After Years and Years Of Construction, Florida Just Repealed All HOV Lanes. Seriously.
UPDATE: We note that this seems to have taken FDOT by surprise. We requested clarification mid-afternoon on Monday, we were told that a statement would be issued, but as of 8 p.m. there’s still nothing.
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2025 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — HOV lanes in Florida will become a thing of the past on July 1, 2025 — at least according to a just-passed senate bill that’s been signed into law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. SB 1662 takes effect on Tuesday. It repeals HOV lanes in Florida. To put it another way, the likely hundreds of millions of dollars that have been spent on HOV lane roadwork– and thousands of hours spent sitting in traffic due to HOV lane roadwork — will be for nothing.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation banning HOV lanes in Florida, effective July 1, 2025.The law, which repeals HOV lanes by name, does not specifically single out “express lanes.” So it is entirely possible that HOV lanes will remain (or become) toll roads, with no exemption for High Occupancy Vehicles or Electric/Hybrid vehicles. We are awaiting official word from the Florida Department of Transportation. It’s also unclear what happens to 95Express, the program that specifically exempts HOV and EVs from paying tolls in the express lanes in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade.
Wondering what happens to your HOV sticker? Here’s what was transmitted from Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon Monday afternoon: “Palm Beach County Tax Collector, Anne M. Gannon advises the public that due to the Florida legislature passing SB 1662, repealing Section 316.0741, Florida Statute, effective July 1, 2025, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will no longer be issuing, renewing, or replacing High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) decals.Vehicle owners who have in the past received this decal with their vehicle registration, will no longer receive it, as it is no longer required.
“My goal is to inform Palm Beach County vehicle owners of this change to avoid unnecessary calls into our office questioning their HOV decal. We are complying with this recent change to the law, and we have ceased issuing HOV decals,” says Gannon.
It’s unclear why lawmakers and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis thought repealing HOV lanes — which benefited drivers and the State of Florida’s budget — would be a positive move.
CREDIT: BocaNewsNow
