“Fast Company” And Broadway Report On Congestion Pricing’s Positive Impacts

“Fast Company” is the latest national publication to take note of the positive outcome from the first month of Manhattan congestion pricing. Acknowledging it’s early days, an article on the magazine’s website reports that current MTA data, supported by independent measures, reveals positive trends in traffic reduction, travel times, and transit adoption. (Initial information about toll revenue yield and air quality should be available later this month.) The article focuses on the program’s immediate impact on improving commutes by car and bus into and within the congestion zone.

Concerns that congestion pricing would seriously curtail New York City theatre attendance have so far proved to be unfounded, Streetsblog NYC reports. “Despite doom prognostications, congestion pricing has not hurt Broadway’s bottom line a bit — and, in fact, may be boosting it. According to the Broadway League — the Great White Way’s trade group — ticket sales rose year-over-year in both the third and fourth weeks of January,” the period following the usual holiday surge in attendance.

MTA policy and external relations chief John McCarthy commented, “Most [theatergoers] take subways, buses, bikes, cabs or walk to Broadway shows. The relatively few who drive are seeing much less traffic. So, no surprise that attendance and ticket sales are way up.”

Maryland Unveils Key Bridge Replacement Design

Maryland Matters reports, “State officials unveiled the design for the new Francis Scott Key Bridge on Monday, almost a year after a container ship slammed into the old bridge, sending it tumbling into the Patapsco River and killing six workers . . . . ‘This is a great day for Maryland,’ said Gov. Wes Moore (D), as the design was revealed. “But it’s not lost on me that today’s triumph was born out of tragedy.’”

Renderings show the span will be a “soaring cable-stayed” structure. It will have two traffic lanes in each direction and provide 230 feet of clearance over the ship channel, compared to the old bridge’s 185 feet of vertical clearance. “When it is completed — the contractor predicts the bridge could open in fall 2028 — the bridge will restore a major roadway between Dundalk and Baltimore.”

Officials said the replacement project’s next step will be demolition of the collapsed span’s remains. “Demolition is expected in the spring and construction will begin shortly after. Preconstruction operations have already begun, such as collecting soil samples and mapping subsurface waterways, the Maryland Transportation Authority said in January.

Governor Moore concurrently announced a $15 million investment in a project to increase container capacity at a major Baltimore Harbor logistics center.

A subpage on the Key Bridge Rebuild website has design images and information. Governor Moore issued an extensive news release on the design reveal.

The Washington Post and WBAL-TV also cover this story.

New DelDOT Leadership Team Takes Office

On January 30, Shanté Hastings was sworn-in as the department’s twelfth secretary following her unanimous confirmation by the state senate. DelDOT’s announcement of the official start of her term added that Ms. Hastings has appointed Lanie Clymer the deputy transportation secretary and Mark Luszcz as DelDOT’s chief engineer.

The new secretary was nominated in December shortly before taking over as acting secretary upon the departure of Nicole Majeski. She has been a DelDOT staff member and executive for more than 20 years, according to detailed biographical information in the announcement.

Ms. Clymer has extensive public and private financial management experience. She joined DelDOT in 2007 and was serving as the department’s finance director before her elevation.

Mr. Luszcz has nearly 30 years’ experience in public and private sector transportation engineering. He previously served as a deputy director in DelDOT’s Division of Transportation Solutions, at various times having responsibility for a wide-range of operations or for design. He was the department’s chief traffic engineer at an earlier stage of his career.

ATRI Finds Trucking Delay Costs Due To Congestion Reached Record High In 2022

Transport Topics reports, according to research conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), US highway congestion “added $108.8 billion in costs to the trucking industry in 2022, up from $94.6 billion in 2021.” The findings are set out in a “Cost of Congestion” study update ATRI released in December.

Hours of congestion actually decreased slightly during the year, but an increase in truck operating expense made vehicle slowdowns more costly by a factor of 15 percent. ATRI compared the level of highway delay to “more than 430,000 commercial truck drivers sitting idle for one work year and an average cost of $7,588 for every registered combination truck.” It also noted that the 6.4 billion gallons of diesel fuel trucks wasted due to congestion added $32.1 billion to the industry’s costs.

Public Update On Kansas Express Lanes Project Scheduled

In early 2023, design-build contractors broke ground on Kansas DOT’s $572 million 69Express project, which will deliver the state’s first tolled express lanes along a congested US 69 corridor in the Kansas City metro area. The project team has scheduled an open house for this Thursday evening, February 6, to update the public on its progress. According to a City of Overland Park news release, staff will “answer questions and share 2025 construction plans, upcoming closure information and information on how to use the express lanes.”

The lanes are expected to open later this year or in early 2026. The Kansas Turnpike Authority, a project participant, will manage the new facility’s toll collections.