Acting on orders from Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida legislators have added an amendment to a Florida Department of Transportation bill to include state inspections of Walt Disney World's monorail system.
Following the recent pattern of behavior by DeSantis, this latest bill attempts to cause further inconvenience to Disney's operations and increase the state's interference in as many aspects of Disney's business as possible.
The amendment targets Walt Disney World's monorail by referencing "any governmentally or privately owned fixed-guideway transportation systems operating in this state which are located within an independent special district created by local act which have boundaries within two contiguous counties"
The Walt Disney World monorail is located within a special district, and has boundaries in Orange and Osceola counties - fitting into the not-so-subtle specification in the amended bill.
Notably, the amendment includes the requirement that the monorail must be suspended during safety inspections.
The monorail is a critical part of Walt Disney World's daily operations, and although Disney has backup transportation in place, including buses and watercraft, an extended "safety inspection" could cause significant inconveniences to guests.
It isn't clear if this latest move will also impact Disney Skyliner, which by FDOT definition is also a "fixed guideway transportation system."
Here is the full text of the amended bill.
Section 13. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
373 341.061, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
374 341.061 Transit safety standards; inspections and system
375 safety reviews.—
376 (1)(a) The department shall adopt by rule minimum safety
377 standards for governmentally owned fixed-guideway transportation
378 systems, and privately owned or operated fixed-guideway
379 transportation systems operating in this state which are
380 financed wholly or partly by state funds, and any governmentally
381 or privately owned fixed-guideway transportation systems
382 operating in this state which are located within an independent
383 special district created by local act which have boundaries
384 within two contiguous counties. Standards must be site-specific
385 for fixed-guideway transportation systems and shall be developed
386 jointly by the department and representatives of the affected
387 systems, giving full consideration to nationwide industry safety
388 norms relating to the development and operation of fixed
389 guideway transportation systems. The department shall conduct
390 structural safety inspections in adherence with s. 335.074 for
391 any fixed-guideway transportation systems that are raised or
392 have bridges, as appropriate. Inspectors must follow
393 departmental safety protocols during safety inspections,
394 including requiring the suspension of system service to ensure
395 safety and welfare of inspectors and the traveling public during
396 such inspections.
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