SunRunner bus lane removal may have violated state law created to make it harder to repurpose lanes

A local transit supporter has filed a complaint against Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District 7 Secretary Justin Hall over the agency’s decision to remove dedicated Business Access and Transit (BAT) lanes along Pasadena Avenue used by the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority’s (PSTA) SunRunner route.

The complaint, filed by local transit and pedestrian accessibility activist Garrett Marple, says Hall “likely made or authorized this decision … without the professional diligence, safety analysis, or ethical consideration required of a licensed professional Engineer under Florida law.”

It raises questions about whether the lane removal violates state law established to make it harder to repurpose traffic lanes.

Marple filed the complaint with the Florida Board of Professional Engineers.

The complaint does not specifically reference language in Florida law relating to repurposing traffic lanes. But legislation approved in 2024 (HB 1301) requires “any project that will repurpose one or more existing traffic lanes” to include “a traffic study to address any potential adverse impacts of the project” and hold at least one public meeting “before completing the design phase of the project.”

FDOT provided a one-page document outlining its reason for reverting the BAT lanes along Pasadena Avenue to general purpose lanes. It’s not clear whether the document qualifies under state law as a study, as it relates to lane repurposing. But even if it does, the state did not hold a public meeting to discuss the plan.

Asked about a potential violation of the law, a spokesperson from FDOT did not directly answer, and instead offered a lengthy statement explaining its decision to remove BAT lanes along Pasadena Avenue, saying the agency “routinely performs post-construction reviews of lane repurposing projects across the state to assess whether they are achieving their intended outcomes.”

The spokesperson, FDOT Public Information Officer Kris Carson, said the reviews are done “to examine driver behavior and see if additional features are necessary including signage, additional pavement markings etc. to ensure FDOT is providing a safe and efficient transportation system.”

Rep. Linda Chaney, in a press release celebrating FDOT’s decision to remove the BAT lanes along Pasadena Avenue, specifically referenced HB 1301 as a catalyst for reviewing the corridor. She did not respond to a request for comment sent to both her official House email and her staff.

The BAT removal only represents a small section of the overall SunRunner route, which travels along First Avenues North and South connecting downtown St. Petersburg to St. Pete Beach. First Avenues North and South are not state roads, and therefore FDOT does not have jurisdiction to remove BAT lanes along that portion of the route. But Pasadena Avenue is a state road (SR 693).

FDOT’s one-pager outlining its safety concerns along that part of the corridor shows an increase in crashes after the BAT lanes were implemented, from 36 in 2020 and 37 in 2021 to 55 in 2023 and 54 in 2024. The SunRunner route was completed in 2022.

Marple’s complaint takes issue with the data used to support removing the BAT lanes. It argues FDOT ignored “the availability of additional data” and calls the data FDOT did review “an inadequate sample under accepted professional standards.” Additionally, the complaint points out that two of the years reviewed — 2019 and 2020 — were during the COVID pandemic, “when driving patterns were highly atypical and not statistically reliable.”

Florida Politics requested data from 2018 and 2019 to further compare crash numbers, but FDOT has not responded.

Florida Politics obtained crash data compiled by the city of St. Petersburg along the portion of the SunRunner route on First Avenues North and South that actually shows a decrease in crashes from non-COVID years before implementation of BAT lanes to years after its implementation.

In 2018, there were 284 crashes reported along the corridor. There was actually an increase in crashes in 2023 (303), but there was a decrease in 2024 (262).

A different data set, compiled by Forward Pinellas from the crash data management system, shows a more pronounced decrease in crashes after the BAT lanes were implemented on First Avenues North and South. In 2018, before the lanes were installed, there were 405 crashes between both corridors. In 2023, after the lanes were implemented, that number dropped to 366 and in 2024 crashes dropped to 360.

Additionally, a PSTA report released in September 2024 evaluating SunRunner performance before and after traffic signal optimization found significant reduction in travel times along the route, including average rate of travel and cumulative stop delays.

Average travel along First Avenue North during morning hours dropped nearly 24%, according to the analysis, while the route along First Avenue South decreased by nearly 27%. Numbers were similar for midday and evening travel times.

Average speeds similarly improved by nearly 30% along First Avenue North during the morning commute and more than 37% along First Avenue South during the same time period.

The biggest improvement to travel time though was in decreases to travel delays, which hovered around a 70% reduction compared to pre-SunRunner times, according to the analysis.

And while FDOT claimed the BAT lanes on Pasadena Avenue were causing congestion, its own analysis found average speeds along the corridor actually decreased overall after the implementation of the lanes.

Five out of six time periods evaluated — weekday morning and evening peak travel times; weekday midday travel times; weekday overnight; and weekend overall — showed increased average speeds along both Pasadena Avenue northbound and southbound. Only weekend midday showed a decrease in average speed.

Still, FDOT said it “is returning the BAT lane to a standard right-turn/general-purpose lane to improve safety and traffic operations through increased capacity.”

To mitigate any loss in route efficiency, Carson wrote that FDOT was also working “on transit signal priority installations at intersections along the corridor to ensure minimal impact to bus operations.”

Because Marple’s complaint was filed with the Florida Board of Professional Engineers, it is unlikely to impact the outcome of BAT lanes on Pasadena Avenue. The Board accepts complaints against industry professionals and if an initial assessment finds a possible violation of engineering laws or rules, an investigation will take place to determine whether to impose discipline. It does not dictate state policy. 

Still, FDOT’s decision to remove BAT lanes could cause a financial blow. PSTA in 2020 received a nearly $22 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant program to cover half the capital cost of building out the SunRunner route. That grant was hinged on the route being true BRT, the commonly used abbreviation for bus rapid transit.

“If we don’t have a reasonable lane that’s dedicated for buses and cars to turn, then it takes the ‘R’ out of BRT,” Darden Rice, chief planning and community affairs officer for the Pinellas transit authority, previously told the Tampa Bay Times. “There’s nothing rapid about a bus stuck in traffic.”

It’s not clear yet whether a repayment will be required or, if it is, how the funds would be repaid.