- Maryland Takes New Approach to Toll System Services Procurement
- New Details Emerge on I-66 Inside-the-Beltway HOT Lanes
- Maryland Tries to Catch Up with Virginia in Battle against DC Gridlock
- TxDOT Will Lift Its Suspension of Late Fee Charges for Unpaid Tolls
- Kansas Turnpike Awards EPC Contract to Elevate Bridges
- Temporary License Plate Law Helps Toll and Law Enforcement Authorities
- Caltrans Improves CA 156 Safety while Awaiting Toll Study Results
- RITBA Starts Penalizing Drivers with Unmounted Transponders
- Editorial Board Endorses Increase in Chisholm Trail Speed Limits
- New toll Policies for Bridge of the Gods. Local Discount Highlighted.
- Twin Cities Congestion Worsens. Additional Express Lanes on the Table.
- Governor Christie Presses for Transportation Funding Fix
- The Crime Beat
- NTTA Offers Toll Tags with Soccer Team FC Dallas Logo
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Maryland Takes New Approach to Toll System Services Procurement
Cecil Whig (subscription may be required) reports that the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) “is changing the way it seeks bids for the management of its toll facilities in hopes of improving customer service, an agency spokeswoman said [on August 2].” On August 1, the agency issued separate RFPs for the toll system equipment and the customer services that will be required to operate its eight toll facilities beginning in 2018. In a news release, An MDTA spokesperson states, “Reliability, collaboration and flexibility will drive this transformation and will allow us to meet the evolving needs of our customers, adapt to changing technologies and positively impact Maryland’s economy.” Xerox provides both technology and customer services under MDTA’s current toll system contract.
MarylandNew Details Emerge on I-66 Inside-the-Beltway HOT Lanes
WTOP-FM News (Washington) reports, “Final plans for new HOV or toll lanes along more than 20 miles of Interstate 66 are due next month, but preliminary documents provide new insight into what the two toll lanes and three regular highway lanes in each direction will look like when the project is complete around 2021.”
Virginia Washington (DC) Metro RegionMaryland Tries to Catch Up with Virginia in Battle against DC Gridlock
Washington Business Journal reports that Virginia’s express lane and highway expansion projects put it far ahead of Maryland in the campaign to relieve national capital region traffic congestion. Now, Congressman John Delaney (D-MD), other legislators and business groups are helping Maryland catch up by pushing for projects to widen I-270 and the American Legion Bridge. The Washington Post also has a report.
Maryland Washington (DC) Metro RegionTxDOT Will Lift Its Suspension of Late Fee Charges for Unpaid Tolls
KXAN-TV News (Austin) reports, “After more than a year of suspending late fees due to billing issues, TxDOT [announced on August 2] they will resume late fees for unpaid tolls in September 2016. The agency is encouraging toll road customers with overdue toll charges to pay their balances by Aug. 31, 2016 to avoid incurring any late fees and additional penalties.” TxDOT began to waive late fees in 2015 in response to customer complaints about inaccurate billing and poor customer service during a toll services vendor transition.
TexasKansas Turnpike Awards EPC Contract to Elevate Bridges
The Kansas Turnpike Authority announced that it has awarded Burns & McDonnell, Kansas City, MO, a $3.7 million contract to provide Engineer-Procure-Construct (EPC) services to raise ten bridges crossing over the Turnpike (I-35). “Increasing the height of specific bridges that cross over the Turnpike, was identified as a way to aid freight movement on the Turnpike and decrease commercial traffic on local roads and highways,” the authority says.
KansasTemporary License Plate Law Helps Toll and Law Enforcement Authorities
Marin Independent Journal reports that a new statute requiring vehicles purchased in California to display temporary license plates will address a problem that costs the Golden Gate Bridge district alone $2 million annually. In addition to helping highway and bridge authorities collect toll revenue that is currently lost, the law enhances the ability of police agencies to identify vehicles involved in crimes.
CaliforniaCaltrans Improves CA 156 Safety while Awaiting Toll Study Results
Monterey County Weekly reports that Caltrans has started a project to make safety improvements to a segment of California Highway 156. “And a longer-term project — to widen the highway in a new location from two lanes to four, with a more substantial median than the existing double-yellow line — would potentially be funded with a toll. A tolling study is expected to be completed by the end of the year.”
CaliforniaRITBA Starts Penalizing Drivers with Unmounted Transponders
WPRI-TV News (Providence) reports that 30 E-ZPass customers have had to pay the cash toll rate on the Newport Pell Bridge since the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority (RITBA) started a campaign to enforce its transponder mounting requirements. RITBA tells the newspaper that approximately one thousand motorists each month impede traffic and create safety risks at the toll plaza because their transponders are not properly affixed to their windshields.
Rhode IslandEditorial Board Endorses Increase in Chisholm Trail Speed Limits
Fort Worth Star-Telegram editors heartily endorse the North Texas Tollway Authority’s decision to raise the 50-mile-per-hour speed limit on all but one section of the Chisholm Trail Parkway. Motorists and local officials both called for the authority’s action.
TexasNew toll Policies for Bridge of the Gods. Local Discount Highlighted.
Hood River News looks at the Port of Cascade’s toll changes for the Bridge of the Gods.
Oregon Toll Rate Changes Washington StateTwin Cities Congestion Worsens. Additional Express Lanes on the Table.
Shakopee Valley News reports, “Traffic on Twin Cities metropolitan area freeways continues to increase, with the percentage of miles of freeway system congested increasing from 21.1 percent in 2014 to 23.4 percent in 2015, according to a Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) Metropolitan Freeway System Congestion Report.” The report adds that, “MnDOT and the Metropolitan Council plan to add MnPASS lanes on other freeways throughout the Twin Cities metro area.”
Express Lanes MinnesotaGovernor Christie Presses for Transportation Funding Fix
CBS News Philadelphia reports, “During a wide-ranging press conference in Trenton on Tuesday [August 2], [Governor Christie] called on Senate President Steve Sweeney to put aside the political rhetoric and work with his administration and the assembly to resolve their differences over a gas tax and road program.”
New JerseyThe Crime Beat
NJ.com reports that the New Jersey woman arrested and charged with “theft and obstructing a government function” for using E-ZPass lanes more than 500 times without paying the tolls had her first appearance in court. The amount she allegedly owes PANYNJ: $16,000.
Associated Press reports that jury selection is underway in the federal Bridgegate criminal case.
Crime Beat New JerseyNTTA Offers Toll Tags with Soccer Team FC Dallas Logo
The Dallas Morning News reports, “Avid FC Dallas fans have a new way to show their love for North Texas’ only Major League Soccer team: the North Texas Tollway has added the outfit’s logo to a growing list of college and professional teams with toll tags.”
Texas