- BATA Loses Millions Because New California Cars Still Lack Temporary ID
- Oklahoma DOT Secretary Gary Ridley Retires, Effective Immediately
- CA Bill to Require Bay Area Toll Hike Referendum Advances
- Miami-Dade Commission Panel Hosts Hearing Today on Extending the Dolphin Expressway, the County's Busiest Toll Road
- Tampa Bay Next Is on MPO Public Hearing Agenda Tonight
- SRTA and GRTA Take the "Next Step" in Consolidation
- Morouns Get Federal Court Hearing on Attempt to Block Gordie Howe Bridge Construction
- Forget Driverless Vehicles: NJ Turnpike Authority Is Using $83,000 Driverless Lawn Mowers
- Colorado DOT on Trump Infrastructure Plan: Been There, Done That
- TxDOT's $7 Billion I-45 Overhaul Project to Begin by 2020
- NY Governor Cuomo Orders MTA to Finish Major Bridge, Tunnel Projects by July 8
- PA State Trooper Honored for Response to Murder and Attempted Robbery at PA Turnpike Interchange
- Take II: NY Thruway Opens a New, Rebranded Rest Area for the Second Time in a Year
- CTRMA's Heiligenstein on Environmental Care and the TX 45 SW Project
- NYC Council Candidate's Push for City Takeover of MTA Subway, Bus Operations Finds Supporter
- Former Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Evidence Custodian Arrested for Thefts of Drugs, Money and Guns
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BATA Loses Millions Because New California Cars Still Lack Temporary ID
San Francisco Chronicle reports, “California’s failure to require that new cars with no license plates have some form of visible identification is costing the Bay Area nearly $13 million a year in tolls, as drivers take advantage of what amounts to a free ride across bridges. . . . More than 2.5 million vehicles passed through FasTrak lanes at the seven state-owned bridges in 2016 without license plates or toll tags and without stopping to hand over cash — a nearly fivefold increase from a decade ago. And nothing is going to change until 2019,“ when a new state law that reforms the vehicle licensing process takes effect.
Bay Area Toll Authority (San Francisco) (BATA) California Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) San Francisco Bay Area (CA) ScofflawsOklahoma DOT Secretary Gary Ridley Retires, Effective Immediately
Tulsa World reports, “Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday [June 12] appointed Mike Patterson, Oklahoma Department of Transportation executive director, to serve as transportation secretary, replacing Gary Ridley. Ridley, 71, served as transportation secretary for two governors. He is retiring effective immediately.” The report adds, “Ridley worked for ODOT for 48 years. He was appointed secretary of transportation in 2009 by then-Gov. Brad Henry. Fallin reappointed him after she took office.”
Appointments-Promotions-Retirements Oklahoma Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT)CA Bill to Require Bay Area Toll Hike Referendum Advances
Marin Independent Journal reports, “Plans are taking shape for a Bay Area vote to have motorists pay up to $3 more in bridge tolls to finance transportation projects, including the Novato Narrows highway widening. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Legislation Committee met last week to provide an update on state legislation to allow the agency to ask voters for a toll increase as soon as 2018. Senate Bill 595 — which would allow the ballot measure to move forward — is working its way through the Legislature.” (Link inserted.)
California Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) San Francisco Bay Area (CA)Miami-Dade Commission Panel Hosts Hearing Today on Extending the Dolphin Expressway, the County's Busiest Toll Road
Miami Herald reports, “Miami-Dade’s pending fight over moving the urban-development boundary may get a sneak preview [today, June 13] when the public can weigh in on whether to extend the county’s busiest toll road. A proposal backing the extension of the Dolphin Expressway southwest into the Kendall area comes before a County Commission panel. . . . Environmentalists see the Government Operations Committee’s meeting as a showdown with developers and others eager to expand single-family homes and commercial outlets closer to the Everglades.”
Florida Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX)Tampa Bay Next Is on MPO Public Hearing Agenda Tonight
Tampa Bay Times reports, “Transportation leaders will meet with Hillsborough elected officials today to vote on their priorities for the next five years, which right now include spending money on the controversial Tampa Bay Next plan.” The report adds that since last year’s “marathon meeting” of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, FDOT’s proposal for new interstate toll lanes “has faced major blowback, with the [department] scrapping its plan for the Howard Frankland Bridge and then-secretary Jim Boxold calling for a ‘reset’ of Tampa Bay Express — a $6 billion project.”
Florida Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Tampa Bay Express Tampa Bay Next (TBN)SRTA and GRTA Take the "Next Step" in Consolidation
Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) “have taken the next step in their ongoing consolidation by moving into a new combined corporate office” located at the Marquis One building at Peachtree Center in downtown Atlanta. “Moving into combined space and integrating Xpress and Peach Pass services allows us to more effectively deliver mobility services to our customers by leveraging the enhanced connections between transit and tolling in Georgia,” Chris Tomlinson, executive director of both agencies, tells the newspaper.
Georgia State Road and Tollway Authority (Georgia)Morouns Get Federal Court Hearing on Attempt to Block Gordie Howe Bridge Construction
Detroit Free Press reports that yesterday, June 12, “the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit scheduled a hearing for mid-September on an appeal filed by the owner of the Ambassador Bridge to stop a rival international span between Detroit and Canada from being built nearby.” The newspaper adds that the court’s action “keeps alive a lawsuit that has gone on now for seven years. In it, [the Moroun-owned Detroit International Bridge Company] argues that Congress’ original 1921 act approving construction of the bridge between Detroit and Windsor was effectively an exclusive franchise. . . .”
Canada Gordie Howe Int'l Bridge Issues of Law MichiganForget Driverless Vehicles: NJ Turnpike Authority Is Using $83,000 Driverless Lawn Mowers
NJ.com reports, “Sharp-eyed drivers have spotted what appears to be an unmanned mower cutting the grass on the Garden State Parkway. Their eyes aren’t deceiving them. There are six lawn care versions of a Roomba robot vacuum cleaner cutting the grass on the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, and each one costs $83,000.”
New Jersey New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA)Colorado DOT on Trump Infrastructure Plan: Been There, Done That
KUNC reports, “President Trump’s infrastructure plan dramatically cuts the federal government’s investment in road and transportation projects and instead calls upon states and corporations to shoulder most of the cost. . . . But that plan won’t work in Colorado — the state has already done it. ‘The reality is that Colorado has already looked at those options. We have pulled every rabbit out of the hat to try to think about how we add additional funding into the system . . . ,’ said Amy Ford, representative of the state Department of Transportation.”
Colorado Colorado Department of Transportation P3 & Privatization Trump Administration Infrastructure PlanTxDOT's $7 Billion I-45 Overhaul Project to Begin by 2020
Community Impact Newspaper reports, “Construction on the initial part of a $7 billion project to overhaul I-45 from Beltway 8 in North Houston to Spur 527 at Hwy. 59 near downtown is expected to begin by 2020, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. The North Houston Highway Improvement Project spans 24 miles and is needed to address inadequate highway capacity for existing and future traffic demands along the corridor, according to TxDOT. Between 2015 and 2040, average daily traffic volumes in the corridor are projected to increase by as much as 30 percent.” (Link inserted.)
Houston Metro Area Texas Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)NY Governor Cuomo Orders MTA to Finish Major Bridge, Tunnel Projects by July 8
Daily News reports that New York Governor Cuomo “has ordered the MTA to finish all major bridge and tunnel construction projects to ease traffic into and out of Manhattan by July 8. The announcement comes as Cuomo faces extreme pressure from commuters bracing for a summer of chaos at [Penn Station] where track space will be cut by 20% for repairs.”
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York New York CityPA State Trooper Honored for Response to Murder and Attempted Robbery at PA Turnpike Interchange
Public Opinion reports that Pennsylvania State Trooper Kevin Holford received the 2016 Trooper of the Year award for his conduct during a murder and attempted robbery incident at the Fort Littleton turnpike toll plaza in March 2016. Holford, one of the first responders to the incident, subdued the perpetrator, a retired state trooper.
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Turnpike CommissionTake II: NY Thruway Opens a New, Rebranded Rest Area for the Second Time in a Year
The Daily Gazette reports, “For the second time in less than a year, state and local leaders Monday [June 12] celebrated the opening of a Thruway rest area between westbound exits 28 and 29. Rebranded as the Mohawk Valley Welcome Center, the former Living History Rest Area at Lock E-13 cost $4.5 million to expand.” The report adds, “Plans for the rest area changed following the success of the Long Island Welcome Center, which opened in the fall after the first Lock E-13 rest stop opened in August, said Bill Finch, acting executive director of the state Thruway Authority.” The original rest stop cost $7.5 million to build, bringing the project’s total cost to $12 million, the newpaper notes.
New York New York State Thruway AuthorityCTRMA's Heiligenstein on Environmental Care and the TX 45 SW Project
Austin American-Statesman publishes an op-ed column by CTRMA executive director Mike Heiligenstein, who makes the case that the SH 45SW project warrants high marks for protecting the environment. He notes, “The project has been studied from every logistical and environmental angle — and it adheres or exceeds all state requirements and environmentally sensitive components. An environmental compliance manager is on site to monitor construction and best management practices.”
Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) TexasNYC Council Candidate's Push for City Takeover of MTA Subway, Bus Operations Finds Supporter
Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports, “[New York] City Council candidate Justin Brannan’s proposal to have New York City take control over the running of the subways and buses has gained an important ally. Councilmember Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) recently introduced a resolution in the City Council calling on New York state to give control of MTA’s subways and buses to the city.”
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York New York CityFormer Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Evidence Custodian Arrested for Thefts of Drugs, Money and Guns
WWL reports, “A former evidence custodian for the [Lake Pontchartrain] Causeway Police Department was indicted [on June 9], the second employee [during that week] to face legal woes.” Officials charged the 44-year-old man with the theft of drugs, money and guns that were in police custody, according to the article.
Crime Beat Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (Metro New Orleans) Louisiana