it.
Contrary to what you suggest in your speech, Florida is only coasting on momentum at this point. Insofar as you can claim that Florida’s highway projects are “fully funded” (we all know they are not), it is because of a single round of highway expansion money from the federal government.
The same federal government that is broke, running a massive deficit and paying over a trillion dollars a year just in interest on past due debts. Their ridiculous expenses are not something to be happy about, even if they pretend to somehow solve Florida’s transportation funding problems. While Florida drivers are mired in years of construction delays, they know that critical road maintenance funds were diverted to provide the state matching funds needed to secure that federal money.
All this while cutting tolls on roads that are already riddled with cracks, potholes and wheel ruts. Florida drivers don’t feel miserable because of bike lanes. They feel miserable because driving in Florida is miserable. The state has no plan but to increase that poverty.
Florida roads are also becoming less safe by the day. Florida has some of the most dangerous roads in the nation. Every Florida resident knows someone who, through no fault of their own, has been in a car accident where someone was killed or traumatically injured. It’s a misery that never goes away.
The state maintains medium-speed traffic-style construction with signs spaced at half a mile on streets aligned with strip development. This is designed to create growth, but growth is a collection of strip malls, franchise restaurants and other low-value investments. This is not only the most miserable environment to drive in, it is an approach well known to be deadly.
Governor DeSantis, the experience of driving in Florida is one of continued poverty. You never go fast enough to get anywhere quickly, but everything is so spread out that you’re always forced to drive. Many residents have gotten used to this and welcome any chance for a truce, but it lacks credibility. A growing number, however, are asking for something else.
It’s no coincidence that the highest real estate values in Florida are places where you can bike and walk safely. In fact, the most successful places intentionally get people out of their cars to increase the value of cycling and walking. And they make this experience as pleasant as possible.
Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld bring millions of people to Florida every year. Those guests suffer the misery of driving in your state to get to the places where we met no cars at all. And they pay premium prices for this luxury.
The development should not exclude the automobile, however, to see huge benefits from the cycling and walking infrastructure. Whether it’s Winter Park, West Palm Beach, or famous Seaside, Florida has many places designed to despise the automobile. These places are very successful.
Instead of lurching from one boom-and-bust financing crisis to another, instead of building the next level of shopping malls or the next round of congested freeways, Florida needs a different approach. The state needs to lean into a mindset of quality over quantity. We have expanded enough; now we need to make better use of all the things we have built.
To do that, Governor, we need a serious discussion about bike lanes, sidewalks and safe streets.
I agree with you that rarely used bike lanes and underused buses are a waste of public funds. Most of the transportation investments we build today go through the state DOT and regional highway authorities. They have money, but their systems are not where people bike or where we want them to walk. When FDOT adds bike and walking facilities as an afterthought to their projects, it’s mostly wasteful spending that drives me crazy.
As much as you don’t want to hear this, governor, the ones in the best place to make big investments in cycling and walking are the cities. They know where people bike, they know where people try to walk and they know where these investments will have the biggest impact.
Here’s the great thing: they don’t need your money. A little money would help, but what would help more is a state DOT that was easier for them to work with. That, and for the state to stop funding highway expansion and new roads (which Florida can’t afford anyway) and instead focus the state’s efforts on actually maintain the transportation system we’ve already committed to.
Ultimately, the best thing that will help the state is a development model that is more financially productive, less about getting the next one, less in need of state subsidies and less dependent on the front road. Quality over quantity. Florida will truly become the best place in America to live.
Here is the aspiration. To begin with, we simply make driving a little less miserable. A big part of that is making it easier for people to bike and walk, especially in the state’s cities. Governor DeSantis, you can be an ally for that effort at no cost, financial or otherwise. And you can do it in a pro-driving way because every car journey starts and ends with someone walking.
We can make the whole experience less miserable for everyone.
