How You Can Help

RSVP to Attend the Upcoming Public Hearing on the Alligator Alley Lease Agreement 

Overview

America’s roadways must be operated for the long-term public interest. Elected officials in Indiana and Chicago recently sold off public roads to private toll-road companies. Tempted by short-term cash, these governments relinquished public control over the management and planning of transportation networks and failed to receive fair value for these assets. The private investors in these deals are expected to reap enormous profits from the rising tolls that they will collect for themselves over coming generations, while the public will lose the long-term toll revenues and its control over transportation planning.

These deals have encouraged a stampede of companies seeking similarly sweet deals from tolls on other public roads across the United States. As states consider these privatization deals, Florida PIRG is pressing government officials to protect the public interest by ensuring that all such deals retain public control over transportation planning, require state-of-the-art safety and maintenance standards, and represent the fair value of the assets. Additionally, the terms of these agreements must not exceed thirty years, as lawmakers cannot reasonably anticipate our transportation needs beyond a few decades. Florida PIRG will continue to rally public pressure, mobilize coalitions of stakeholders, and educate public officials to protect against bad privatization deals.