- Illinois Budget Impasse Could Halt 700 Projects ($2.3 Billion of Work) on July 1
- MassDOT's Buyout of Former Turnpike Toll Collectors Costs Nearly $12 Million
- Greg Woodsmall Leaves ERC to Take Dulles Greenway Position
- Lawmakers Substitute "Commuter Pass" for Tolls on Syracuse Segment of NY Thruway
- KY Officials Say Tolling of the Planned I-69 Ohio River Bridge Remains a Strong Possibility
- First Toll Increase on Chesapeake, Virginia's, New Veterans Bridge Is Coming
- Monroe County (FL) Commissioners Vote to Study Tolling US 1 in the Keys
- Despite Ordering MnDOT to Study Tolling, Minnesota Lawmakers Are Skeptical about Its Expansion
- Australian Pension Fund Executives Lobby US Officials, Looking for a Role in Infrastructure Initiatives
- Delaware Adopts a Constitutional Amendment Creating a Transportation Funds "Lockbox"
- Transportation Funding (Toll Proposals Included) Figures in Oregon and Wisconsin Budget Deadlocks
- San Clemente Gets Really Anxious about Possible Route of TCA's 241 Toll Road Extension
- Economist Foresees Self-Driving Vehicle Gridlock, Suggests Road Pricing Is the Antidote
- Mexico's New Electronic Toll Collection Program Spans 2,500 Miles of Highway
- German Officials Debate Use of Toll Data to Track Criminal Suspects
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Illinois Budget Impasse Could Halt 700 Projects ($2.3 Billion of Work) on July 1
Chicago Sun-Times reports, “Illinois faces a massive loss of federal dollars used for transportation projects. . . . Without a state budget by July 1, [US Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth] said in a letter to [Governor Bruce] Rauner and legislative leaders, the Illinois Department of Transportation ‘will no longer have the budget authority to spend federal money to continue funding more than 700 ongoing construction projects around the state, valued at $2.3 billion.’” The newspaper adds that IDOT “warned contractors last week construction jobs could be shut down because of the budget impasse,” and the governor has called the legislature into special session this week to work on a budget.
Illinois Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)MassDOT's Buyout of Former Turnpike Toll Collectors Costs Nearly $12 Million
Boston Herald reports on the final cost of buyouts MassDOT negotiated with turnpike toll collectors who were displaced by the shift to all-electronic tolling. “The overall cost of sweeping nearly 500 workers from tollbooths grows to $11.9 million when factoring in additional buyouts and lump-sum payments. But officials say it actually falls well below the $17.8 million MassDOT had budgeted for buyouts, after fewer workers than expected took the retirement packages, instead opting to take other state jobs.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Massachusetts TurnpikeGreg Woodsmall Leaves ERC to Take Dulles Greenway Position
WAVY reports that Greg Woodsmall, vice president and former CEO of Elizabeth River Crossings, “is leaving the company for a new position in Northern Virginia. Woodsmall will be the new director of special projects for Dulles Greenway” in Northern Virginia. ERC’s current CEO, Philip Shucet, called Woodsmall’s contributions to the company “immeasurable.”
Appointments-Promotions-Retirements Dulles Greenway Elizabeth River TunnelsLawmakers Substitute "Commuter Pass" for Tolls on Syracuse Segment of NY Thruway
Syracuse.com reports, “A bill that would make the Syracuse section of the New York State Thruway free of toll charges is on its way to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s desk. The state Assembly passed its version of the bill [Tuesday night, June 20] as the legislative session draws to a close. . . . The bill, which last week passed in the Senate, creates a commuter pass for drivers traveling on exits between 34A and 39. . . . The price of that pass would be only as much as the administrative costs to issue it. The Thruway Authority could, however, charge a higher fee if it demonstrates ‘significant’ loss of revenue.”
New York New York State Thruway AuthorityKY Officials Say Tolling of the Planned I-69 Ohio River Bridge Remains a Strong Possibility
WFIE reports that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is making progress on the I-69 Ohio River bridge project. Officials have identified five possible crossing sites and plan to narrow the range this fall. “But, the biggest question,” according to the station, “is how much the bridge will cost. State officials say tolling hasn’t been ruled out.” They have scheduled July and August public outreach meetings on the bridge proposal.
The Gleaner also reports on the possibility that the bridge will be tolled.
Indiana Kentucky Kentucky Transportation CabinetFirst Toll Increase on Chesapeake, Virginia's, New Veterans Bridge Is Coming
The Virginian-Pilot reports, “The first of decades’ worth of annual toll increases on the Veterans Bridge hits drivers soon. On July 1, tolls will jump a nickel, from $1 to $1.05 for E-ZPass users and $3 to $3.05 for those without the transponder. . . . [T]olling started on the bridge in February, after months of testing on the new $400 million bridge that opened late last year. But a toll schedule approved by City Council last year plans annual increases that will begin next month.”
City of Chesapeake (Virginia) Toll Rate Changes VirginiaMonroe County (FL) Commissioners Vote to Study Tolling US 1 in the Keys
WSVN reports, “Tolls on U.S. 1? It might actually happen in the [Florida] Keys. At a county commission meeting in Monroe County [yesterday, June 21], commissioners voted unanimously to determine the impact that tolls may have on the highway. The intention of the proposition is to determine if a toll could generate revenue for infrastructure development and environmental projects.”
Florida Monroe County, FloridaDespite Ordering MnDOT to Study Tolling, Minnesota Lawmakers Are Skeptical about Its Expansion
KUOW reports, “At the state Capitol, opposition to new toll lanes remains strong. House Transportation Finance Committee Chairman Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska, doesn’t expect the discussion to move much beyond fact-finding. ‘I am not personally interested in adopting what would be looked at as a standard toll road approach in Minnesota,’ Torkelson said.” The station also notes that Senator Scott Dibble, “another leading voice in transportation issues,” is even dubious about the decision to conduct a study.
Minnesota Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) (MnPASS)Australian Pension Fund Executives Lobby US Officials, Looking for a Role in Infrastructure Initiatives
The Australian Financial Review reports, “Australia’s [pension fund management] industry has directly pitched to Trump administration cabinet members to help fund the US President’s planned $US1 trillion infrastructure rebuild, with IFM Investors chief executive Brett Himbury dining at Vice President Mike Pence’s home to discuss the plan. . . . Mr Himbury is part of an industry superannuation delegation touring the US to speak to top government officials about the infrastructure privatisation experience in states such as [New South Wales].” Himbury tells the newspaper that administration officials are “quite keen to understand the asset recycling model.”
Australia Infrastructure Investment Trends Trump Administration Infrastructure PlanDelaware Adopts a Constitutional Amendment Creating a Transportation Funds "Lockbox"
Dover Post reports that “with no fanfare,” the Delaware legislature last month approved a “lockbox” amendment to the state constitution “that should preserve financial support for the state’s roads, bridges, and highways.” Securing the measure was a top priority for transportation secretary Jennifer Cohan, who tells the newspaper, ““It was part of a bigger picture. The priority was to get a sustainable revenue package passed, a responsible one that was not aimed at just increasing revenue but protecting the Transportation Trust Fund.”
Delaware Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT)Transportation Funding (Toll Proposals Included) Figures in Oregon and Wisconsin Budget Deadlocks
KATU reports that “more than two dozen mayors, county leaders and mass transit officials from the metro Portland area signed a letter to [Oregon] lawmakers urging them not to leave Salem without having approved a long-term $8.2 billion transportation infrastructure package.” The station notes, “As a tax measure — which would increase the gas tax and add new levies on car and bicycle sales and impose highway tolls — [the package] needs supermajority support in both chambers.”
Wisconsin Public Radio reports, “Republicans who run the state Legislature remain at odds over major pieces of Wisconsin’s budget, with no end in sight to the dispute over how much the state should pay for roads.”
Oregon WisconsinSan Clemente Gets Really Anxious about Possible Route of TCA's 241 Toll Road Extension
The Orange County Register reports that citizen and city government opposition to the mere possibility of the Transportation Corridor Agency routing a toll road extension through San Clemente is reaching, well, fever pitch. At the city council’s June 20 meeting, public speakers expressed “dire concern” and the city attorney presented “positions the city already is formulating,” even though, as the newspaper notes, TCA “has said repeatedly that nothing is proposed at present – just concepts.”
California Transportation Corridor Agencies (CA)Economist Foresees Self-Driving Vehicle Gridlock, Suggests Road Pricing Is the Antidote
“The New Statesman’s” CityMetric features a column by economist Martin Adler, who warns that once autonomous vehicles become commonplace, they “might have us drowning in road congestion.” Adler recommends road pricing as an antidote, but he concedes the policy is a “toxic political endeavor” mistrusted by the public. He concludes, “Today, road pricing should be on all policy makers’ minds. In the autonomous not-so-far future, it’ll be the job of industry and the public to force the politicians’ hand.”
Congestion Pricing Road Use Charging (RUC-MBUF-VMT) Self-Driving VehiclesMexico's New Electronic Toll Collection Program Spans 2,500 Miles of Highway
“ITS International” reports, “Mexico recently implemented one of the largest remote toll systems in the world, covering 4,000km [approximately 2,500 miles] of the country’s public highways. . . . [T]he system,” developed by Indra for Caminos y Puentes Federales (CAPUFE), “allows drivers to pay tolls without stopping by using a TAG electronic device installed in their vehicles. The TAG devices are interoperable with a number of electronic payment programs available in Mexico, creating a single payment system that spans much of the country’s bridge, road and tunnel tolling infrastructure.”
Caminos y Puentes Federales (CAPUFE) (Mexico) MexicoGerman Officials Debate Use of Toll Data to Track Criminal Suspects
Deutsche Welle reports, “A call to allow using autobahn toll data to track criminal suspects has triggered a fresh row among Germany’s justice ministers. Originally, the project’s data was intended only to calculate car users’ highway fees,” but the minister for Baden-Württemberg, Guido Wolf, is floating the idea of also using autobahn toll data to help locate persons suspected of serious crimes.
Germany