Daily News Briefs, August 4, 2022

PennDOT Abandons Plan To Deliver Bridge Replacements Through Toll-Financed P3

PennLive.com reports, PennDOT’s Major Bridge P3 Program, a plan likely to involve tolling of nine interstate highway bridges in need of replacement, is defunct. This week, the department ran out of time to appeal a June court ruling that flaws in execution of the initiative made it void from the start. A spokesperson says PennDOT has decided to accept the ruling and abandon settlement discussions with municipalities opposed to tolling in view of the legislature’s July enactment of Act 84 of 2022, which substantially amended the state’s public-private transportation partnerships statute and included a provision expressly prohibiting PennDOT from proceeding with the bridge initiative on the terms it proposed. The measure’s sponsor, the Republican chair of the state senate transportation committee, says lawmakers will work this fall on a strategy for replacing the old, deficient bridges, and “uppermost in his mind is ensuring Pennsylvania companies benefit from this work.”

TRN notes there’s little chance any new strategy will involve a public-private partnership or tolling thanks to provisions of Act 84 that were introduced late and adopted with little debate following a negotiation between Governor Tom Wolf’s administration and the senate. The statute creates cumbersome new requirements for the approval of a P3 delivery. It also significantly restricts the state’s ability to compensate a private partner by awarding toll collection rights, which is, by and large, how P3 infrastructure deals are financed in the US. It’s ironic that the governor acceded to Act 84’s final terms following a long and costly effort by his administration to not only advance the Major Bridge P3 Program, but to “identify and evaluate near- and long-term alternative funding solutions” through other PennDOT initiatives.

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SANRAL Launches Toll System Tender Ahead Of Decision On Tolling

ITWeb reports, “Even though the verdict is still out on the future of e-tolls, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has issued a tender for the controversial e-tolling system. In the tender document, Sanral invites proposals for the operations and maintenance of the open road tolling (ORT) system in the Gauteng province. Sanral indicates the contract period shall be for a duration of 72 months . . . in total, including the design-build and operation service periods.” The article adds, “Sanral’s move to issue the ORT system tender comes as the public awaits transport minister Fikile Mbalula’s final pronouncement on the matter, with reports indicating this is only likely to materialise in October.”

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

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