TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A bill that appears to target Walt Disney World’s monorail has passed in the Florida Senate.
Lawmakers voted 26-14 in favor of the bill. It now goes back to the Florida House. The House passed the bill last week but the Senate made changes, meaning the House will have to vote on it again.
The bill, SB-1250, would allow the Florida Department of Transportation to cover the cost of certain projects in rural areas and would allow law enforcement agencies to install automated license plate readers on state highways.
The bill also includes a line with specific language that appears to target Disney’s monorail system. It would require DOT oversight of the monorail and other fixed transportation systems “located within an independent special district created by local act which have boundaries within two contiguous counties.”
Walt Disney World covers two counties, Orange and Oceola. The bill also appears to target the Disney Skyliner as it meets the definition of a fixed guideway transportation system.
The bill does not specifically mention Disney or its transit systems. During a news conference last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis indicated that the legislature would impose state guidelines and inspection over the monorail.
“They exempted the monorail from any safety standards or inspections so they’re gonna go and make sure that the monorail is subject to oversight just like everything else would be in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.
The Walt Disney monorail system opened in 1971. It services millions of riders each year but hasn’t been fully replaced since 1989. In 2009, the system received upgrades to safeguards and operating procedures following a crash that killed a 21-year-old operator.
