Transportation (Airports)

Transportation; Revises membership of Florida Transportation Research Institute; requires Florida Greenways & Trails Council to meet within specified timeframe to update specified recommendations; requires seaports to include critical infrastructure resource strategies in specified plan; revises provisions relating to personal delivery devices & mobile carriers; increases certain speed limits; modifies terms for elections to attend basic driver improvement course; authorizes certain rental trucks to elect permanent registration period; requires motor vehicle registration renewal to be recorded electronically; removes provisions relating to validation stickers; revises provisions relating to drone delivery services & drone ports; revises powers & duties of DOT with respect to state airport systems; provides requirements for commercial service airports relating to critical infrastructure resources; revises provisions relating to certain communications facilities; revises construction materials that may be used for certain multiuse trails or shared-use paths; provides that certain provisions relating to paratransit services apply only to persons with disabilities; revises provisions authorizing certain sign owners to increase sign height under certain circumstances; provides penalties for shooting into or throwing deadly missiles into occupied or unoccupied autonomous vehicle; provides penalties for defacing, injuring, or damaging autonomous vehicle.

HB 1093 authorizes Florida's Department of Transportation (DOT) to fund public vertiport projects - facilities for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft - by covering up to 100% of costs if no federal funds are available, or up to 80% of the nonfederal share if federal funds exist. It directly affects public entities building vertiports by providing clear funding pathways and requires commercial airports to include vertiports in their infrastructure programs starting November 2025. Key provisions include revising definitions to explicitly include vertiports and charging systems under "qualifying projects" and "airport infrastructure," and mandating annual airport certification reports for infrastructure maintenance. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026, creating a structured framework for public investment in emerging aviation infrastructure.

Transportation; Revising the membership composition of the Florida Transportation Research Institute; requiring the Department of Transportation to coordinate with the Department of Commerce, specified ports, and the Federal Government for a certain purpose; revising the visible signals given by an approaching emergency vehicle upon which a driver must yield the right-of-way; prohibiting a personal delivery device from operating as otherwise authorized unless the personal delivery device meets certain criteria and a human operator is capable of controlling and monitoring its navigation and operation; revising a limitation on the number of times a person may elect to attend a basic driver improvement course under certain circumstances, etc. APPROPRIATION: $300,000

Vertiports; Revising the definition of the term “airport infrastructure”; authorizing the Department of Transportation to fund up to specified percentages of public vertiport project costs, etc.

Spaceport Operations; Requires Space Florida to enhance & promote development & use of quintimodal transportation hubs in this state; provides powers & duties of spaceport operators.