- Atlantic City Gaming Website Prepares Readers For Expressway's Cashless Tolling
- Op-Ed: Oklahoma DOT And Trade Associations Offer Array Of Workforce Development Opportunities
- A Primer On Seattle’s Reversible I-5 Express Lanes
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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Atlantic City Gaming Website Prepares Readers For Expressway's Cashless Tolling
PlayNJ.com, an online resource for New Jersey casino devotees, explains what the South Jersey Transportation Authority’s (SJTA) pending transition to cashless tolling means for Atlantic City-bound motorists. “No matter which way . . . visitors decide to travel – planes, trains or automobiles – visitors shouldn’t bring any nickels, dimes or quarters,” the article advises, comparing the transition to the way casino slot machines no longer accept coins. “Toll equipment gantries will be built along the entire length of the [Atlantic City] expressway so that after the Expressway goes fully cashless, customers without an E-ZPass account will receive a ‘bill-by-plate’ invoice, rather than paying cash.” SJTA, the expressway’s operator, held an AET conversion project groundbreaking ceremony in October 2023 and expects to roll out its new cashless system by 2025. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) is also embracing AET. The article notes that the authority’s Garden State Parkway “brings motorists to Atlantic City from New York to the north and Delaware and Maryland to the south.” No dates have yet been set for the NJTA conversions. PlayNJ.com also reminds readers that Atlantic City International Airport parking went cashless on January 1. E-ZPass Plus, as well as credit or debit cards, can be used to pay the parking fees.
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) E-ZPass ETC Systems New Jersey New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA)Op-Ed: Oklahoma DOT And Trade Associations Offer Array Of Workforce Development Opportunities
In a Pawhuska Journal-Capital column, Oklahoma State Senator John Haste (R-36) praises efforts by ODOT and trade associations to remedy workforce shortages in the transportation industry. The Central Oklahoma Homebuilders Association, the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors (AOGC), Construct My Future, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the state’s network of career-tech schools are named as collaborators. Their initiatives range from a one-day school event to a weeklong summer trades camp and a STEM program geared for rural school districts. For adults, ODOT offers an Engineering Development Program that provides on-the-job training to help civil engineers advance to registered professional engineering positions. “ODOT is also interested in pursuing ‘returnships,’ which are like internships for adults who previously left employment. . . .” The senator encourages readers to share the availability of these opportunities with students and others, and invites anyone interested in getting more information about the programs to contact him.
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Economic & Social Considerations Affecting Transportation Oklahoma Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) Transportation And Infrastructure Workforce IssuesA Primer On Seattle’s Reversible I-5 Express Lanes
KIRO transportation reporter Chris Sullivan begins an FAQ column about Washington State DOT’s reversible I-5 Express Lanes in metro Seattle with a “history lesson:” When constructed in the 1960s, their purpose was to ease the commute to downtown from areas north of the city, not to bypass downtown. Sullivan goes on to answer the three most common questions he hears about the facility:
- Why is traffic reversal no longer automated? (The gates were staffed as a safety measure to prevent drivers from trying to “beat the closing gates.”)
- Why doesn’t the facility operate 24 hours a day any longer? (Overnight closures were instituted to appease neighborhood residents who complained about noise.)
- Don’t the nighttime closures make the express lanes a target for graffiti taggers? (WSDOT believes taggers would remain active even if the express lanes stayed open all day. The department “spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year” on graffiti removal.)
The article notes, “WSDOT continues to look at the lanes and how they can be improved. A big change is coming to them later this year when the reversible lane into them from SR 520 opens.”
Express Lanes Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Maintenance Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Seattle Metro Area Washington State Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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