- Maine Lawmakers Nix Governor LePage's Proposal to Merge Turnpike with DOT
- Trump Administration's Push for New Interstate Tolls and Rest Stop Privatization Draws Opposition
- Tolls and License Plate Thefts Rise in Hampton Roads Area, and Police Think, Maybe, There Could Be a Connection
- New York's MTA Approves New Capital Spending Plan with Nearly $3 Billion Increase
- BATA Has $1.5 Million in Refunds to Return (But Motorists with Claims Had Better Hurry)
- Connecticut Senate Approves Bill to Kill VMT Study
- Leavenworth (KS) County Commissioners Kill MOU on Proposed Private Toll Road
- IL Tollway Approves $25 Million Study for Route 53 Extension
- Golden Gate Bridge, a "Mystical Structure," Turns 80 Tomorrow
- A Toll Roads Ban Could Be on Missouri's 2018 Ballot
- OTA to Contribute $5 Million for Highway Patrol Trooper Academy
- PA Supreme Court Affirms PTC Win in Legal Fee Reimbursement Involving Former CEO
- RIDOT Director Calls Truck Toll Plan a Model
- Critics Complain That MassDOT's Sumner Tunnel Toll Plaza Conversion Project Is Creating Congestion
- Massachusetts Turnpike Drivers Look Forward to First Memorial Day under AET
- FDOT Hosts Public Meeting on Tampa's Transportation Future, but Skips Mention of TBX or TBN
- NY Thruway Traffic Backup Sparked by Emergency Pavement Repairs
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Maine Lawmakers Nix Governor LePage's Proposal to Merge Turnpike with DOT
Portland Press Herald reports, “A legislative committee Thursday [May 25] rejected LePage administration proposals to merge the Maine Turnpike Authority with the Department of Transportation and move toward a single highway toll in York. The unanimous vote came moments after an hourlong public hearing during which opponents urged the Transportation Committee to preserve the quasi-independence of an agency that manages what some described as ‘the gateway to Maine.’”
Maine Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) Maine Turnpike AuthorityTrump Administration's Push for New Interstate Tolls and Rest Stop Privatization Draws Opposition
Bloomberg BNA reports, “Industry groups eager for President Donald Trump’s promised $1 trillion infrastructure plan were alarmed that new interstate tolls and rest stop privatization were among the plan’s possible funding sources.” However, “House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said the budget ‘reflects the reality of long-term infrastructure funding in America.’”
Trump Administration Infrastructure PlanTolls and License Plate Thefts Rise in Hampton Roads Area, and Police Think, Maybe, There Could Be a Connection
WAVY reports, “There have been 330 license plates stolen in Portsmouth this year, according to crime statistics. That’s an average of more than two plates taken each day since January. If the trend continues, Portsmouth will have 828 stolen plates by the end of the year. In 2016, police reported 328 stolen license plates. Last year in Suffolk, police say there were 79 plates stolen. There’s already been 70 this year. ‘This last month, it’s been more spread all over the city,’ said Police Chief Tonya Chapman. ‘Our suspicion is they may be using them to avoid tolls or people are reporting them to try and avoid toll bills.’”
Elizabeth River Tunnels Scofflaws Virginia Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)New York's MTA Approves New Capital Spending Plan with Nearly $3 Billion Increase
The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports, “Metropolitan Transportation Authority board members warned of the danger posed by the agency’s rising debt Wednesday [May 24], even as they approved a $2.9 billion capital spending increase funded with $1.6 billion of new bonds.”
The New York Times also covers the story and the reaction.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York CityBATA Has $1.5 Million in Refunds to Return (But Motorists with Claims Had Better Hurry)
The Mercury News reports, “Motorists who use any of the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges may be in for a pleasant surprise: There’s roughly $1.5 million in refunds up for grabs. But the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) is planning to pocket the cash unless you get there first.” According to MTC Executive Director Steve Hemminger, “the funds resulted from uncashed checks or accounts that were automatically closed because inactivity. Some people overpaid a fine or sent in duplicate payments. . . .”
Bay Area Toll Authority (San Francisco) (BATA) California Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)
Connecticut Senate Approves Bill to Kill VMT Study
Connecticut Post reports, “The state Senate on Thursday [May 25] voted unanimously to prohibit the study of a so-called mileage tax, but leaders warned that other long-term funding mechanisms must be considered — including tolls — to support Connecticut’s failing fund for transportation infrastructure project.” The bill, SB 76, heads to the House.
Connecticut RUC & VMT ProgramsLeavenworth (KS) County Commissioners Kill MOU on Proposed Private Toll Road
Leavenworth Times reports, “With the audience overflowing into the hallway, Leavenworth County commissioners voted Thursday [May 25] to permanently table a memorandum of understanding” for the “Patriot Highway” project, a proposed, privately-funded Kansas City toll road. “‘This issue is dead,’ Commission Chairman Doug Smith said after the vote. Commissioners had been asked earlier in the week to consider entering into a memorandum of understanding with Via Maris Consulting Group. . . .”
Kansas P3 & PrivatizationIL Tollway Approves $25 Million Study for Route 53 Extension
Daily Herald reports, “Illinois tollway directors unanimously voted to study extending Route 53 north on Thursday [May 25], approving a $25 million consulting contract amid furious lobbying for and against the project. Tollway leaders said the consultants will start from scratch and in four to five years make recommendations for a road to be paid for with tolls.”
Illinois Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (IL Tollway)Golden Gate Bridge, a "Mystical Structure," Turns 80 Tomorrow
The Golden Gate Bridge will turn 80 tomorrow, Saturday, May 27, and TollRoadsNews offers its congratulations. Legendary San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen once wrote of the bridge, “The mystical structure, with its perfect amalgam of delicacy and power, exerts an uncanny effect. Its efficiency cannot conceal the artistry. There is heart there, and soul. It is an object to be contemplated for hours.”
California Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District (GGBHTD) San Francisco Bay Area (CA)A Toll Roads Ban Could Be on Missouri's 2018 Ballot
CBS News St. Louis reports, “The treasurer of the group ‘A Better Road Forward’ says now that the secretary of state has approved petitions for a toll road ban referendum in Missouri, it’s up to them to collect 160 thousand signatures to get it placed on next year’s ballot.”
MissouriOTA to Contribute $5 Million for Highway Patrol Trooper Academy
Tulsa World reports, “The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has agreed to pay $5 million so the Oklahoma Highway Patrol can conduct a 2018 trooper academy, officials announced [on May 25]. Oklahoma Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael C. Thompson lauded the Turnpike Authority for stepping in to fund the program to train new troopers at a time when there is not enough money in the state budget to pay for an academy.”
Oklahoma Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA)PA Supreme Court Affirms PTC Win in Legal Fee Reimbursement Involving Former CEO
Law360 reports, “Pennsylvania’s high court declined Thursday [May 25] to change a state appeals court’s finding that a former CEO of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission was not entitled to $300,000 in legal fee reimbursements from a pay-to-play case in which he pled guilty to a felony charge.”
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC)RIDOT Director Calls Truck Toll Plan a Model
WLNE reports, “Rhode Island DOT Director Peter Alviti calls Rhode Island a model for the way it is going about implementing tolling of commercial trucks. . . . ‘More and more states will be doing this,’ said Alviti. To the naysayers, the Director does point to the fact that the Trump administration is trying to loosen federal regulations on tolling.” Alviti adds that RIDOT has “no plans to expand tolling.”
Rhode IslandCritics Complain That MassDOT's Sumner Tunnel Toll Plaza Conversion Project Is Creating Congestion
Metro reports that some East Boston state lawmakers and residents are unhappy about the MassDOT project involving the AET conversion of the Sumner Tunnel toll plaza. “Redesigning the . . . toll plaza to streamline traffic into the city has actually had the opposite effect of congesting traffic further into the city and causing much more pollution,” a state senator tells the newspaper. MassDOT has made a traffic pattern change in an effort to alleviate congestion.
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Massachusetts TurnpikeMassachusetts Turnpike Drivers Look Forward to First Memorial Day under AET
WWLP reports, “As millions of Americans hit the road this holiday weekend in Massachusetts, it’s the first Memorial Day with the state’s all electronic tolling. . . . Memorial Day marks the beginning of the summer travel season, and drivers said they’re hoping the elimination of tollbooths will be good for easing some of the traffic.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts Massachusetts TurnpikeFDOT Hosts Public Meeting on Tampa's Transportation Future, but Skips Mention of TBX or TBN
Tampa Bay Times reports, “More than 150 community members gathered at a Florida Department of Transportation meeting [on May 24] to weigh in on the future of transportation in Tampa Bay.” The newspaper observes, “Many in the community had come ready to debate the merits of toll lanes and DOT’s rebranded campaign, Tampa Bay Next. But though the new logo adorned handouts and Power Point slides, no mention of the project, or its predecessor Tampa Bay Express, known as TBX, was made in the introductory remarks.”
Florida Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)NY Thruway Traffic Backup Sparked by Emergency Pavement Repairs
The Buffalo News reports, “The Thruway Authority explained Thursday [May 25] that ’emergency pavement repairs’ were required in five sections of the road surface [near] the Lackawanna toll barriers . . . because of an unexpected problem encountered by a contractor making full-depth repairs to prepare for an upcoming repaving project.” According to the report, the work “triggered a 6-mile traffic backup during the evening commute.”
New York New York State Thruway Authority