Daily News Briefs, June 20, 2024

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FHWA Awards More Than $108 Million In Grants For Federal and Tribal Lands Transportation Projects

On Tuesday, FHWA announced “over $108 million in grant awards for 85 projects that will improve transportation and reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries on Federal and Tribal lands. The grants, from FHWA’s Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects [NSFLTP] and Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund programs, are the latest in a series of efforts by the Biden-Harris Administration to invest in transportation improvements and improve safety, mobility, economic development, and equity on Federal and Tribal lands.” The Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects grants announced this week — they range between $11.1 million and $24.1 million — will fund infrastructure work in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; Escambia County, Alabama; Graham County, North Carolina; and Carterville, Illinois. FHWA noted that IIJA makes up to $355 million per year in NSFLTP grants available for fiscal years 2022-2026. “In the coming weeks,” the agency expects to issue another notice of funding opportunity for the grant program. (FHWA makes a Transportation Funding Opportunities for Tribal Nations guide available for Native American applicants.)

Alabama Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Maintenance Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Illinois North Carolina US Department of Transportation (USDOT) US Gov't Transportation Funding US Infrastructure Funding And Financing Initiatives Wyoming

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More French Motorways Are Converting To Open-Road, AET Tolling

The Connexion reports on the increase in the number of French motorways that are eliminating tollbooths and transitioning to all-electronic, open-road (or “multi-lane free flow”) tolling. Sanef (an Abertis subsidiary) is engaged in the largest conversion project on the A13/14 Paris-to-Normandy highway. The company has “replaced over half of the tollbooths . . . with free-flowing digital equivalents. The remaining changes will be made at night to avoid disrupting traffic. Sanef stresses that drivers do not need to change their payment habits for the time being.” (The Connexion provided more details about Sanef’s project in April.) This article includes a list of five other motorways that have already converted to open-road tolling or are in the process of conversion. It also looks at rate-setting, payment methods, and how Sanef means to process toll transactions involving vehicles registered outside France.

A separate article from The Connexion reports that a five-kilometer segment of the A13 is scheduled to reopen fully over the next several days, avoiding potential traffic problems around the start of the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The highway section has been closed since April 19, when cracks were discovered on a viaduct.

Abertis AET (All-Electronic Tolling) ETC Systems France Open-Road Tolling SANEF Toll Enforcement Reciprocity

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IBTTA Schedules Road Safety Week Events For Next Week

Traffic Technology Today tees up the Global Road Safety Week event scheduled for June 24 to June 28 as part of IBTTA’s year-long road safety campaign, “Be Safe Together.” With the encouragement of this year’s president, Bill Halkias, the association organized the campaign to encourage safe and empathetic driving behavior and spotlight tollway operators’ significant investments in safety infrastructure and education. IBTTA CEO Pat Jones offers two examples, a Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission project to reduce work zone crashes and ASFINAG’s embrace of “vision zero” principles. A schedule of next week’s events is linked to the campaign website.

According to a May news release, IBTTA members from around the world are expected to participate in the campaign. Supporters include ASECAP (the association of European toll road operators), the World Road Association (PIARC) and the International Road Federation (IRF).

ASECAP (European Association of Toll Road Infrastructure Operators) Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) IBTTA International Road Federation Public Outreach And Communication

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

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