Florida Fiscal Budget Includes $15.1B for Transportation

July 11, 2025

Florida’s budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 – signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis (R) on July 1 – includes strategic transportation investments totaling $15.1 billion.

[Above photo by the Florida Governor’s Office]

The Florida Department of Transportation said that funding will enable it to deliver projects that relieve congestion, support the state’s supply chain, and promote economic competitiveness.

Florida DOT’s Perdue. Image via House T&I Committee.

“Florida is well known for our world-class infrastructure and the Focus on Fiscal Responsibility Budget allows [us] to continue strategic and innovative investments to maintain that reputation across a vast transportation portfolio,” said Jared Perdue, secretary of the Florida DOT, in a statement.

He noted that this fiscal budget provides $13.7 billion for the State Transportation Work Program, which specifically supports:

  • $5.4 billion for highway maintenance and construction, adding 102 new lane miles
  • $1.5 billion for resurfacing, improving 2,652 lane miles
  • $787.7 million for freight, rail, and community transportation systems
  • $961.2 million for the repair of 40 bridges and replacement of 21 bridges
  • $254.9 million for aviation investments
  • $90.5 million for spaceport investments
  • $275.1 million for Florida Trails, including $50.1 million for the SUN Trail Network
  • $253.8 million for safety initiatives
  • $172 million for local transportation project grants
  • $120.7 million for seaport improvements

Additionally, at the Paris Air Show in June, the governor signed Senate Bill or SB 1662, which provides for what the Florida DOT describes as “extensive updates” across the state’s transportation, seaport, airport, and logistics sectors to address the needs of the state’s rapidly growing economy and population.

Key provisions of SB 1662 include:

  • Establishing the Florida Transportation Research Institute, led by the University of Central Florida, to provide an epicenter for Florida universities and aerospace industries to conduct high-value research and innovation.
  • Providing new funding mechanisms for projects involving spaceports and manufacturing, including infrastructure to support commercial space launch operations at any Spaceport territory in Florida.
  • Protecting aerospace interests by preventing space-designated land at seaports from being repurposed for non-space activities.
  • Establishing dedicated plans for Advanced Air Mobility or AAM; positioning Florida as a leader in next-generation aviation technologies.
  • Providing Florida DOT with a framework to invest in the construction of vertiports, beginning with the first facility at SunTrax to support AAM research, testing, and deployment.
  • Creating a “transportation academy” to educate and train the next generation of the transportation workforce.

The agency said that new transportation academy will provide participants with gain hands-on experience through on-the-job training and will earn certificates and licenses – such as commercial driver’s licenses or CDLs – to build a meaningful lifetime career.

Additional opportunities will be created with Florida university partners and other state agencies to expand technical degrees in the transportation field, Florida DOT noted.

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