- PA Turnpike Plays Hardball with Commercial Scofflaws by Naming Names as Lawmakers Advance Stronger Enforcement Legislation
- VDOT Might Expand Toll Relief Program into Northern Virginia
- Transponder Demand Surges during Run-Up to Massachusetts AET Conversion
- MassDOT on Transponders: No Sharing, People.
- Erie County (NY) Lawmakers Join Push for Thruway AET Expansion
- VA Officials Break Ground on First New Facility Funded in Part by I-66 Tolls
- Dr. Gridlock on "Why the I-395 HOT Lanes Worry People"
- Bridgegate Prosecutor Grills Bridget Kelly as the End (of the Trial, That Is) Nears
- University of Maryland Academics Study Income-Based VMT Fees
- $200 Million Toll Project Hinges on Alabama Referendum Vote
- Kansas Turnpike Celebrates Its 60th Anniversary
- Hampton Roads Newspaper Hits P3 Projects
- Fitch Rates OTA Revenue Bonds
- Moody's on Dulles Greenway Revenue Bonds
This is a Subscribers-Only area. If you are a subscriber, please login. If not...
Become a Subscriber Today »
PA Turnpike Plays Hardball with Commercial Scofflaws by Naming Names as Lawmakers Advance Stronger Enforcement Legislation
FOX 43 News (among many others) reports, “Two dozen of the most egregious commercial toll violators each owe the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) more than $20,000 in unpaid tolls and violations, according to a list released today by the PTC. All told, the trucking firms have collectively ignored more than 19,000 violations notices.” In a PTC news release, chairman Sean Logan says, “[T]he Commission supports a measure which would provide the agency broader authority to make sure repeat violators pay. The legislation would give PennDOT the ability to suspend the vehicle registrations of motorists who have failed to pay after repeated requests.”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette adds, “The names of the top offenders were released as the state Legislature considers a law that would allow the state to revoke the vehicle registrations of chronic offenders and allow it to work with other states to go after scofflaws whose vehicles are registered outside Pennsylvania. The state Senate passed the law Monday [October 24] and it is awaiting consideration in the House.”
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) ScofflawsVDOT Might Expand Toll Relief Program into Northern Virginia
WTOP News reports, “A new toll relief plan [link added] in the Hampton Roads region could foreshadow similar benefits for drivers in Northern Virginia” as “more and more toll facilities are coming to Northern Virginia: The Virginia Department of Transportation is launching rush-hour tolls next year for solo drivers on Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway and preparing to select a preferred private partner for construction of new Express Lanes outside the Beltway.” A VDOT official tells WTOP the state will consider extending toll discounts to Northern Virginia residents, if the Hampton Roads program is successful.
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)Transponder Demand Surges during Run-Up to Massachusetts AET Conversion
MassLive.com reports, “Massachusetts transportation officials are ‘doing the best we can’ to keep up with demand for transponders as the state is about to switch to all-electronic tolling on the Massachusetts Turnpike. . . .” The department says it issued 151,470 transponders from August 22 to date (compared to a total distribution of 44,389 over the same period in 2015). State highway administrator Tom Tinlin reports there are 5.6 million registered vehicles in Massachusetts and 2.8 million transponders now in use.
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)MassDOT on Transponders: No Sharing, People.
WWLP News reports, “Starting [October 28], you’ll pay Massachusetts Turnpike tolls through your E-ZPass transponder, and how you register your E-ZPass account matters. If you do it wrong, you’ll rack up fines.” The station passes along a MassDOT warning that “as soon as you get one of these transponders, you’re not allowed to share it with anybody unless the license plates of the cars you’re switching it between are all registered under the same account.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts TurnpikeErie County (NY) Lawmakers Join Push for Thruway AET Expansion
Clarence Bee reports, “The Erie County Legislature’s Majority Caucus unanimously approved a resolution in support of upgrading the entire New York State Thruway system to electronic tolls, which would allow motorists to pass through more easily. Cars and trucks would be tolled through a high speed EZ Pass system that doesn’t require stopping and thus bringing with it many improvements.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) New York State Thruway AuthorityVA Officials Break Ground on First New Facility Funded in Part by I-66 Tolls
WTOP News reports, “Northern Virginia officials broke ground Tuesday [October 25] on a new park-and-ride lot in Loudoun County that will be partially paid for with Interstate 66 toll revenue. The 300-space commuter lot in Aldie will provide express bus service to [downtown Washington]. Bus service is set to begin on the same day that the I-66 tolls kick in — expected next July — for rush hour commuters traveling alone east of the Capital Beltway. Toll revenues will provide more than $1 million for the $6.1 million parking lot project.”
Virginia Washington (DC) Metro RegionDr. Gridlock on "Why the I-395 HOT Lanes Worry People"
The Washington Post’s Dr. Gridlock staffs the first in a series of public meetings on VDOT’s I-395 HOT lanes proposal and focuses on issues raised by the people who testified, including “the width of the three lanes, the width of the shoulders, the project’s financing, the effect on nearby roadways, urban and suburban development and the informal carpooling system known as slugging, and the potential to create new traffic congestion at the D.C. line.”
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Washington (DC) Metro RegionBridgegate Prosecutor Grills Bridget Kelly as the End (of the Trial, That Is) Nears
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports, “A federal prosecutor on Tuesday [October 25] grilled Gov. Christie’s former deputy chief of staff over scores of emails and text messages he suggested pointed to the aide’s involvement in a criminal conspiracy connected to the September 2013 lane closures at the George Washington Bridge.” The report adds (thankfully), “Cross-examination is expected to continue [today], and prosecutors and defense attorneys are likely to deliver their closing arguments later this week.”
New Jersey Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)University of Maryland Academics Study Income-Based VMT Fees
The London School of Economics US Centre’s USAPP blog spotlights research by three University of Maryland academics on the impact of replacing gas taxes with income-based VMT fees. The researchers maintain, “VMT fees often raise equity issues; since lower-income drivers are more sensitive to increased driving costs, they are more likely to be priced off the road. Flat-rate VMT fees have been criticized for being regressive, placing a disproportionate financial burden on lower-income drivers. However, an income-based VMT fee may prove to be more effective.” The scholars also find that the fees would not affect motorists’ “travel behavior.”
RUC & VMT Programs$200 Million Toll Project Hinges on Alabama Referendum Vote
WALA News advances next month’s Alabama ballot referendum to approve creation of a Baldwin County toll authority, the first step to a proposed $200 million tolled extension of the Beach Express to I-65. A county commissioner tells the station the toll rate that would be charged is undetermined, “but he says the 22 mile extension of the Beach Express is crucial for the county and its growth, and the money has to come from somewhere.”
AlabamaKansas Turnpike Celebrates Its 60th Anniversary
KVOE News reports that the Kansas Turnpike turned 60 yesterday, October 25, and notes that, “Close to 7,200 vehicles used the highway when it opened in 1956. Nearly 4 million vehicles used the highway last year, and better than half the riders now use the K-TAG system for seamless travel getting on and off the highway.”
Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA)Hampton Roads Newspaper Hits P3 Projects
The Daily Press editorial board argues that the solution to Hampton Roads traffic congestion lies in “traditional state-run construction efforts, limited tolling on new or expanded water crossings and a refiguring of our regional gasoline tax to address infrastructure needs,” not in more P3 projects. The newspaper’s editors accept the necessity for imposing “small tolls,” and given a choice of funding methods “between patience, high tolls and long-term commitments to companies not beholden to taxpayers, we choose patience.”
P3 & Privatization VirginiaFitch Rates OTA Revenue Bonds
Fitch Ratings “has assigned a ‘AA-‘ rating to $400.7 million of second senior revenue bonds, Series 2016 B&C, issued by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. . . . Fitch has also affirmed the ‘AA-‘ rating on approximately $880.3 million of outstanding second senior revenue bonds. The Rating Outlook is Stable.”
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA)Moody's on Dulles Greenway Revenue Bonds
Moody’s Investors Service “has upgraded to Ba1 from Ba2 the underlying rating on Toll Road Investors Partnership II, LP’s . . . Dulles Greenway Project Revenue Bonds. The rating outlook is stable. The upgrade to Ba1 from Ba2 reflects the (1) multi-year traffic and revenue (T&R) growth that has accelerated over the last two years with traffic approaching prior peak levels; (2) the favorable resolution of the State Supreme Court decision validating the [company’s] right to raise tolls; and (3) the consistent annual implementation of toll rate increases that have generated strong revenue growth, increased reserve levels, and improved financial metrics that provide an adequate cushion against future traffic and revenue declines.”
Dulles Greenway