- MA Tollpayer Advocate on New AET Toll Rates: "They're Great."
- MA Will Expand Toll Discount for Users of State's E-ZPass
- OH River Bridges AET Math: Lower Operating Costs and Higher Revenue
- CTRMA Targets Late August Opening Date for MoPac
- CTRMA Awards $78.6 Million Contract for SH 45 SW Project
- NJ Reporter Visits and Rates Parkway, Turnpike Rest Stops. (Scores for Decor, Style, Personality, Swimsuit Competition . . .)
- A Lawyer's Study IDs Houston's Deadliest Intersections. Two Are at Sam Houston Parkway.
- NET RMA Begins Work on "Troubled Section" of Toll 49
- MDTA Dials Back Bicyclist Access to Hatem Toll Bridge
- Kane County Officials Make Case for Longmeadow Parkway
- Seattle's Bertha Has a New Driver
- Fitch Upgrades Rating of Florida Pike Revenue Bonds
- Automakers "Take Different Routes" in Designing Self-Driving Cars
- European Toll Road Operators Take on EU Directive
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MA Tollpayer Advocate on New AET Toll Rates: "They're Great."
MassLive.com reports on the new tollpayer advocate’s first impression of the turnpike AET toll rates proposed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation: “they appear to be ‘great’ and not a big deal,” according to Leonard Fournier, whose appointment has generated some questions. Fournier tells MassLive “he’s a ‘good fit’ for the position, given his background with the Turnpike and the fact that he uses the road. He uses his E-ZPass transponder ‘traveling between Millbury/Auburn and Boston 10-15 times per month,’ according to MassDOT.” Fournier spoke briefly with a reporter “as he was escorted out of the [August 22 turnpike] board meeting by a staffer and up into MassDOT offices
Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Massachusetts Turnpike Toll Rate ChangesMA Will Expand Toll Discount for Users of State's E-ZPass
The Boston Globe reports, “As Massachusetts prepares to debut all-electronic tolling on the Massachusetts Turnpike this fall, the state says it will offer drivers a slight discount for using a Massachusetts E-ZPass, rather than an out-of-state transponder. It turns out such a break for Massachusetts residents isn’t new: The state will actually be expanding discounts already offered at some local tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike.”
E-ZPass Massachusetts TurnpikeOH River Bridges AET Math: Lower Operating Costs and Higher Revenue
WDRB News reports, “It will cost significantly less to operate the all-electronic toll system on Louisville-area bridges, according to estimates from a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet consultant. And even before tolling starts, the fees charged to drivers are expected to take in more money than previously thought — an extra $364 million by 2058.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River BridgesCTRMA Targets Late August Opening Date for MoPac
Community Impact Newspaper reports, “Contractor CH2M is targeting a late August opening for the first section of the MoPac express toll lanes, but recent rains could lead to more delays. “‘The goal is to get it done,’ said Jeff Dailey, deputy executive director for the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, at a July 27 [board of directors] meeting. ‘We don’t want to be slipping into September.’” Dailey also briefed the board on the liquidated damages CTRMA has been accruing.
Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA)CTRMA Awards $78.6 Million Contract for SH 45 SW Project
Community Impact Newspaper reports that the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority board of directors has awarded a contract to McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., for up to $78.6 million for SH 45 SW project construction. The project is a “3.6-mile, four-lane toll highway project in Southwest Austin that connects Loop 1 in Travis County to FM 1626 in Hays County,” according to the report.
Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA)NJ Reporter Visits and Rates Parkway, Turnpike Rest Stops. (Scores for Decor, Style, Personality, Swimsuit Competition . . .)
NJ.com reports, “The three certainties of life on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway: tolls, traffic, and the rest stop. As far as the latter, at some point you’re going to need gas or you and/or the kids gotta, you know, go.” With that, reporter Peter Genovese ranks the service plazas, noting that they “may look the same, but they’re all different, each with its own style, personality, range of facilities, and decor (or lack thereof).”
New Jersey New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA)A Lawyer's Study IDs Houston's Deadliest Intersections. Two Are at Sam Houston Parkway.
KHOU News reports, “Collision reports collected by a Houston lawyer label two Houston intersections as the most dangerous and deadliest. The study reveals more than 80 Houston intersections with 40 or more collisions between 2012 and 2015. Bissonnet Street and Sam Houston Parkway is Texas’ most dangerous. . . .” The article adds that the second most dangerous intersection identified by the study is Hardy Road at Sam Houston Parkway. The lawyer’s report does not identify accident causes.
Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA)NET RMA Begins Work on "Troubled Section" of Toll 49
KLTV News reports that the Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority has begun work on a stretch of Highway 49 that “has been plagued by safety and asphalt issues.” The report adds, “There have been numerous complaints about this stretch of road. Several people have died in wrecks there this year, and NET RMA, the company [sic] that manages the toll road, says that they don’t want drivers to have to deal with the problems anymore.”
NET RMA TexasMDTA Dials Back Bicyclist Access to Hatem Toll Bridge
The Baltimore Sun reports, “Despite the great fanfare earlier this year, when it decided to allow bicyclists to ride across the Route 40 Hatem Bridge crossing the Susquehanna River, the Maryland Transportation Authority said Tuesday [August 23] it will start restricting cyclists to weekends and holidays starting next month.” MDTA’s Cheryl Sparks says, “After further evaluation, there was a policy change made which will be effective Sept. 6. It’s basically just to balance the interests of both the cyclists and the community.”
Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA)Kane County Officials Make Case for Longmeadow Parkway
The Courier-News (Elgin, IL) reports, “Longmeadow Parkway Bridge Corridor is the most environmentally sound option the Kane County Department of Transportation has to alleviate traffic congestion in the northern part of the county, officials said Wednesday [August 24]. It is one of the messages Kane County Department of Transportation (KDOT) wants to give county residents ahead of an Aug. 30 public hearing on the $115 million Longmeadow Parkway Bridge Corridor project.” [Link added.]
Seattle's Bertha Has a New Driver
KIRO News profiles Joe Hedges, WSDOT’s new tunnel project administrator, who tells the station that the State Route 99 project “is one of the major civil projects in the United States and it’s just a privilege to be associated with it.” The report adds that Bertha “has traveled 4,070 of 9,270 feet, nearing the halfway point. ‘I’m very optimistic . . . I’m confident that we can probably continue at the same rate we’re going,’ Hedges said.”
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)Fitch Upgrades Rating of Florida Pike Revenue Bonds
Fitch Ratings has upgraded the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) outstanding $2.9 billion turnpike revenue bonds to ‘AA’ from ‘AA-‘. The Rating Outlook is Stable.”
Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) Investment RatingsAutomakers "Take Different Routes" in Designing Self-Driving Cars
The Washington Post reports, “Cars capable of driving themselves may be on the showroom floor sooner than you think, but whether they should come with all the current essentials — including a steering wheel and pedals on the floor — has the auto industry at a fork in the road.”
Self-Driving VehiclesEuropean Toll Road Operators Take on EU Directive
“ITS International” staffs a meeting of the Association of European Toll Road Operators, reporting that members are considering action to stop legislation “which has yet to be ratified by many EU member states, [that] redefines concessions and specifies that the concessionaire has to carry the project risk, restricts the conditions under which the contract can be modified and limits its duration.”