MTA Got Federal Approval To Launch Congestion Pricing In January
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced Friday afternoon that New York State DOT, New York City DOT, and FHWA joined MTA in signing the Value Pricing Pilot Program Agreement for the Manhattan congestion pricing program. The agreement gave final federal approval for the program’s launch on January 5 in accordance with the phased-in tolling approach recently embraced by New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) and approved by the MTA board on Monday.
More information about the FHWA approval can be found on MTA’s website.
The New York Times and Gothamist noted that the program’s launch could still be disrupted by pending lawsuits or action of the incoming Trump administration. However, as Gothamist reported, MTA “is planning eight public webinars with updates on the latest toll structure, running from Dec. 4-19.”
New York Thruway Adopted 2025 Operating Budget And Capital Plan
The New York Thruway Authority board unanimously approved a 2025 operating budget and 2025-2029 capital program on Tuesday. Five-year capital spending will increase by $742 million (approximately 38 percent) as a result of the multiyear toll adjustments approved in 2023 and effective in 2024.
Budget highlights mentioned in a Thruway news release include:
- The spending plan totals $1.36 billion, including $477.3 million in capital projects funding (a year-on-year increase of more than $33 million).
- Overall, $2.7 billion in capital investment will take place over the next five years.
- The budget provides funds for toll system customer service improvements, including development of a new back-office system, website, and mobile app. The investments will expand payment options (to include Google Pay and Apple Pay), enhance call center features, make discount plan enrollment more convenient, and strengthen security.
- A capital investment of $45 million will allow the authority to replace its obsolete 25-year-old emergency radio system.
The authority expects traffic volume to remain steady or increase slightly in 2025. So far this year, volume exceeds the 2024 budget projection by 4.5 percent and is expected to total more than 400 million toll transactions by the end of December.
MTA Highlighted Deficit Reductions And Savings In Proposed 2025 Budget
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) released its final proposed 2025 operating budget and four-year financial plan on Monday. The plan, as outlined in a presentation to the MTA board, “remains broadly in line with budget details announced in July,” including:
- projected deficit reductions of $50 million in each of FY 2027 and FY 2028 due in part to higher commuter rail recovery and growth in bridges and tunnels traffic;
- an FY 2025 operating budget of $19.9 billion focused on priority initiatives that remains three percent below inflation adjusted spending since 2019;
- efficiency savings of $400 million in FY 2024 and $500 million in 2025 (Bridges and Tunnels division staff vacancy reductions included); and
- assumed four percent toll and fare increases in both 2025 and 2027.
The board will vote on the proposed budget during its December meeting. Detailed information on the plan can be found in the two-volume 2025 final proposed budget document included in the MTA board’s November 18 meeting materials.
New Jersey Turnpike Board Approved 2025 Budget With Fifth Straight Toll Increase
On Tuesday, New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) commissioners approved a 2025 budget covering revenue, operating expense, debt service, debt reserve, general reserve, and capital spending as presented on a rolling five-year basis. The plan includes the fourth, three-percent toll increase since 2020, NJ.com reported. The higher rates will be paid by both turnpike and Garden State Parkway motorists starting January 1.
The unanimous vote approving the budget included no discussion of the “annual toll rate indexing,” which met fierce pushback from Steve Carrellas of the National Motorists Association and some Republican lawmakers. Carrellas complained of a lack of transparency about what’s driving the increases and suggested they could have political repercussions. Last year, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) won support for temporarily vetoing the annual toll hike, and NJTA critics are calling on him to repeat that action or at least demand that the increase be reduced. According to an NJTA spokesperson, the average toll charge for a regular commuter in 2025 would go up 16 cents per trip, or about $80 per year.
The higher rates would give a combined 3.1 percent bump to toll revenue on the two roadways next year, helping drive NJTA’s overall budget 3.7 higher than this year. Officials attributed the increased financial need in part to rising personnel costs, as well as capital investments like the controversial, $10.7 billion Newark Bay Hudson County Extension Improvements Program.
A detailed memorandum on the 2025 revenue projection ($2.7 billion) and spending plan is attached to the NJTA board’s November 19 meeting agenda as Item 2024-11-300 (see PDF pages 95-101).
These are a few of the toll industry developments TRN covered last week. If you’re not a subscriber to Daily News Briefs, click here for a free, 14-day trial. Read the news as it happens every weekday.
A Working Group Convened In Charlotte To Plan Express Lanes P3 Project
Few details have emerged from the group’s first meeting on Tuesday, but more public meetings on plans to build a new express lanes corridor between Charlotte and the South Carolina border are promised in 2025, WCNC reported. “Officials previously [stated] the express lanes would be the most expensive transportation project in state history, partly because every interchange on I-77 between Uptown and South Carolina would need to be rebuilt.”
With support from the Charlotte City Council and over objections from some other local governments, the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) gave NCDOT permission to move forward with a P3 delivery process last month, subject to input from CRTPO members.
A CRTPO news release on the working group’s meeting schedule and initial agenda stated, “[It] will discuss project objectives and identify potential key terms prior to a future Request for Qualifications (RFQ) that [NCDOT] would advertise in the summer of 2025.” It added that the group members — local government officials and CRTPO staff members — will “address their concerns about toll collection and congestion mitigation, and [ ] explore innovative approaches for improving overall travel efficiency on I-77 south of uptown Charlotte.”
TRN will have more information about the working group in tomorrow’s Daily News Briefs.
Illinois Tollway Activated Tri-State Tollway’s SmartRoad System
On Wednesday, the Illinois Tollway Authority announced the activation of SmartRoad technology on the northern section of the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) between Wolf Road and Balmoral Avenue in Cook County. Combining high-definition roadside cameras and electronic message signs mounted on fourteen gantries with wireless roadside sensors, upgraded weather monitoring, and new flex lanes, the system supports active transportation management by the Tollway’s operations center staff. The innovative data collection and management capability enables staff to provide drivers with real-time traffic, road condition, and travel time information that will also be shared with popular navigation apps like Waze.
The Tollway introduced the system as part of its $4 billion Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) Project, the ongoing widening and reconstructing of the facility’s 22-mile corridor. A total of 80 SmartRoad gantries will be installed on I-294 by the time the project is completed.
Ohio Turnpike Opened ORT Lanes At Completed Eastgate Plaza
The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission (OTIC) announced that work on its new Eastgate Toll Plaza (mile marker 239) is complete and the lanes serving westbound drivers are now open. There are two ways for customers entering Ohio from Pennsylvania to pass through the plaza:
- Bearing left, E-ZPass account holders will drive non-stop through open-road toll lanes while maintaining a safe highway speed.
- Bearing right, all other customers will enter conventional lanes where they can stop and use cash or a credit card to pay a flat-rate, round-trip toll. OTIC does not offer a toll-by-plate payment option.
The Eastgate plaza’s eastbound side was completed and opened in time for the April launch of OTIC’s new toll collection system. Under the new system’s rate structure, drivers exiting Ohio into Pennsylvania do not pay a toll.
OTIC commissioned a 30-second video ad to educate drivers about the new plaza.
California’s TCA And Texas’ NTTA Reached Agreement On Partial Interoperability
The Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) announced that their boards have authorized execution of an agreement to implement one-way toll system interoperability with the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA). Since March, representatives of the California and Texas agencies have been working on a project agreement and “specifications under which TCA and NTTA will be interoperable.”
TCA is barred under current state law from establishing full FasTrak interoperability with out-of-state toll systems. However, the law does not prohibit TCA from enabling customers to use FasTrak to pay tolls on other systems. “Given the potential benefits of increased convenience to customers and to keep momentum moving forward towards full national interoperability, [the TCA boards] approved one-way interoperability with NTTA.” TCA stated that the agreement enables its staff to continue making progress towards national interoperability, and it could position TCA to be the first California toll agency to establish full interoperability with a system outside the state.
PA Turnpike Revised Its Capital Budget Based On Projected Flat Volume Growth
After receiving a CDM Smith report forecasting flat traffic growth over the next 20 years, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) management decided to trim its $919 million FY 2025 capital budget and make similar adjustments to the rest of its 10-year capital spending plan, Pittsburgh Union Progress reported. Before obtaining the report, PTC expected to budget $7.5 billion to $10 billion for capital improvements over the next five years. “Now, the annual spending . . . over the next 10 years is expected to drop from $919 million this year to $817.6 million next year and range from $652 million to $793.1 million the following eight years.”
PTC isn’t eliminating projects, but it will push back its scheduling of some discretionary work in order to concentrate on “projects that improve deteriorated conditions or eliminate safety problems.” The authority’s ongoing conversion to open-road tolling won’t be affected, but two other major western projects — a new Penn Township, Westmoreland County interchange and widening I-76 outside Pittsburgh between Irwin and Monroeville, will be delayed by as much as 10 years, barring an unexpected uptick in traffic-generated revenue. A future phase of the Mon-Fayette Expressway program could also be rescheduled.
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Oklahoma Turnpike Completed Its Cashless Conversion
Early Wednesday morning, Johnny Melton collected the last-ever cash toll on Oklahoma’s turnpike system, KOTV reported. Thereafter, the Will Rogers Turnpike (I-44), like all other Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) facilities, began to transact toll payments exclusively through PIKEPASS and compatible transponders or PlatePay. OTA launched its complete its transition to all-electronic collection in 2021 in the interests of reducing congestion, improving safety, and streamlining operations.
Melton, a field operations manager and prospective retiree, started as a toll collector for OTA in 1981. “Technology has just caught up,” he said. “As a toll collector, we served the public, and I kind of considered myself and other toll collectors as the heart of Oklahoma.”
Sean Duffy Named Trump Transportation Secretary Nominee
Mr. Duffy, 53, is a former Republican Congressman from Wisconsin who became a public figure in the 1990s as a reality television star, The Washington Post reported. He served as a county district attorney in his home state before election to Congress. Most recently, he was co-host of “The Bottom Line,” a Fox Business program. Duffy has little transportation experience, but the article noted that’s not unusual for the position, which often is supported by an industry-seasoned deputy.
Shadow Of President-Elect Trump’s “First Buddy” Hangs Over USDOT’s Future
A third name accompanies virtually all coverage of President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Sean Duffy as USDOT secretary nominee. As NPR reported, “There are several areas where the department’s broad mandate intersects with the business interests of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who stands to benefit from Trump’s victory after pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into his reelection campaign.” For example, the Federal Aviation Administration is challenging SpaceX over its launch practices, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is conducting a probe into Tesla’s autonomous vehicle program.
On a policy level, Fortune examined the downstream impacts of Trump’s reported intention to end the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric vehicle (EV) purchases, which Tesla counterintuitively supports. In a July earnings call, Musk said ending the financial incentive for EV adoption would cut into Tesla sales a little, but it would be “‘devastating’” for the company’s competitors. Taking a small hit in the short-run, therefore, would benefit Tesla in longer-term market dominance.
Biden Administration Races To Spend Transportation And Environmental Program Funds
Associated Press reported, “Biden administration officials are working against the clock doling out billions in grants and taking other steps to try to preserve at least some of the outgoing president’s legacy before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.” Part of their effort involves spending funds appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) before the Trump administration gets an opportunity to claw back the money. For example, USDOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently “announced over $3.4 billion in grants for projects designed to improve passenger rail service, help U.S. ports, reduce highway deaths and support domestic manufacturing of sustainable transportation materials.” (TRN inserted a link in quoted text.)
President-elect Trump has been particularly outspoken about his intention to end the Green New Deal and rescind Inflation Reduction Act funding for clean energy and climate adaptation programs launched by President Biden.
Opinion Survey Revealed German Adults’ Attitudes About Car Tolling
A majority of adults in Germany are opposed to passenger car tolling, according to the results of an opinion survey commissioned by Continental AG, the global automotive products supplier based in that country. Among other things, the study showed:
- 54 percent of respondents oppose collecting tolls to generate revenue for highway expansion and modernization, while 37 percent are in favor (9 percent have no comment on the issue);
- young adults tend to be more supportive of tolling than adults over 45;
- 58 percent of respondents considering the purchase of an electric vehicle would support tolling; and
- toll collection was acceptable to 60 percent of the respondents “who rate their financial situation as very good.”
The Continental news release on the survey results notes that German government proposals to impose passenger car highway tolls have encountered political and judicial stumbling blocks in recent years.