Transportation

With Florida's population increasing at a rate never before seen, we must take actions today to plan for unprecedented demands on our resources. We will do this through a focus on improving our transportation infrastructure (roads, bridges, and mass transit).

McGillis understands that to attract business and jobs to Florida, we need to make it easier for citizens to get to work, and for goods to get to the market. This is also a quality of life issue – Floridians should not be spending hours every day away from their family and life because they are stuck in traffic coming home from work.

The McGillis Transportation Plan

"Stop Gridlock, Create New Jobs: Get Florida Moving"

Florida's transportation system is at a crossroads. We need a serious reexamination of the State's underlying transportation policies and strategies. During this time of scarce resources, severe economic hardships for many Florida citizens, and mounting transportation infrastructure needs, it is essential that we align our overall transportation policies and strategies so that they deliver the type of performance and support for economic growth that our citizens and businesses require, and do so in the most cost-effective and sustainable manner possible.

Floridians have shown they will support new investments in government services when they know the service is a proper governmental responsibility, that funds will be spent competently for the purposes promised, and that investing now will produce positive economic and social returns on investment. However, Floridians are frustrated and have lost confidence in the ability of state government to keep its commitments and produce timely and sustainable results. Recent administrations have moved too slowly and made too many excuses for not finding ways to get projects done.

As Governor McGillis will take essential steps toward building the public trust necessary for transportation investment, including support for a constitutional amendment to protect the funds from raids for other purposes.

Together we must candidly acknowledge that we do need greater public and private investment in our transportation systems, and then come together in a spirit of innovation and cooperation to achieve it. Darrin McGillis has some specific ideas about how to do that, and he will be listening to others as well. But, to be effective, any increase in investment must be accompanied by a fundamentally different strategy in how we invest, operate, maintain and measure the performance of our transportation systems. It is not enough to acknowledge the nature of our current policy shortcomings. We must also have the leadership to test different approaches.

As Governor, Darrin McGillis will speak to Floridians with the candor the taxpayers demand. And, having earned their trust, he will bring Floridians together across party lines to adopt a new transportation program that combines tangible investments with real reform. It's Time for a better tomorrow.

Darrin McGillis will make transportation infrastructure a four-year priority.