Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Scott PowersJanuary 27, 2017

Blowback erupted from another direction for the South Florida Regional Transit Authority late Friday over its big and controversial Tri-Rail operations contract when Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jim Boxold questioned the agency’s accountability and threatened to cut off its state money. Boxold sent the transit authority’s Executive Director Jack Stephens a letter late Friday questioning the SFRTA’s […]

Scott PowersJanuary 21, 2017

By the end of this year Orlando’s gleaming new $211 million train station should be virtually finished at Orlando International Airport, but it may be many years before trains start rolling in – if at all. The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority is building a train station based on a vision of the future in which […]

Peter SchorschOctober 4, 2016

Jackie Toledo, the oft-controversial Republican running for Florida House District 60, has a major fundraiser planned for Tuesday. And while the invitation for the event is studded with dozens of local Republican heavyweights, I’m still not sure what to make of Toledo. Is she, as I want to believe, the latest in a line of […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterOctober 3, 2016

Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for all of Florida as Hurricane Matthew barrels toward Jamaica and Haiti. Heavy bands from the Category 4 storm have already flooded streets and sent many people to emergency shelters in the two countries. Two deaths have already been reported in Haiti, bringing the total for the […]

Anne LindbergSeptember 26, 2016

State Sen. Jack Latvala on Monday wrote to the Florida Department of Transportation objecting to any plan to start charging tolls on current lanes of the Howard Frankland bridge. Latvala was reacting to recent news that state officials plan to take one of the four existing lanes in each direction on the bridge and charge […]

Staff ReportsSeptember 26, 2016

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Who knows: Florida Polytechnic University could be where one of the self-driving cars of the future is tested. The school and the Florida Department of Transportation on Monday agreed to partner on the creation of a new “transportation technology testing facility” to be called SunTrax. SunTrax will include a 2.25 mile oval track on a 400-acre site […]

Michael MolineSeptember 7, 2016

Gov. Rick Scott hit the streets of Tallahassee Wednesday, picking up piles of fallen tree limbs and other debris and tossing them into the beds of Florida Department of Transportation trucks for disposal. Wearing jeans, work gloves, and a Navy bill cap, his shirt sleeves rolled up, Scott got to work on the city’s southside, […]

Michael MolineSeptember 6, 2016

Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday he personally would help clear debris in Tallahassee. On Wednesday, “I, along with agency heads, along with volunteers from the National Guard, along with veterans’ groups, we’re going to be out in Tallahassee in different places, and we’re going to be picking up debris,” Scott said in a news conference. […]

Staff ReportsSeptember 5, 2016

Florida Department of Transportation teams have been working to clear debris, install generators and assess the roads and bridges in Leon County. Gov. Rick Scott detailed FDOT’s recovery efforts Monday, saying crews have been working non-stop since Friday in Leon County. In a news release from the Governor’s Office, Scott said FDOT crews have cleared […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterJuly 5, 2016

Tomas Martinelli is leaving his post at the Florida Department of Transportation and joining the team at Airbnb. Martinelli announced his move in an email Sunday. “As you may know, the people-powered platform and the culture that steers Airbnb makes this opportunity/project an exciting one,” he said. “Although, it wasn’t easy leaving the best agency in […]

Tag: Florida Department of Transportation

Transportation Secretary Jim Boxold threatens to pull Tri-Rail’s state money

Orlando is building the train station, not sure when or if trains will arrive

What to make of House candidate Jackie Toledo?

Rick Scott declares state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Matthew

Jack Latvala to FDOT: Don’t turn lanes on Howard Frankland into toll roads

Florida Poly and FDOT team up on SunTrax testing facility

Rick Scott goes blue collar to clean up Tallahassee

Rick Scott rolling up sleeves for Tallahassee cleanup — literally [update]

Rick Scott offers update on hurricane recovery efforts

Personnel note: Tomas Martinelli headed to Airbnb