- Duffy Confirmed As USDOT Secretary
- TransCore: Advanced Technology And Design Make MTA Congestion Pricing System Effective
- MTA Will Start Releasing Monthly Congestion Pricing Revenue Reports
- Kapsch VP Lauri Brady Assumes OmniAir Leadership Role
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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Duffy Confirmed As USDOT Secretary
POLITICO reports, lawyer and former congressman and television personality Sean Duffy was confirmed as President Trump’s transportation secretary today. The US Senate voted 77-to-22 in favor of his nomination. Democratic senators cast the negative votes. At least two of them said Trump’s move to freeze congressionally approved spending convinced them to oppose Duffy’s nomination.
USA Today also covers this story.
Appointments-Promotions-Retirements US Department of Transportation (USDOT)TransCore: Advanced Technology And Design Make MTA Congestion Pricing System Effective
TransCore says it is “helping to introduce a new era of urban traffic management” in the US as the prime design-build-operate-maintain contractor for the Central Business District Tolling Program (CBDTP) recently launched by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The firm successfully designed and implemented “a cutting-edge, all-overhead, infrastructure-light configuration of its latest Infinity Digital Lane System” across more than 100 Manhattan congestion zone toll points. The system, which TransCore now operates, features “advanced neural network data processing and machine learning” to accurately identify and appropriately toll each of the 700,000-plus vehicles that the enter the zone on a typical weekday. “The installed infrastructure is designed to minimize the hardware footprint, visually integrate with the unique aspects of Manhattan’s diverse neighborhoods, and accommodate the city’s mix of high-volume multimodal traffic without disruption.”
As TransCore notes in a January 27 news release, initial MTA data show that CBDTP is achieving its intended results: lowering the volume of vehicles entering the congestion zone, improving travel times within and to central Manhattan, removing emissions from the atmosphere, and enhancing public transit. “As sustained results are reported,” the MTA program “is expected to provide new insight into how other metropolitan areas might leverage technology to create more livable, sustainable, and efficient urban cores in the future.”
TransCore president and CEO Whitt Hall expresses pride in the company employees who “truly push[ed] boundaries with cutting-edge technology and complex infrastructure installation” to make the CBDTP system a reality. He adds, “TransCore is humbled to play our role in this transformative project that will improve New York City’s urban mobility ecosystem in a sustainable way by reducing congestion and funding vital transit system capital programs.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Congestion Pricing ETC Systems Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York New York City TransCoreMTA Will Start Releasing Monthly Congestion Pricing Revenue Reports
Bloomberg (via Yahoo! Finance) reports, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will release the first report — it will cover January collections — at its February 24 finance committee meeting. The disclosure plan, announced yesterday, precedes the agency’s intended sale next week of $500 million in bond anticipation notes, which will be repaid in 2026 with congestion pricing bonds. “Proceeds from next week’s short-term sale will help advance work on subway signal modernizations, extending the Second Avenue subway to Harlem and adding more elevators to stations.”
Company and Agency Financial Issues And Reports Congestion Pricing Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York New York City Transit and Toll RoadsKapsch VP Lauri Brady Assumes OmniAir Leadership Role
Kapsch TrafficCom announced that Lauri Brady, its Vice President of Sales and Emerging Technologies for North America, was elected to the board of directors of the OmniAir Consortium, considered the leading transportation industry proponent of certification and interoperability for connected vehicles, intelligent transportation systems, and tolling systems.
Brady’s leadership appointment, Kapsch stated, aligns with the firm’s position “as one of the industry leaders in the global transportation technology sector, as well as its commitment to the interoperability and high standards needed for safer, more efficient systems.” JB Kendrick, Kapsch TrafficCom North America President, commented, “This appointment not only recognizes Lauri’s expertise and leadership but also strengthens our collaboration with OmniAir.”
Following her election, Ms. Brady was named chair of OmniAir’s Certification Working Group, which is tasked with developing the policies and procedures that govern OmniAir testing and certification programs. This year, the group will have an additional mission, addressing “issues related to public policy and regulations, as they impact OmniAir’s certification programs.”
Kapsch noted that Jose Dios, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s CIO, was also elected to the OmniAir board in December, while Nick Hegemier, Managing Director of Infrastructure and Technology at DriveOhio, and Jeffrey Dailey, Assistant Executive Director of Operations for the North Texas Tollway Authority, received new board terms.
Appointments-Promotions-Retirements ETC Systems Intelligent Transportation Systems Interoperability Kapsch New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) OmniAir Consortium Transponder RFID Technology V2X and V2V TechnologyThese are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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