- Sydney Tunnel Construction Reaches Milestone With Excavation Breakthrough
- An Overview Of State Legislative Action On Autonomous Trucking
- Japan Phases Out Three-Day-Weekend Toll Discounts
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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Sydney Tunnel Construction Reaches Milestone With Excavation Breakthrough
The Sydney Morning Herald reports, “A 95-tonne piece of excavation equipment smashed through a layer of rock under Sydney’s north shore [today], connecting a $7 billion [USD 4.5 billion] motorway tunnel under Sydney Harbour to one of Australia’s busiest motorways. The joining of the Western Harbour Tunnel to the Warringah Freeway at Cammeray marks a major milestone in the years-long megaproject.” With today’s Stage 2 tunneling breakthrough, the project is about two-thirds complete, however, the most the most challenging phase — tunneling under Sydney Harbor — lies ahead. An AUD 2 billion (USD 1.25 billion) companion project is upgrading the Warringah Freeway. (TRN inserted a link in quoted text.)
The tunnel and freeway projects are the creating the first new harbor crossing roadway in almost 30 years. They are designed to provide a western bypass around Sydney’s central business district and thereby relieve congestion on other facilities, such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Harbour Tunnel. The state government intends to toll the new tunnel when it opens in 2028, although it won’t set rates until ongoing negotiations regarding Sydney tolling reform are resolved.
A New South Wales government news release discusses the complexity of the tunnel and freeway construction. Roads minister Jenny Aitchison notes that the Warringah Freeway work “has been likened to doing open heart surgery while trying to run a marathon. It requires new lanes, bridges, overpasses and ramps to be built in and around live traffic while also minimising impacts.” She adds, “The delivery of this tunnel portal right in the middle of one of Australia’s busiest roads is an incredible achievement and we applaud the hard work of everyone working on these projects.”
9News also covers this story.
Australia New South WalesAn Overview Of State Legislative Action On Autonomous Trucking
“Land Line” Magazine provides a roundup of state legislative action related to autonomous trucking. The article looks at:
- California, and a renewed legislative effort to ban fully autonomous trucking;
- a Montana bill on truck platooning;
- calls for autonomous truck studies in Virginia and North Dakota;
- a Delaware proposal to preliminarily ban fully autonomous trucks; and
- Texas legislation to set additional rules and standards for AV operation.
According to the article, bills on the topic have died in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New Mexico, Tennessee and Washington. And in some states where autonomous trucking rules are already on the books, the regulations are now considered outdated.
California Delaware Montana North Dakota Self-Driving Vehicles Texas VirginiaJapan Phases Out Three-Day-Weekend Toll Discounts
NHK World-Japan reports, “Expressway operators in Japan are scaling back holiday discounts after the lower tolls led to an increase in traffic congestion. The usual 30-percent reduction” — available only to electronic tolling customers — “will no longer apply to 3-day weekends from April.” A gradual rollback of the discount policy started three years ago when reduced rates for New Year, spring, and summer long-weekend travel were eliminated. Operators say the change has been effective in reducing traffic congestion. “The government is also calling for a review of the highway discounts as part of efforts to deal with excessive tourism in some areas.”
ETC Systems Japan Toll Exemption, Discount And Equity Programs Toll Rate ChangesThese are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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