- Portsmouth, Norfolk Residents Can Now Apply for Downtown and Midtown Tunnel Toll Relief Program
- Mass Turnpike Weekday E-ZPass Usage at 85 Percent Under New AET System
- Ohio River Bridges: Walsh Construction Earns $1 Million Bonus and Officials Set Opening Date for East End Bridge.
- Indian Army Troops Deployed to Toll Plazas. Minister Objects, Refuses to Leave Office. Troops Move Along. (Cue The Beatles: "It's Just Another Day . . .")
- SANDAG Opens Three New Freeway Ramps to SR 125 Toll Road North
- VDOT's $250 Million I-395 Express Lanes Extension Project Is On Track
- NCDOT's I-77 Express Lanes Project Advances
- Otto the Self-Driving Truck Makes the Rounds in Ohio and One Editorial Writer Hides Under Desk
- WSDOT Assures Motorists that Cars with Temporary Plates Are Tolled
- Liberal Think Tank Hits Trump Infrastructure Plan. Ranking Transportation Committee Member Says Trump Voters Won't Like the Necessary Tolls.
- Toronto City Manager to "Political Masters": Either Toll or Slash Projects. They Listen.
- Academics Praise Toronto Mayor John Tory's Tolling Proposal
- CT Budget Gap Could Hit Transportation Funding (Tolls, Fees Cited as Potential Funding Options)
- WI Newspaper: It is Time to Consider Gas Tax, Tolls and Fees for Transportation
- Teams Vying to Build Gordie Howe Bridge Meet with Contractors
- EU Greenlights Germany's Plan to Toll Foreign Drivers. Germany's Neighbors Say, "Not So Fast."
- A Clarification
This is a Subscribers-Only area. If you are a subscriber, please login. If not...
Become a Subscriber Today »
Portsmouth, Norfolk Residents Can Now Apply for Downtown and Midtown Tunnel Toll Relief Program
The Virginian-Pilot reports, “Some Portsmouth and Norfolk residents can start applying for a new program that will save them 75 cents on trips through the Downtown and Midtown tunnels next year, just as prices surge to their highest rate. Registration for the program began [on December 1] and runs through Feb. 15, with discounts kicking in March 1. Drivers must register in person at E-ZPass centers in Norfolk . . . or Portsmouth. . . .” To qualify for the “Toll Relief” program recently announced by Governor Terry McAuliffe, a motorist must reside in Norfolk or Portsmouth, earn $30,000 or less per year, have a Virginia E-ZPass transponder, and record eight trips or more during a calendar month through the tunnels.
Elizabeth River Tunnels VirginiaMass Turnpike Weekday E-ZPass Usage at 85 Percent Under New AET System
MassLive.com provides an update on the Massachusetts Turnpike AET conversion and invites its readers to share their reactions to the toll system change. “As of a week and a half ago,” MassLive reports, “the Massachusetts Department of Transportation officials said they had processed 27.7 million transactions through the new system. On weekdays, 85 percent of the transactions have been with an E-ZPass. According to transportation officials, some locations, like the Framingham area, have hit well over 90 percent.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts TurnpikeOhio River Bridges: Walsh Construction Earns $1 Million Bonus and Officials Set Opening Date for East End Bridge.
The Courier-Journal reports, “Walsh Construction Co., the primary contractor on the Downtown Crossing portion of the Ohio River Bridges Project, is in line to receive a bonus of around $1 million for substantial completion of its work more than three weeks ahead of the schedule that’s called for in its contract, project officials have confirmed. Any incentives for the contractor on the East End bridge, WVB East End Partners, have not been announced.” [Links added.] The report adds, “The weekend of Dec. 17-18 has been set as a target for opening the East End bridge, and tolls could be levied on Ohio River crossers even before that date.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River BridgesIndian Army Troops Deployed to Toll Plazas. Minister Objects, Refuses to Leave Office. Troops Move Along. (Cue The Beatles: "It's Just Another Day . . .")
The Times of India reports that Indian army troops were “deployed” to several national highway toll plazas; West Bengal state officials were not, they claim, informed or consulted about the “deployment;” the state’s chief minister objected and demanded the removal of troops from the toll plazas closest to her headquarters; the army apparently complied — or just moved on — but the minister still refuses to come out of her office. (It’s just another day at the office for India’s tolling industry.)
IndiaSANDAG Opens Three New Freeway Ramps to SR 125 Toll Road North
KGTV (San Diego) reports that SANDAG has opened three new freeway ramps near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry that connect SR 905 and SR 11 to the SR 125 toll road north. It’s the beginning of a larger plan that SANDAG hopes will culminate in construction of a new Otay Mesa East Port of Entry to expedite traffic between the US and Mexico. The station adds, “SANDAG officials also say the ramps . . . will be critical to the South Bay Rapid, an express bus route taking passengers from the border to downtown. They also hope drivers will now use the toll road as an alternative to avoid heavy traffic on Interstate 805.” Click here to read a SANDAG news release about the opening.
California San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG)VDOT's $250 Million I-395 Express Lanes Extension Project Is On Track
WTOP reports, “Plans are on track for an 8-mile extension for express, toll lanes on Interstate 395 in Northern Virginia. The $250 million project from the Virginia Department of Transportation would extend the lanes from north of Edsall Road to Eads Street near the Pentagon.” The station adds, “Members of the public turned out Wednesday night [November 30] to the first of two public hearings this week to see VDOT’s current plans.” Click here to see a VDOT slide deck on the proposed project.
Express Lanes Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Washington (DC) Metro RegionNCDOT's I-77 Express Lanes Project Advances
WSOC reports, “Drivers will soon see a new traffic pattern on one of Charlotte’s busiest highways as work continues on the Interstate 77 toll lanes project, which includes a new tunnel, officials said. Crews will blast this weekend for the first portion of a new tunnel that’s being built as part of the I-77 express lanes.”
Express Lanes North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)Otto the Self-Driving Truck Makes the Rounds in Ohio and One Editorial Writer Hides Under Desk
FOX 8 Cleveland catches up with Otto, the self-driving truck that is being tested in Ohio, among other places, reporting that “Otto has logged thousands of miles and hours on the nation’s highways from here to California, hauling various loads like a beer trailer though Colorado and an Ohio Transportation Department tanker down US Route 33 from the Indiana line to Columbus.” The report adds, “The Ohio Turnpike is a great testing ground.”
The Plain Dealer editorial board in a round-robin discussion tackles the question, “Do you trust self-driving trucks and cars, or should this project be idled?” One writer is “squeamish” and another writes, “At the risk of being branded a troglodyte, let me just say that when the state begins testing its driverless trucks, I plan to be as far away from Ohio 33 as I can get.”
Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission Self-Driving VehiclesWSDOT Assures Motorists that Cars with Temporary Plates Are Tolled
MYNorthwest.com reports that, despite some confusion, cars with temporary paper license plates are tolled after all. WSDOT toll division spokesperson Ethan Bergerson tells the website, “We can work with the Department of Licensing and send a toll bill on a temporary plate, as long as people are installing them in the correct location.” The report adds, “If the plate is obscured or in the wrong spot and the cameras can’t read it, the state will send the picture to an employee for a closer look.”
South of Washington State, The Mercury News’ “Roadshow” columnist, Gary Richards, reminds his readers that the days of using temporary, paper plates to avoid tolls is coming to an end in California.
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) California Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)Liberal Think Tank Hits Trump Infrastructure Plan. Ranking Transportation Committee Member Says Trump Voters Won't Like the Necessary Tolls.
The Washington Post reports, “President-elect Donald Trump’s ambitious plan to raise $1 trillion for infrastructure is a boondoggle that would line the pockets of wealthy investors while not meeting the need for infrastructure repair or improvement in much of the country, according to an analysis [link added] released [on December 1] by a progressive think tank. Trump’s plan “shovels money at wealthy investors instead of solving real infrastructure challenges,” according to a white paper from the Center for American Progress.” The newspaper adds, “The challenge [facing Trump’s expected plan] is a simple one: Investors want a return on their money, and very few transportation projects provide one. Tolls can be imposed on selected roads and bridges, but the vast majority of them offer no opportunity to recoup investment. ‘That would be a very rude shock to a lot of people who voted for Donald Trump if they suddenly found that the rural roads in Nebraska or Indiana — the interstate highway, which they paid for and they’re still paying gas taxes — now they have to pay a toll on top of that?’ said Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (Ore.), the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Committee. ‘They probably wouldn’t be happy.’”
Toronto City Manager to "Political Masters": Either Toll or Slash Projects. They Listen.
The Globe and Mail reports, “Either accept a ‘businesslike’ and ‘fiscally conservative’ plan to impose road tolls or start chopping services and erasing plans for new transit lines and other projects, Toronto’s top civil servant warned his political masters on [December 1]. Peter Wallace, Toronto’s city manager, was presenting a menu of potential new taxes and fees to Mayor John Tory’s executive committee to deal with the gaping holes both in the city’s operating budget and its $33-billion list of unfunded transit lines and other projects.”
Globalnews.ca reports that the executive committee subsequently voted to ask the Ontario provincial government for the authority to toll local roads like the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway, “and to potentially impose several new taxes.”
Canada OntarioAcademics Praise Toronto Mayor John Tory's Tolling Proposal
Toronto Star features an op-ed column penned by three Canadian academics who call Toronto Mayor John Tory’s expressway tolling proposal “bold” and “smart.” They explain why “the proposed road toll for Toronto’s two biggest thoroughfares is good news for Torontonians. If designed well, road tolls can help alleviate traffic while also providing governments with a new source of revenues that can be used to improve the overall transportation system. They also reduce the need for new expansions to cope with peak-demand.”
Canada OntarioCT Budget Gap Could Hit Transportation Funding (Tolls, Fees Cited as Potential Funding Options)
The Connecticut Mirror reports, “Though it is premature to target specific measures — such as tax increases, fee hikes or tolls — Rep. Toni E. Walker, D-New Haven, said trying to offset surging debt costs in the next state budget solely with cuts ‘is going to be devastating’ to Connecticut.” Walker, co-chair of the state’s joint Appropriations Committee, and other legislative and executive officials spoke during a November 30 budget briefing in Hartford. A top planning and budgeting official said that 2017 sales tax receipts designated for transportation improvements could be diminished in order to fill Connecticut’s looming budget gap.
ConnecticutWI Newspaper: It is Time to Consider Gas Tax, Tolls and Fees for Transportation
The Journal Times (Racine) editorial board contends it is time for Wisconsin lawmakers to break from Governor Scott Walker and raise taxes and fees for transportation. “No one likes to see his or her taxes go up. But most of us recognize that a municipality or state can reach a point where it becomes necessary to raise taxes or fees in order to continue providing an essential service.” The editors note, “In a break from Walker, Assembly Speaker Vos, R-Rochester, and other Assembly Republican leaders want to keep all options open — including raising the gas tax, increasing vehicle registration fees and instituting toll roads.”
WisconsinTeams Vying to Build Gordie Howe Bridge Meet with Contractors
CBC News reports, “Contractors had a chance to meet with the three groups selected to bid for construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge on Wednesday [November 30].” The three groups that made the shortlist for the bridge’s construction are Legacy Link Partners, Bridging North America and CanAm Gateway Partners.
Canada Gordie Howe Int'l Bridge MichiganEU Greenlights Germany's Plan to Toll Foreign Drivers. Germany's Neighbors Say, "Not So Fast."
Deutsche Welle reports, “Brussels now says Germany can proceed with a road charging plan accused of being discriminatory to foreign drivers. The European Union blocked the scheme until Berlin offered a fairer alternative.” The new plan also reduces and caps toll rates.
However, as The Guardian reports, “Neighbouring countries have said the compromise deal continues to discriminate against non-German citizens. The governments of Austria and the Netherlands have said they are ready to take legal action against Germany, and Belgium and Denmark have said they are considering doing the same.”
EU GermanyA Clarification
Yesterday, the headline of an item about the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority (CRRMA) in El Paso initially contained a typographical error (the incorrect acronym “CCRMA”). Thanks to our reader who pointed out the error.