Daily News Briefs, August 23, 2022

Virginia's I-66 Is Undergoing Digital Transformation As It Gets New Express Lanes

“Government Technology” reports, “Interstate 66 in northern Virginia, a key thoroughfare for commuters traveling into the Washington, D.C., metro region, is being redeveloped as a multimodal expressway, managed with real-time traffic data — displayed on highway message boards and inside connected vehicles — as well as dynamic tolling lanes that offer drivers options along the always-shifting spectrum of speed and efficiency, and cost.” The highway’s digital transformation, taking place as part of Ferrovial’s managed lanes construction, is seen as one of the benefits Virginia obtained by partnering with a private entity that brings “a global technology perspective” to its projects.

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Op-Ed: "Delaying Toll Lanes Could Be ‘Disastrous’ For Maryland"

An op-ed in The Baltimore Sun makes a forceful argument that any further delay in the implementation of Governor Larry Hogan’s plan for P3 delivery of I-495 and I-270 express lanes is “unwarranted and would be disastrous in terms of lost money, time and quality of life for Maryland residents.” Author David Winstead, a former Maryland DOT secretary, writes, “The benefits of this project are dramatic and well documented. The costs of not moving forward in a timely manner are immense. If Maryland faces further delays in implementing the Op Lanes Maryland program, it will have severe economic development and financial impacts on the state. We are at an inflection point. The studies have been done. The findings are clear. The time to act is now.”

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Congestion Pricing Could Put Some NYC Cabbies Out Of Business

THE CITY reports, one of the seven tolling scenarios outlined in MTA’s congestion pricing environmental assessment could “reduce demand for taxis by up to 17% in the congestion zone, potentially pushing some cabbies and ‘for-hire vehicle’ drivers out of work.” The rate proposal would add “up to $19 in new fees onto every metered cab trip south of 60th Street in Manhattan.” One veteran taxi company owner says, “The cab drivers are all hard-working people, but it’s getting harder and harder for them. We are that old boxer that gets into the ring and keeps getting punched, punched, punched, punched and punched.” The article notes that NYC cab companies are making a slow recovery from the pandemic, which reduced the demand for service and put some medallion owners in debt difficulty.

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NHTSA Reports Traffic Fatalities Continued To Rise In 1Q-2022

Route Fifty reports, “The number of road deaths in the United States continues to climb, with the federal government reporting [on August 17] that 9,560 people died in the first quarter of 2022. That’s a 7% increase from 2021, and the highest number in 20 years. ‘When everyday life came to a halt in March 2020, risky behaviors skyrocketed, and traffic fatalities spiked. We’d hoped these trends were limited to 2020. But sadly, they aren’t,’ said Steven Cliff, the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA], during a call with reporters.” NHTSA reckons that 29 states and DC saw fatalities increase last year, and the rate of increase was highest (52 percent) in the nation’s mid-Atlantic region.

The New York Times reports that fatality rates, which had been in decline for decades, began to increase around 2015 and surged with the appearance of COVID-19. It looks at explanations for the rise in deaths, as well as research findings that Blacks, Latinos and people with low incomes are more likely to die in passenger car crashes than members of other demographic groups.

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Florida DOT Pilots Application That Alerts Drivers Approaching Work Zones

Florida DOT announced that it has launched “a one-year statewide technology pilot program that establishes a new Lane Closure Notification System (LCNS) — the first of its kind in North America. Launched in cooperation with the Florida Transportation Builders Association and one.network, LCNS will alert motorists to work zone activity in real-time through GPS navigation apps such as Waze and Google Maps. The system aims to improve the safety of highway workers and “aid motorists in navigating . . . work zones safely, timely, and efficiently.” The pilot will extend to all planned construction sites across state roads and Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise. “A soft launch of the LCNS technology was successfully kicked off in early June. A statewide rollout to over 500 construction projects is anticipated over the next few months.”

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

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