Daily News Briefs, April 11, 2024

Illinois Tollway Creates Stakeholder Group To Provide Capital Plan Advice And Ideas

Illinois Tollway Authority Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse today announced the formation of a Stakeholder Advisory Team (SAT) to provide advice and recommendations to the agency on development of its next capital plan. The team members represent a variety of Chicago region for-profit and nonprofit entities, ranging from transportation and construction businesses and agencies to civic, labor, community and environmental organizations. A list of the more than 40 SAT members is included in the authority’s news release. The SAT will “provide a framework to advance [Tollway] long-term capital priorities” and “develop a report with a series of recommendations for the next capital plan, alongside  continued engagement with the public and other stakeholder groups. The Tollway Board’s Strategic Planning Committee will review the recommendations, select projects and develop a proposed budget for consideration by the full Board.” SAT activities will begin this month and continue for several months. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D) commented, “The Stakeholder Advisory Team brings together leaders that share our desire to create a historic capital plan that identifies creative and innovative solutions to support the needs of communities across the region. In order to take full advantage of the experience and capabilities of this advisory team, it is vital that the Tollway listens to a wide range of ideas, elicits feedback, builds support and develops an impactful program with strong regional consensus.”

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Ship Malfunctions That Put Bridges At Risk Aren't Uncommon, Federal Data Show

Following the March 26 Francis Scott Key bridge collapse, national media continue to focus on the potential vulnerability of US waterway spans. Today, USA Today publishes an analysis of US Coast Guard data from which it concludes that catastrophes like the one in Baltimore may be rare, but “the conditions that could cause them are frighteningly common.” The newspaper’s findings include:

• At least 6,000 times in the past 22 years, commercial vessel crews have reported a loss of power or control incident such as the one that preceded the Key Bridge collision.
• Nine hundred of those incidents occurred near bridges identified by USDOT as spanning navigable waters.
• The Coast Guard classified about a dozen of those 900 cases as “major” or “significant.”
• Since 2002 — the earliest year for which data is available — 2,600 major and minor bridge strikes (“allisions”) have occurred in US waters, three of which involved fatalities.
• According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, the global maritime data and analytics company, the annual number of marine casualty incidents of all kinds has increased steadily over the past decade.
• Statistics show vessels are more likely to experience power and control problems “in ports and harbors, as well as in close proximity to bridges, because that’s when the ships are under the most stress.”

The risk of major incidents was in evidence just last Saturday night, April 6, when a large container ship lost propulsion while navigating through New York Harbor near the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. Fortunately, three tugboats were able to bring the vessel under control.

The lengthy USA Today article looks at other bridge allisions and near misses, and the causes of vessel mechanical failures that put bridge structures at risk.

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As Phishing Scams Persist, Toll Facility Operators Sound Warnings

NBC News Chicago reports, bogus text messages purportedly from the Illinois Tollway about unpaid I-PASS tolls are still circulating, even after tollway authorities worked with state and federal counterparts to take down a website connected to the phishing scam. The newer texts “appeared more legitimate and sophisticated than previous ones,” as some of their giveaway spelling errors had been corrected. People who receive the suspicious texts are asked to report them to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

The Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) issued an alert yesterday that scammers are now targeting E-PASS account holders with fraudulent requests for personal financial information supposedly to resolve outstanding toll bills. CFX notes that it doesn’t text customers about an outstanding balance; they have “approved safe methods to check their accounts such as the official CFX E-PASS website or the E-PASS app available from the Apple App Store, or Google Play store.”

In Oregon, Columbia Gorge News reports that the Port of Hood River is preemptively urging locals to be vigilant about “smishing” messages, such as those circulating elsewhere that direct  the recipients to provide financial information in order to settle mysterious toll bills. Customers are encouraged to make payments only through official BreezeBy channels, call the port office if they have questions about a toll-related text message and report fraudulent texts to the FBI center.

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These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.

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