- Bay Area Pilot Program Reduces Tolls For Low-Income I-880 Express Lanes Users
- Arizona Governor Vetoes Legislation To Suppress Highway Sign Messaging
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
This is a Subscribers-Only area. If you are a subscriber, please login. If not...
Become a Subscriber Today »
Bay Area Pilot Program Reduces Tolls For Low-Income I-880 Express Lanes Users
Bay Area drivers with a FasTrak account and a household income at 200 percent of the poverty level or lower are now eligible to participate in a pilot program to reduce or eliminate their charges for travel on the I-880 express lanes, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) announced last week. If traveling solo, a participant will get tolls reduced by half. The discount jumps to 75 percent for travel with one passenger, and there’s no charge when three or more people are in the car. Application materials are already available in four languages, and the MTC’s Bay Area Infrastructure Financing Authority affiliate, which is administering the pilot, is conducting community outreach to spread the word. The Express Lanes START project will run for 18 months, “with evaluation of the program results to cover the first 12 months of operations. Once the evaluation is complete, MTC will decide whether to continue the program.” The pilot involves the I-880 facility only, and so does not extend to the region’s toll bridges or other express lanes.
California ETC Systems Express Lanes I-880 and CA 237 Express Lanes Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) San Francisco Bay Area (CA) Toll Exemption, Discount And Equity ProgramsArizona Governor Vetoes Legislation To Suppress Highway Sign Messaging
Last week, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed a bill that would have restricted the content of digital highway signs largely to traffic safety messages, KAWC reports. HB 2586 (which passed by narrow margins in both legislative chambers) would have suppressed all messages but those “directly related to transportation or highway public safety” [with narrow exceptions for Amber, Silver and Blue alerts, and reminders to vote]. Sponsor Neal Carter (R-15) argued that anything else would be distracting; he also acknowledged some concern about the latitude traffic authorities had to convey other messaging, such as urging vaccination. The bill would not have affected Arizona DOT’s use of humorous traffic safety messages such as, “Drive like the person your dog thinks you are.”
Arizona Arizona DOT Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Intelligent Transportation Systems US Department of Transportation (USDOT)These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
If you’re not already a Daily News Briefs subscriber and you want a complete picture of today’s news, click here or call 717-991-2823 for subscription information. If you’re a newcomer to TollRoadsNews.com, click here.