- The Quiet Side Of Manhattan Congestion Relief: Less Honking
- TxDOT Forum Recaps Recent Progress And Explores Future Plans
- Trump Takes Risky Gamble On Worldwide Steel And Aluminum Tariff
- Colorado Toll Agency's Customer Service Center Deluged By Smishing Reports
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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The Quiet Side Of Manhattan Congestion Relief: Less Honking
“Honking-mad motorists are laying off the horn in the core of Manhattan since the January launch of congestion pricing, data reveals — with New Yorkers’ beefs about blaring horns plummeting nearly 70% from the same time last year,” THE CITY reports. Additionally, not a single horn-related summons was prompted by noise-detection cameras in the congestion zone south of 60th Street between January 5 and March 4.
Data analyzed by THE CITY “reflects a vast quality-of-life gain from the vehicle-tolling program that President Donald Trump wants to terminate by March 21.” A worker at a Park Avenue South and East 32nd Street food cart comments, “Before [congestion pricing], it was too much, there was honking of horns without reason. Now, it’s better for everybody.”
Congestion Pricing Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York New York CityTxDOT Forum Recaps Recent Progress And Explores Future Plans
During January’s Texas Transportation Forum, a gathering of employees, contractors, and transportation partners, TxDOT officials highlighted recent accomplishments in accommodating the state’s population growth. They took particular note of the 800 percent increase in rural transportation funding and $8.1 billion investment in border infrastructure since 2015. Participants received hard copies of TxDOT’s most recent Progress Report. The annual release looks at the department’s $104 billion, 10-year Unified Transportation Program and recaps $80 billion in “non-tolled projects” in varying stages of completion.
Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Maintenance Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Texas Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)Trump Takes Risky Gamble On Worldwide Steel And Aluminum Tariff
CNN reports, President Trump imposed a 25-percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports to the US today, “a policy aimed at leveling the playing field for US manufacturing but a move that threatens to drive up prices on a broad range of consumer and industrial goods for Americans.”
The action increased the risk of a global trade war. The European Union and Canada immediately responded by imposing tariffs on a range of US imports. Trump announced he will retaliate without specifying how or when. Mexico said it won’t reciprocate immediately, but it might reconsider its if Trump follows through on his threat to impose a general tariff on Mexican imports. Because China was already subject to an across-the-board tariff of 20 percent, today’s action sets the tariff on Chinese metal imports at 45 percent.
The CNN article also reports on precedent indicating the tariffs may actually harm some US manufacturers they are intended to benefit in addition to raising costs for other businesses and for consumers.
Trump imposed more moderate steel and aluminum tariffs during his first term. A detailed Reuters analysis of that policy concludes there were some limited benefits, but the taxes “also had negative downstream effects on the industries that require these metals as inputs.” Reuters adds that the tariffs imposed today “are even more extensive — this round has higher rates and includes finished metal products as well as raw materials.”
The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) is keeping tabs on Trump’s seesawing tariffs policy.
Canada China Economic & Social Considerations Affecting Transportation EUColorado Toll Agency's Customer Service Center Deluged By Smishing Reports
CBS News Colorado reports on smishing scam proliferation from the perspective of E-470 Public Highway Authority staff in metro Denver. The authority’s customer service phone center is experiencing a spike in calls as a result of a surge in scam reports, a 443 percent surge in February. A new wave of reports hit the center Monday after a weekend of heavy texting volume. One of the authority’s 100 call center representatives, a woman with 17 years’ experience, tells CBS she has never experienced anything like the level of activity.
An E-470 security engineer believes the text scammers are fear mongers exploiting telephone lists acquired on the dark web. He is “among the experts in Colorado working continuously with other toll agencies in the U.S. as well as Canada to investigate the scams. He explained a large part of what he does, too, is ensure customer personal data is protected. ‘It’s extremely frustrating because it’s on all levels,’ he said. ‘It’s from the young to the old, to someone just getting to work, and we want people to trust our system and trust that it’s safe to travel across our roads.’”
Colorado Crime Beat Customer Service Experience Cybersecurity Denver CO Metro Region E-470 Public Highway AuthorityThese are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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