- More Detail on CTRMA's Study of an Austin Aerial Gondola System
- Arkansas Officials Study P3 Approach and Tolls for I-49 Expansion
- San Antonio Express-News Report on SH 130 Bankruptcy
- Moody's Raises Questions about Future NJ Turnpike Toll Hikes, Impact on Traffic
- LBJ Managed Express Lanes Are Doing the Job, Says Infrastructure Group
- MassDOT's Tinlin Is "Proud" of Effort to Assist Toll Collectors Displaced by AET
- I-580 Express Lanes Grace Period Ends
- FDOT to Host Public Meeting on New Okaloosa Island Bridge
- Business People Oppose Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Toll Hike for $103 Million in Safety Improvements
- "Game Day" for the Bridgegate Trial
- Berkshire Residents React to MA Turnpike's Proposed Post-AET Toll Rates
- Proposed Third Lane and Bike Lane for Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Clear Key Hurdle
- Canadian Dollar's Strength Reduces Cost of International Bridge Crossing
- Two CT Lawmakers Debate Tolling
- Fitch Affirms Rating of Chesapeake Bridge and Tunnel District Bonds
- Fitch Affirms 'A+' Rating of MassDOT MHS Revenue Bonds
- Fitch Affirms Rating of Mass Turnpike Revenue Bonds
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More Detail on CTRMA's Study of an Austin Aerial Gondola System
Austin American-Statesman transportation reporter Ben Wear takes a deep look at the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s consideration of a possible aerial gondola system for Austin. Under the proposal by Jared Ficklin, a creative technologist, “the 10-person gondolas would be suspended on cantilevers from poles planted in the existing city right of way, or perhaps from U-shaped structures extending over the street, with 19 elevated stations,” Wear reports. Ficklin “foresees a capital cost of $290 million to $550 million, annual operating costs of $6 million in the beginning and ridership of as much as 13,000 a day.” CTRMA will vote next month on spending just $15,000 (to be split with the city of Austin and Capital Metro) on a “viability” study of the concept.
Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA)Arkansas Officials Study P3 Approach and Tolls for I-49 Expansion
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports, “The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department is commissioning a study on the feasibility of not only using tolls to help build a new section of Interstate 49 in western Arkansas, but also to have someone else operate and maintain the tollway.”
Arkansas P3 & PrivatizationSan Antonio Express-News Report on SH 130 Bankruptcy
San Antonio Express-News (subscription may be required) takes a look at how the SH 130 project “went south.” The state’s first P3 toll road was approved in 2006. As the newspaper reports, “Less than a decade later, Cintra and Zachry plan to walk away from the project and hand their bankrupt joint venture, SH 130 Concession Co., to its lenders. The company owes federal taxpayers more than a half-billion dollars and is engaged in a years-long dispute with TxDOT about maintenance and construction problems on the sparsely traveled road. And so far, it has paid the state only about $3 million in toll revenue.”
Texas Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)Moody's Raises Questions about Future NJ Turnpike Toll Hikes, Impact on Traffic
NJ.com reports, “The New Jersey Turnpike Authority has hiked tolls higher than the rate of inflation since 1990, which will make it harder to push future toll increases on drivers without losing traffic, according to an analysis by a major financial rating service. That analysis by Moody’s Investor’s Service also expressed concern that the state will turn to the Turnpike Authority again as a source of cash to help bail out the ailing Transportation Trust Fund.”
New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA)LBJ Managed Express Lanes Are Doing the Job, Says Infrastructure Group
Dallas Business Journal reports, “One year after the opening of the massive and complex LBJ Express corridor, the number of vehicles using it is up 10 to 15 percent and speeds are up by 15 percent across the entire highway, project leaders say. Overall congestion is down nearly 70 percent in the past year, according to Cintra’s LBJ Infrastructure Group, which handled the project.”
P3 & Privatization TexasMassDOT's Tinlin Is "Proud" of Effort to Assist Toll Collectors Displaced by AET
New England Public Radio reports, “With all-electronic tolling scheduled to begin on the Massachusetts Turnpike next month, more than 400 toll-collectors are in their final weeks on the job. And [MassDOT Highway Administrator Thomas J. Tinlin] says he’s proud of the work the state has done to lessen the blow to these workers.” The report adds that, “The state has said about 85 toll collectors will be given other jobs, while another 200 are retiring. More than 100 others were hired after a deal was struck between their union and the state. They will be out of a job at the end of October.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts TurnpikeI-580 Express Lanes Grace Period Ends
The Mercury News’ Gary Richards (aka Mr. Roadshow) posts a letter from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission alerting motorists that the penalty grace period for non-payment of I-580 express lane tolls ends this week, noting that a “30-cent bill will come with a $25 penalty on first violation notice — for an amount due of $25.30. And if the first notice is not paid within 21 days, a second notice would be generated with an additional $45 penalty — for a total of $70.30.”
California Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)FDOT to Host Public Meeting on New Okaloosa Island Bridge
Northwest Florida Daily News reports, “State transportation officials will visit the Emerald Coast Convention Center on Tuesday [September 20] to answer questions about proposals for building a second bridge linking Okaloosa Island and Fort Walton Beach. [Link added.] They have already decided against recommending more than half of the 10 alternate bridge routes originally proposed, Florida Department of Transportation spokesman Ian Satter said.” One of the remaining proposals calls for a tolled bridge.
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)Business People Oppose Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Toll Hike for $103 Million in Safety Improvements
The Times-Picayune reports that West St. Tammany Parish business representatives oppose a toll increase on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway to fund bridge safety improvements according to a survey of 197 respondents released on September 16.
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (Metro New Orleans)"Game Day" for the Bridgegate Trial
NJ.com takes another look at the Bridgegate trial set to start this week, and goes out on a limb by reporting that Bob Durando, General Manager of the George Washington Bridge, “is likely to be among the first Port Authority witnesses called to testify.”
New Jersey Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)Berkshire Residents React to MA Turnpike's Proposed Post-AET Toll Rates
iBerkshires.com looks at the proposed AET toll rates for the Massachusetts Turnpike and reports that, “For 17 years, residents in the Berkshires could take the turnpike for six exits before having to pay anything. For many, there was little need to get an E-Z Pass transponder. Rather, they just paid the five or six bucks for the rare trip to Boston.” Under the proposed AET toll rate schedule, however, “if a Berkshire resident takes that trip to Boston without a transponder, the cost has nearly doubled.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts TurnpikeProposed Third Lane and Bike Lane for Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Clear Key Hurdle
Marin Independent Journal reports, “A key bay protection agency gave its approval [on September 15] for the addition of an eastbound, third traffic lane on the lower deck and a bike lane on the upper deck of the [Richmond-San Rafael Bridge]. The Bay Conservation and Development Commission reviews all projects that are built in or over the bay and its approval was needed to allow the commute relief plan to move forward.”
Bay Area Toll Authority (San Francisco) (BATA) CaliforniaCanadian Dollar's Strength Reduces Cost of International Bridge Crossing
Sault Star (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) reports, “The price of crossing the International Bridge is going down due to the strength of the Canadian dollar. Beginning Oct. 1, the passenger vehicle rate for customers paying with Canadian currency will be reduced from $4.70 to $4.50. Commercial vehicles rates will decrease from $6.10 per axle to $5.85 per axle. The changes are the result of the currency equity review conducted by bridge officials twice each year.” [Link added.]
Canada International Bridge Administration (Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge)Two CT Lawmakers Debate Tolling
Stamford Advocate provides a state lawmakers’ point-counterpoint debate on the “looming possibility of the return of highway tolls for the first time since 1988.” State Representative Christopher Rosario contends that “[i]n order to improve our infrastructure and create more jobs, legislators need to make a bold decision to consider implementing electronic tolling. The state’s aging and overcrowded transportation network is taking its toll on the economy.” State Senator Michael McLachlan argues that, “Imagine how tolls would impact the Danbury Mall, Danbury Hospital or any of our other major economic drivers. [Link deleted.] And how about the thousands of western Connecticut working families who cross the New York border multiple times every day to make a living? Their burden will be heavy. It will be targeted to our communities. And that’s unfair.”
ConnecticutFitch Affirms Rating of Chesapeake Bridge and Tunnel District Bonds
Fitch Ratings “has affirmed the ‘A-‘ rating on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District, VA’s . . . approximately $44.4 million outstanding subordinate lien series 1998 general resolution refunding revenue bonds (GRB). The Rating Outlook is Stable.” (Fitch does not CBBT’s approximately $35.9 million parity outstanding series 2010A and series 2011A variable-rate refunding GRBs.)
Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel District (CBBT) Investment RatingsFitch Affirms 'A+' Rating of MassDOT MHS Revenue Bonds
Fitch Ratings “has affirmed the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), Metropolitan Highway System (MHS) rating on approximately $1.01 billion in outstanding senior revenue bonds at ‘A+’. The Rating Outlook remains Stable.” (Fitch mentions the medium-term outlook for Massachusetts Turnpike “revenue collections and expense control” in view of the forthcoming transition to an AET system.)
Investment Ratings Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Massachusetts TurnpikeFitch Affirms Rating of Mass Turnpike Revenue Bonds
Fitch Ratings “has affirmed Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s (MassDOT) approximately $16.3 million of Western Turnpike . . . revenue bonds at ‘AA-‘. The Rating Outlook remains Stable.”
Investment Ratings Massachusetts Turnpike