- Bridgegate Defendants Kelly and Baroni Sentenced to 18 and 24 Months Jail Time Respectively
- ERC's Controversial Non-Payment Fees Compared Side-by-Side with Those Charged by Nearby Toll Bridges
- TX Transportation Commission Awards Contract for Next Leg of Grand Parkway
- CTRMA Dips into Savings to Make MoPac Project Loan Payment
- CTRMA Pulls Back on MoPac Opening Date
- Missouri Lawmakers Want to Nix Any Possibility of Tolling I-70 or Any Other Road
- TV Station Warns Mass Turnpike Customers: E-ZPass and Pay-by-Plate Don't Sync
- TX Lawmaker Worries Minority Contractors Are Missing Out on SH 288 Toll Project Opportunities
- NY Lawmaker and Candidate Start Bipartisan Petition Drive to Lower Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Tolls
- CT Transporting Funding, Tolling May Hinge on Approval of a Lockbox Referendum
- A $210 Million Bike/Pedestrian Path for Coronado Bay Bridge Might Require a Return of Tolls
- Tolls on 91 Freeway Express Lanes Increase for Weekday Peak Periods
- Trump’s Infrastructure Plan Is "Caught in a White House Turf War"
- Bureau of Transportation Statistics Publishes New Highway and Aviation Noise Map
- Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge Authority Announces Canadian Currency Rate Adjustments
This is a Subscribers-Only area. If you are a subscriber, please login. If not...
Become a Subscriber Today »
Bridgegate Defendants Kelly and Baroni Sentenced to 18 and 24 Months Jail Time Respectively
NJ.com reports, “Two former high-level members of the Christie administration were sentenced to prison terms Wednesday [March 29] in the political scandal that became known as Bridgegate.” Bridget Kelly, 44, “a former top aide” to Governor Chris Christie, received a sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment, and Bill Baroni, 45, former PANYNJ deputy executive director, 24 months’ imprisonment.
Crime Beat PANYNJERC's Controversial Non-Payment Fees Compared Side-by-Side with Those Charged by Nearby Toll Bridges
WAVY provides a side-by-side comparison of the tolls and penalties charged by ERC, South Norfolk Jordan Bridge and Veterans Bridge, and concludes, “This is the tale of two tolls — the best of fees and the worst of fees.” In short: SNJB Director of Collections and Treasury Veronica Latonio tells the station, “The key difference is our fee structure. We only charge one fee for the invoice — for the entire invoice — whether it has 20 tolls or whether it has 40 tolls.” ERC’s fees begin to “skyrocket” after 30 days because the company charges a $5 fee per toll, the station reports.
Elizabeth River Tunnels ScofflawsTX Transportation Commission Awards Contract for Next Leg of Grand Parkway
Houston Chronicle reports, “Houston’s growth may have slowed, but development of the Grand Parkway has barely missed a beat, with 44 miles of the northeast segment the latest to move from the drawing board toward construction. The Texas Transportation Commission on [March 28] chose Grand Parkway Infrastructure [a Ferrovial Agroman US, Granite Construction, and Webber, LLC team] to design and build the upcoming stretch from Interstate 69/U.S. 59 near New Caney to Interstate 10 east of Baytown. The tollway extension is estimated to cost $1.25 billion.”
Houston Grand Parkway Houston Metro Area Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)CTRMA Dips into Savings to Make MoPac Project Loan Payment
Austin American-Statesman reports, “With toll revenue still minimal on the section of the MoPac Boulevard express lane project that opened in October, and the opening date for the rest still uncertain, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is digging into its savings to make the initial $2 million payment on $230 million it owes. The authority in January also used $1.7 million of its general fund to pay back part of a $5.3 million loan from a bank. . . . Mobility authority officials say these early cash flow problems on the project will dissipate after the opening of the southbound toll lane and the rest of the northbound toll lane. . . .”
Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) Express LanesCTRMA Pulls Back on MoPac Opening Date
Community Impact Newspaper reports, “The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority has pulled back on offering an opening date for the MoPac express toll lane project, but the expanded roadway is likely to open this summer. ‘We still think we’re in the summertime ballpark,’ Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein said today. ‘I don’t think there will be much slippage beyond that.’”
Austin (TX) Metro Area Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) Express LanesMissouri Lawmakers Want to Nix Any Possibility of Tolling I-70 or Any Other Road
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, “Missouri lawmakers are putting the brakes on any talk of transforming all or parts of Interstate 70 into a toll road.” House members have inserted language into the budget proposal moving through the General Assembly that would bar MoDOT from using any money for toll-related purposes (even a study of tolls), and the language is not limited to I-70, the report adds.
MissouriTV Station Warns Mass Turnpike Customers: E-ZPass and Pay-by-Plate Don't Sync
WWLP talks with a motorist who opened an E-ZPass account after incurring toll-by-plate charges and was hit with late payment fees. She tells WWLP, “We found out that pay by plate and E-ZPass don’t coordinate with each other.” “When you receive an E-ZPass,” the station advises, “it will not automatically pay prior toll charges, even if they’re all in the same month. So if you don’t make a separate payment, you’ll get stuck with a $1 fee for every single toll that wasn’t paid.”
E-ZPass Massachusetts TurnpikeTX Lawmaker Worries Minority Contractors Are Missing Out on SH 288 Toll Project Opportunities
Houston Public Media reports, “Minority contractors appeared before the Texas Transportation Commission to state their concerns about the State Highway 288 Toll Project. That $800 million project will create ten miles of toll lanes between Harris and Brazoria Counties. TxDOT says it would hire 12 percent of contractors for the project from its disadvantaged business program. But State Sen. Borris Miles says he’s worried that goal is falling short.”
Texas Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)NY Lawmaker and Candidate Start Bipartisan Petition Drive to Lower Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Tolls
Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports, “In a rare instance in which Democrats and Republicans are in complete agreement, a lawmaker and a political candidate have each started a petition drive to urge the MTA to lower the tolls for Brooklyn motorists driving on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.”
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York CityCT Transporting Funding, Tolling May Hinge on Approval of a Lockbox Referendum
WTNH reports, “There is no chance the [Connecticut] legislature will move forward with highway tolls or any other transportation funding method without sending the lockbox idea to voters.” The station adds that a party-line split among lawmakers (Democrats in favor, Republicans against) may be developing over the legislation necessary to advance a constitutional referendum on creation of a transportation funds lockbox.
ConnecticutA $210 Million Bike/Pedestrian Path for Coronado Bay Bridge Might Require a Return of Tolls
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports, “Wouldn’t it be great to ride a bike or walk across the 2.1-mile Coronado Bay Bridge and enjoy the views at your own pace? A report headed for a San Diego Association of Governments committee [today, March 30] says the concept — dreamed of even before the bridge opened in 1969 — contains no ‘fatal flaws’ except perhaps this one: It could cost up to $210 million and might require bringing back toll charges that ended 15 years ago.”
California San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG)Tolls on 91 Freeway Express Lanes Increase for Weekday Peak Periods
The Press-Enterprise reports that as of Monday, March 27, 91 Freeway express lane tolls increased during weekday peak periods for motorists entering or exiting the Riverside extension lanes at McKinley Street. The express lanes opened to traffic for the first time on March 20.
California Riverside County (CA) Transportation Commission (RCTC) Toll Rate ChangesTrump’s Infrastructure Plan Is "Caught in a White House Turf War"
McClatchy reports that as the Trump administration turns its attention to a national infrastructure program, “a power struggle for control” is going on between Peter Navarro, “a Trump loyalist and economic populist who advised his campaign,” and Gary Cohn, “a former Goldman Sachs president who now runs the National Economic Council.” Frozen out by both sides, McClatchy notes, is a man who “worked for months to line up priority infrastructure projects for the Trump transition team.”
Bureau of Transportation Statistics Publishes New Highway and Aviation Noise Map
The Washington Post reports, “America’s cities are rough on your ears. That’s one of the takeaways from a new, richly detailed map of highway and aviation noise, created by the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics.” The report adds, “The BTS says the maps are for ‘helping policymakers to prioritize noise-related transportation investments’ — things like highway sound barriers around residential areas. A 2010 Federal Highway Administration survey found that states have built close to 3,000 miles of sound barriers at a cost of over $5 billion.”
US Department of Transportation (USDOT)Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge Authority Announces Canadian Currency Rate Adjustments
The Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge Authority (scroll down to “Canadian toll adjustment . . .”) announced that “customers paying Canadian currency will see the toll rate adjusted due to the current value of the Canadian dollar. The changes, effective Saturday, April 1, are a result of the mandated exchange review conducted by bridge officials twice each year. The U.S. fare will remain unchanged at $3.50.”
Canada Michigan Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Authority Toll Rate Changes