Daily News Briefs, January 12, 2017

Indiana Lawmakers Introduce Bills to Provide Tax Relief for Tollpayers

WDRB reports that southern Indiana lawmakers have introduced bills “to help provide some relief from paying [Ohio River Bridges] tolls.” Senate Bill 378 would create a business income tax credit of up to $1,000 for qualified businesses that have a RiverLink account and spend an annual minimum amount on tolls, and SB 379 would provide a personal income tax deduction of up to $500 for qualified persons who have a specified minimum amount of unreimbursed annual toll expenses.

Editor’s Note: SB 357, introduced on January 10 by Senator Joseph Zakas (R-Indianapolis) would create a personal income tax credit for “individuals who pay tolls to drive on the Indiana toll road for a nonbusiness purpose.” The credit’s maximum amount would be the lesser of $300 or the annual amount of tolls paid.

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New Push to Waive NY Thruway Tolls for Syracuse Commuters

Eagle Bulletin reports, “A proposal to waive tolls for Syracuse-area Thruway commuters has risen from the ashes, long after efforts from the Onondaga County Legislature in the early 1990s and a 2007 bill from Sen. John A. DeFrancisco fizzled out. In December, the county legislature voted unanimously to recommend that the state make travel between exits 34A and 39 toll-free, and DeFrancisco plans to reintroduce a bill supporting the waiver.”

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NY State Stiffens Toll Enforcement Regulations

Times Herald-Record reports, “If you still think paying tolls is what other people do, the state Department of Motor Vehicles is prepared to change your mind – and suspend your registration in the process. Effective Jan. 18, the DMV will amend regulations that it adopted only a year ago to stiffen the penalties on persistent cheats who cost the state’s toll agencies upwards of $16 million a year.” [Link added.] The report adds, “Now, New Yorkers will face suspension of their registrations if they fail to pay bridge, tunnel or highway tolls three times in five years. Previously, the threshold was five times in 18 months.”

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NCDOT's I-485 Toll Lanes Rankle Some Motorists

WJZY Fox46 reports, “New information has come out about the future toll lanes on Interstate-485. Two public hearings will be held next week. Some people say they’re not happy about forking over money to drive parts of I-485. But there are a few things the N.C. Department of Transportation has said that could change folks’ minds.”

Charlotte Agenda features a guest column by an express lanes critic giving readers “10 reasons you should care about the toll lanes coming to south Charlotte [on I-485 and I-77 south].”

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Camino Real RMA, TxDOT in Talks to Remove Toll Lanes from Cesar Chavez Border Highway

KFOX reports, “The toll lanes on the Cesar Chavez Border Highway continue to lose money, and they could soon disappear. The Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority [CRRMA] is in talks with the Texas Department of Transportation about removing the toll lanes on the border highway and only having them on the Border West Expressway, which is under construction. . . . Raymond Telles, the executive director for the CRRMA, said there are too many construction projects blocking easy access to [the highway].” The authority says it lost approximately $25,000 operating the highway during the first quarter of its 2017 fiscal year.

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Some CT Lawmakers Back Tolling

CBS Connecticut reports, “Several Connecticut lawmakers are proposing tolls on Connecticut highways. . . . Senator Ted Kennedy Jr. (D-Branford) said the state should at least consider instituting congestion pricing,” and tolling would be electronic. The network adds that State Representative Henry Genga (D-East Hartford) “has also submitted a proposed bill [HB 5458] to establish electronic tolling to create a source of revenue for the Special Transportation Fund.”

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Jefferson Parish Council Approves Lake Pontchartrain Causeway's $133 Million Borrowing for Safety Improvements

The Times-Picayune reports, “The Jefferson Parish Council unanimously gave its approval Wednesday (Jan. 11) to allow the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway to borrow up to $133 million to pay for safety improvements on the 26-mile bridge. A toll increase set to go into effect in May will be used to pay off the debt.” The newspaper adds, “Jefferson’s approval clears the last hurdle for the commission to seek bond approval from the state for the project.”

The New Orleans Advocate reports that the toll increase approved last August and effective in spring 2017 will raise the cash toll from $3.00 to $5.00 The rate for discount toll tag users will increase from $2.00 to $3.00.

The Times-Picayune also looks at the construction of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the “physical link between communities on the north and south shores,” as part of its New Orleans Tricentennial series.

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OK Turnpike Employee Charged with Embezzling Payments for Back Tolls and Violations

The Oklahoman reports, “A former Oklahoma Turnpike Authority employee was charged Wednesday [January 11] with two felonies, accused of embezzling payments made by turnpike users.” The report adds, “While employed with the agency, [the former employee] allegedly wrote his daughter’s Pikepass account number on checks meant for back tolls and toll violations. He would deposit the funds into his daughter’s account and then perform an ‘administrative override’ to make the violation balances zero, an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent reported in a court affidavit.”

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Editors Challenges KY Governor Bevin to Devise a Brent Spence Bridge Replacement Plan

WCPO’s editorial board challenges Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin to come up with “a real plan for the Brent Spence Bridge.” The editors write, “We’re way past due for a viable plan to pay for a replacement for the overworked Brent Spence Bridge, and that responsibility falls on [the governor’s shoulders]. Last year, Bevin signed a bill banning tolling on the Brent Spence. If tolls are off the table, what’s the plan?” (The cartoon accompanying the editorial is worth a look.)

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Georgia Motorists Gripe about I-85 Express Lane Toll Rates . . . Despite the Low Toll Rates

WTOC reports that some Georgia commuters (like their Washington, DC, counterparts) are complaining about the express lane toll rates reached on the eve of last week’s storm. The station interviews State Road and Tollway Executive Director Chris Tomlinson, who says that the I-85 northbound total distance rate of $10.75 on January 6 (during the peak period before the storm) was actually lower than normal.

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It's Confirmed: Driving in New Jersey Can Be Dangerous.

New Jersey 101.5 reports that a bus ticket booking company called Busbud has issued a report that finds 9 out of 10 drivers speed on the New Jersey Turnpike. A company spokesman tells the station he “believes the study confirms that driving through New Jersey can be quite dangerous.“

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MassDOT Seeks Public Feedback on Turnpike's AET System

WWLP reports, “The state’s all-electronic tolling system has been in place on the Massachusetts Turnpike for more than three months now, and the state is looking for feedback from drivers. A series of public meetings are being held around the state over the next few weeks, to provide updates on the status of the program, as well as the construction work at the former toll plazas.”

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Kapsch Acquires Major Stake in Fluidtime

Kapsch TrafficCom announces that it has acquired a 75 percent stake in Fluidtime Data Services GmbH, a supplier of IT systems for integrated mobility solutions. “With the acquisition of Fluidtime, Kapsch strengthens its position to act as a platform- and service provider for upcoming Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) schemes for cities, corporations and transport agencies,” Kapsch says. “Since 2004, Fluidtime has developed and operated software solutions and user-friendly mobile services enabling intermodal urban travelling. Fluidtimes mobility software platform acts as the market place for intermodal ticket purchases as well as for booking of all integrated modes of transport.”

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Chao, Expected to Earn Easy Confirmation as USDOT Secretary, Talks about Infrastructure Investment

ABC News reports, “The incoming Trump administration is looking to ‘unleash the potential’ of private investors to boost the national transportation networks that underpin the U.S. economy, the president-elect’s pick for transportation secretary, Elaine Chao, told lawmakers Wednesday [January 11]. Economic gains are being ‘jeopardized’ by aging infrastructure, rising highway fatalities, growing congestion and a failure to keep pace with emerging technologies, Chao testified before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Chao, 63, is expected to be easily confirmed by the Senate.”

The New York Times says Chao got a “cozy reception” at her confirmation hearing.

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Local Indiana Chamber Official Backs Toll Roads, Cites ITR

South Bend Tribune op-ed writer, Jeff Rea, CEO of the regional chamber of commerce, “believes the time is now to fund the state’s 20-year transportation plan” and tolling more interstates is the way to do it. “I’m a believer in this ‘user’ fee: When I want the speed and convenience of the Toll Road, I utilize it. I think others around the state would follow suit. The Indiana Toll Road helped us pay for 20 years of transportation needs. New toll roads will help address the next 20.”

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FL Senator Faces Tough Climb with Bill to Block Development of Toll Roads, Express Lanes

Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that Florida Senator Frank Artiles’ bill to block FDOT’s development of toll roads and express lanes has the potential to create more problems for the Tampa Bay Express (TBX) project, but also notes that the bill still has no counterpart in the lower house and “faces an uphill battle.” (Problems?) The report adds that the bill exempts the Florida Turnpike.

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