Administration and financing of public transit and intercity bus service programs and projects.

(1) FEDERAL AID.—

(a) The department is authorized to receive federal grants or apportionments for public transit and intercity bus service projects in this state.

(b) Local governmental entities are authorized to receive federal grants or apportionments for public transit and commuter assistance projects. In addition, the provisions of s. 337.403 notwithstanding, if the relocation of utility facilities is necessitated by the construction of a fixed-guideway public transit project and the utilities relocation is approved as a part of the project by a participating federal agency (if eligible for federal matching reimbursement), then any county chartered under s. 6(e), Art. VIII of the State Constitution shall pay at least 50 percent of the nonfederal share of the cost attributable to such relocation after deducting therefrom any increase in the value of the new facility and any salvage value derived from the old facility. The balance of the nonfederal share shall be paid by the utility.

(2) PUBLIC TRANSIT PLAN.—

(a) The department shall prepare a public transit plan which shall be included in the tentative work program of the department prepared pursuant to s. 339.135(4). The provisions of s. 339.135 apply to public transit projects in the same manner that they apply to other transportation facility construction projects. Any planned department participation shall be in accordance with subsection (5).

(b) The public transit plan shall be consistent with the local plans developed in accordance with the comprehensive transportation planning process. Projects that involve funds administered by the department, and that will be undertaken and implemented by another public agency, shall be included in the public transit plan upon the request of that public agency, providing such project is eligible under the requirements established herein and subject to estimated availability of funds. Projects so included in the plan shall not be altered or removed from priority status without notice to the public agency or local governmental entities involved.

(c) Any lane elimination or lane repurposing, recommendation, or application relating to public transit projects must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the transit authority board in a public meeting to be held after a 30-day public notice.

(d) Any action of eminent domain for acquisition of public transit facilities carried out by a public transit provider must be discussed by the public transit provider at a public meeting to be held after a 30-day public notice.

(3) APPROPRIATION REQUESTS.—

(a) Public transit funds shall be requested on the basis of the funding required for the public transit plan. Appropriation requests shall identify each public transit project calling for a state expenditure of $500,000 or more.

(b) Public transit service development projects and transit corridor projects shall be individually identified in the appropriation request by the department. Such request shall show a breakdown of funds showing capital and operating expense.

(c) Unless otherwise authorized by the Legislature, the department is prohibited from entering into any agreement or contract for a public transit project which would result in the ultimate expenditure or commitment of state funds in excess of $5 million.

(4) PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.—

(a) Any project that is necessary to meet the program objectives enumerated in s. 341.041, that conforms to the provisions of this section, and that is contained in the local transportation improvement program and the adopted work program of the department is eligible for the expenditure of state funds for transit purposes.

1. The project shall be a project for service or transportation facilities provided by the department under the provisions of this act, a public transit capital project, a commuter assistance project, a public transit service development project, an intercity bus service capital project, an intercity bus service project, or a transit corridor project.

2. The project must be approved by the department as being consistent with the criteria established pursuant to the provisions of this act.

(b) Such expenditures shall be in accordance with the fund participation rates and the criteria established in this section for project development and implementation, and are subject to approval by the department as being consistent with the Florida Transportation Plan and regional transportation goals and objectives.

(c) Unless otherwise authorized by the Legislature, the department is prohibited from entering into any agreement or contract for a public transit project which would result in the ultimate expenditure or commitment of state funds in excess of $5 million.

(5) FUND PARTICIPATION; CAPITAL ASSISTANCE.—

(a) The department may fund up to 50 percent of the nonfederal share of the costs, not to exceed the local share, of any eligible public transit capital project or commuter assistance project that is local in scope; except, however, that departmental participation in the final design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction phases of an individual fixed-guideway project which is not approved for federal funding shall not exceed an amount equal to 12.5 percent of the total cost of each phase.

(b) The department is authorized to fund up to 100 percent of the cost of any eligible transit capital project, intercity bus service project, or commuter assistance project that is statewide in scope or involves more than one county where no other governmental entity or appropriate jurisdiction exists.

(c) The department is authorized to advance up to 80 percent of the capital cost of any eligible project that will assist Florida’s transit systems and intercity bus services in becoming fiscally self-sufficient. Such advances shall be reimbursed to the department on an appropriate schedule not to exceed 5 years after the date of provision of the advances.

(d) The department is authorized to fund up to 100 percent of the capital and net operating costs of statewide transit service development projects or transit corridor projects. All transit service development projects shall be specifically identified by way of a departmental appropriation request, and transit corridor projects shall be identified as part of the planned improvements on each transportation corridor designated by the department. The project objectives, the assigned operational and financial responsibilities, the timeframe required to develop the required service, and the criteria by which the success of the project will be judged shall be documented by the department for each such transit service development project or transit corridor project.

(e) The department is authorized to fund up to 50 percent of the capital and net operating costs of transit service development projects that are local in scope and that will improve system efficiencies, ridership, or revenues. All such projects shall be identified in the appropriation request of the department through a specific program of projects, as provided for in s. 341.041, that is selectively applied in the following functional areas and is subject to the specified times of duration:

1. Improving system operations, including, but not limited to, realigning route structures, increasing system average speed, decreasing deadhead mileage, expanding area coverage, and improving schedule adherence, for a period of up to 3 years;

2. Improving system maintenance procedures, including, but not limited to, effective preventive maintenance programs, improved mechanics training programs, decreasing service repair calls, decreasing parts inventory requirements, and decreasing equipment downtime, for a period of up to 3 years;

3. Improving marketing and consumer information programs, including, but not limited to, automated information services, organized advertising and promotion programs, and signing of designated stops, for a period of up to 2 years; and

4. Improving technology involved in overall operations, including, but not limited to, transit equipment, fare collection techniques, electronic data processing applications, and bus locators, for a period of up to 2 years.

(f) The department may fund up to 100 percent of the federal-aid apportionment for intercity bus service.

(6) NEW STARTS TRANSIT PROGRAM FUNDS; REALLOCATION.—If funds are allocated to projects that qualify for the New Starts Transit Program in the current fiscal year and a project will not be ready for production by June 30, those funds must be reallocated for the purpose of the Strategic Intermodal System within the State Transportation Trust Fund for the next fiscal year.

(7) INTEROPERABLE FARE COLLECTION SYSTEMS.—

(a) The Legislature recognizes the importance of encouraging the seamless use of local and regional public transportation systems by residents of and visitors to the state wherever possible. The paramount concern is to encourage the implementation of fare collection systems that are interoperable and compatible with multiple public transportation systems throughout the state.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, in order to facilitate the ease of transfer from one public transportation system to another, any public transit system which connects directly with a new public rail system put into service after December 1, 2010, and which is adding a new fare media system or is upgrading its existing fare media system shall use a universally accepted contactless fare media that is compatible with the American Public Transportation Association’s Contactless Fare Media System Standard or the applicable bankcard contactless media standards and allows users to purchase fares at a single point of sale with coin, cash, or credit card. This paragraph does not require the use of a universally accepted contactless fare media for the paratransit element of any transit system or by any public transit system that does not share one or more points of origin or destination with a public rail system.

(8) EXTERIOR VEHICLE WRAP, TINTING, PAINT, MARKETING, AND ADVERTISING.—

(a) As a condition of receiving funds from the department, a public transit provider may not expend department funds for marketing or advertising activities, including any wrap, tinting, paint, or other medium displayed, attached, or affixed on a bus, commercial motor vehicle, or motor vehicle that is owned, leased, or operated by the public transit provider. Such vehicles are limited to displaying a brand or logo of the public transit provider, the official seal of the jurisdictional governmental entity, or a state agency public service announcement.

(b) The department shall incorporate guidelines for the marketing or advertising activities allowed under paragraph (a) in the public transportation grant agreement entered into with each public transit provider.

(c) Any new wrap, tinting, paint, medium, or advertisement on the passenger windows of a vehicle used by a public transit provider may not be darker than the legally allowed window tinting requirements provided in s. 316.2954.

For purposes of this section, the term “net operating costs” means all operating costs of a project less any federal funds, fares, or other sources of income to the project.