- Hit-and-Run Driver Crashes into NH Turnpike Tollbooth
- 91 Freeway Express Lane Rates Will Increase July 1
- Report Recommends UK Government Adopt Nationwide Road Tolls to Compensate for Fuel Tax Shortfall
- Missouri's High-Level Task Force on Transportation Funding Begins Work This Week
- "Powerful and Deep-Pocketed" Wisconsin Business Interests Try to Block Toll Legislation
- Illinois Budget Impasse May Halt Kane County Toll Bridge Project, but Not Tollway-Funded Overpass Construction
- Cuomo Sends More State Police to New York City in Part to Catch Toll Scofflaws
- PANYNJ Discovers Toll Jumper Owes $41,000 for over 600 Prior Violations
- West Virginia Turnpike Toll Increase and Borrowing Law Signed
- Grand Island, NY, Official Uses Facebook to "Call Out" Governor Cuomo on Bridge Toll Removal Issue
- Florida County's Decision to Explore US 1 Tolling Stirs Local Debate
- Indiana Toll Road Crashes Prompt State Police Warning against Inattentive Driving
- Oregon Bill Envisioning Bi-State Bridge Tolls Riles Vancouver, Washington, Newspaper Editors
- Kingston, ON, Mayor Insists New Bridge Will Not Be Tolled
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Hit-and-Run Driver Crashes into NH Turnpike Tollbooth
Foster’s Daily Democrat reports, “Two lanes of the Rochester tolls on the Spaulding Turnpike were closed on Sunday afternoon [June 25] when a truck crashed into the toll plaza, according to state police. . . . A toll attendant was in the booth that was struck but was uninjured, police said. According to police, the truck did not stop after hitting the booth. Police described the truck as red with a blue and white lift, or ‘cherry picker,’ and had the words, ‘A. Richardson Trucking’ on it.”
Crime Beat New Hampshire New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT)91 Freeway Express Lane Rates Will Increase July 1
The Press-Enterprise reports, “Since opening in March, the new 91 Freeway toll lanes have already seen more than one rate increase (and some decreases). Now, come July 1, the price is going up again. The latest hike — up to 2 percent — will go into effect for both the Riverside County and Orange County segments. The increase is part of an annual adjustment for operation and maintenance costs,” according to Riverside County Transportation Commission executive John Standiford. In addition to the annual adjustment, the commission has been monitoring and changing rates on its segment of the lanes based on traffic volume. “We are getting closer to that period where will have toll reviews and adjustments on more of a predictable basis,” Standiford tells the newspaper. “I’d say we’ll be there soon in a couple months.”
Express Lanes Orange County Transportation Authority (CA) Riverside County (CA) Transportation Commission (RCTC) Toll Rate ChangesReport Recommends UK Government Adopt Nationwide Road Tolls to Compensate for Fuel Tax Shortfall
The Times (London) (registration or subscription required) reports that a study by the think tank Policy Exchange concludes that, “A national system of road tolls should be introduced to meet a £170 billion shortfall in fuel tax over the next 13 years. . . . Researchers say that an increase in the number of electric cars will lead to a drop in sales of petrol and diesel, on which tax is paid.”
Road Use Charging (RUC-MBUF-VMT) United KingdomMissouri's High-Level Task Force on Transportation Funding Begins Work This Week
St. Louis Public Radio reports, “Crumbling roads and old bridges have long been something lawmakers say they should work on. Now, a task force created to study Missouri’s transportation system will begin holding public meetings this week. The task force’s mission is to come up with ideas to repair the state’s network of roads and bridges and figure out how to pay for it. It won’t be easy, as the Republican majority in the legislature has balked at any solution that includes allowing toll roads or raising the state’s 17.3 cents per gallon fuel tax, one of the lowest in the nation.”
Missouri"Powerful and Deep-Pocketed" Wisconsin Business Interests Try to Block Toll Legislation
Wisconsin State Journal reports, “Some Wisconsin business leaders say introducing highway tolling in the state could harm its economy, even as top lawmakers cite the idea as a possible linchpin to negotiations over the state’s next budget. The opposition from the state’s business lobby, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, and other groups” — including tourism, hospitality, convenience store and manufacturing interests — “illustrate part of the challenge facing lawmakers and Gov. Scott Walker if they want to introduce tolling to pay for road construction and repairs.”
WisconsinIllinois Budget Impasse May Halt Kane County Toll Bridge Project, but Not Tollway-Funded Overpass Construction
Northwest Herald reports that if Illinois’ marathon budget impasse continues, it will “do to the next phase of the Longmeadow Parkway what an endangered bumblebee could not, and shut down work until a state budget is in place.” The newspaper adds that an overpass project in nearby McHenry County “is under the auspices of the Illinois Tollway, which gets its funding from tolls rather than state or federal dollars, so work will continue as scheduled. However, that’s not the case for the next phase of the Longmeadow Parkway [toll bridge and road construction project] in neighboring Kane County.”
Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (IL Tollway) Kane County (IL) DOTCuomo Sends More State Police to New York City in Part to Catch Toll Scofflaws
The New York Times reports that Governor Andrew Cuomo “has embarked on an unprecedented campaign to put the stamp of the State Police on New York City. . . .” The Times notes that the increased law enforcement profile is a “centerpiece” of the governor’s plan to introduce cashless tolling across the city. A Cuomo spokesman tells the newspaper, “The troopers at state-owned cashless tolling points are there to protect against revenue loss from the lack of toll barriers, and we have real security needs at airport and train terminals. Welcome to the new reality.”
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York New York CityPANYNJ Discovers Toll Jumper Owes $41,000 for over 600 Prior Violations
NJ.com reports that port authority police arrested a thirty-seven-year-old New Jersey man for jumping the George Washington Bridge toll on June 23. A subsequent computer check revealed that the man has 642 open toll violations and owes over $41,000 in unpaid tolls and fees.
New York City Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) ScofflawsWest Virginia Turnpike Toll Increase and Borrowing Law Signed
The State Journal reports that West Virginia Governor Jim Justice signed SB 1003, the measure that permits West Virginia Turnpike tolls to increase, allows for an annual $8 toll pass, and gives the state Parkways Authority expanded authority to issue construction bonds. The newspaper adds that Justice administration officials “are crunching numbers to try to figure out the possible economic impact” of SB 1003 and a companion transportation funding bill (SB 1006) signed by the governor.
West Virginia West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) West Virginia Parkways Authority (West Virginia Turnpike)Grand Island, NY, Official Uses Facebook to "Call Out" Governor Cuomo on Bridge Toll Removal Issue
WGRZ reports that Grand Island, New York, Town Supervisor Nate McMurray “is calling out” Governor Mario Cuomo via Facebook for his alleged inattention to the town’s appeal to lift tolls on the thruway’s Grand Island Bridges. “The tolls affect really everything we do on Grand Island from paving to deliveries to really every part of our life,” McMurray reportedly wrote in his open message to Cuomo.
New York New York State Thruway AuthorityFlorida County's Decision to Explore US 1 Tolling Stirs Local Debate
Miami Herald reports on the debate over the Monroe County Commission’s decision to explore “the logistical and legal aspects” of tolling non-residents who drive to the Florida Keys on US 1. According to the newspaper, the Village of Islamorada “will take the lead on crafting” the study that county commissioners endorsed by resolution last week. The purpose of tolling visitors, according to the resolution, would be “to offset tourist impacts, for the protection and improvement of water quality, to support infrastructure as mitigation against global climate change and sea level rise, and for other pressing needs within the Florida Keys.”
Florida Monroe County, FloridaIndiana Toll Road Crashes Prompt State Police Warning against Inattentive Driving
WSBT reports that the Indiana Toll Roads’ “closed lanes and work zones are not only an annoyance for some drivers, they can be a safety hazard if people don’t take them seriously. Indiana State Troopers have seen an increase in crashes in the past ten days. There’s been three significant ones in work zones. Thursday night [June 22], 16 members of a Chinese tour group were taken to the hospital following a crash in Elkhart County. . . . To try and prevent more crashes like this, state troopers are warning everyone to pay attention in work zones.”
Indiana Indiana Toll Road Concession Company (ITRCC)Oregon Bill Envisioning Bi-State Bridge Tolls Riles Vancouver, Washington, Newspaper Editors
The Columbian editorial board criticizes the Oregon Legislature for proposing a transportation funding plan (HB 2017) that includes seeking federal permission to toll the I-5 and I-205 bridges connecting Portland with Vancouver, Washington. “While we long have encouraged officials in Washington and Oregon to approach bistate transportation issues with hands extended in friendship,” the editors write, “our neighbors to the south have misconstrued that dictum. Instead, they are considering reaching out and digging through the pockets of Clark County [Washington] residents, an action that is most unneighborly.”
Oregon Washington StateKingston, ON, Mayor Insists New Bridge Will Not Be Tolled
KingstonRegion.com reports that Kingston, Ontario, Mayor Bryan Paterson “continues to insist that the newly-approved third bridge crossing will not lead to a tax hike, or a road toll, to pay for it.” (Earlier this month, the city council voted to move forward with construction of the $180 million Cataraqui River bridge, contingent on federal government approval of its share of the costs.) Paterson’s statement was a response to officials who “raised the spectre of imposing a bridge toll to minimize the impact on taxpayers should construction costs soar beyond the set budget. . . .”
Canada Ontario