Daily News Briefs, May 8, 2017

TX House Rejects Bill to Fast Track Toll Projects

The Texas Tribune reports, “Several planned toll road projects across the state may be delayed — or see their demise — following a vote Friday that would’ve authorized the construction, renovation or widening of nearly 20 roadways. The Texas House shot down House Bill 2861 in a 79-52 vote, a measure that would’ve allowed the Texas Department of Transportation to partner with private companies to fast-track several highway projects.”

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States Lead the Way on Transportation Funding

Associated Press reports, “Lawmakers across the U.S. have approved new proposals this year to pay for transportation improvements, including tax increases, vehicle fee increases and bond packages. Those measures extended an existing trend to a new milestone: Two-thirds of all states have stepped up highway funding over the past five years. It’s happening in both Democratic- and Republican-led states as their transportation departments strain to overcome backlogs deepened by the 2008-09 financial crisis. And lawmakers are acting regardless of promises from President Donald Trump for a $1 trillion national infrastructure program that his administration has yet to detail.”

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Tolling Gains Favor as the Option to Pay for CA Highway 37 Flooding Fix

The Press Democrat reports, “North Bay motorists suffering through congested traffic on Highway 37 or long detours from closures of the roadway caused by flooding may wish for anything to relieve them of their misery. But does that include paying tolls? A fee-based future appears to be gaining traction with a key advisory group tasked with long-term solutions for traffic and flooding on the heavily traversed 21-mile highway from Novato to Vallejo.”

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TBX Opponents and FDOT Share a Moment. (There Is a Hug Involved.)

Tampa Bay Times reports, “An unexpected scene played out at the Florida Department of Transportation’s local office on Thursday [May 4]. It started with a simple exercise in collaboration. It ended with a hug and literal mic drop. For more than two years, Tampa has been a community divided. Tampa Bay Express, a $6 billion project to expand the region’s interstates by adding up to 100 miles of toll lanes, was the line in the sand.” However, Thursday’s incident, according to the newspaper, symbolizes a new willingness on the part of officials and citizens “to sit at the table and try to find a way forward.”

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WV Legislator Cites "Prison Release Syndrome" in Turnpike Tolling Debate, or Who's Making Our Laws?

State Journal publishes an op-ed column in which State Delegate Marty Gearheart (R-Mercer) writes that extending the state’s collection of turnpike tolls “reminds me of Prison Release Syndrome, a phenomena [sic] associated with prisoners long held that [sic], once released, commit crime simply so they can be returned to a familiar place: Prison.” Gearheart finds that “many local leaders” resemble the afflicted ex-cons in the sense they are unable to envision a turnpike without tolls. The 1978 film “Animal House” is another source of Gearheart’s insight into the transportation funding problem.

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The Wall Street Journal: "How Self-Driving Cars Could End Uber"

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports, “If Uber Technologies Inc. ever collapses, historians may trace its undoing not to its troubles with labor relations, intellectual property, regulatory conflicts or sexual-harassment allegations, but to technological disruption.” The report adds, “Less than a year ago, Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick described self-driving cars as an “existential” threat to his company, saying that his team must get the technology to market before competitors do, or at least at around the same time.”

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Grace Period for Massachusetts Turnpike Drivers Who Don't Have E-ZPass Ends Today

Boston Herald reports, “Bay State drivers who failed to pick up an E-ZPass could get hit with more than double the toll charges along the Massachusetts Turnpike starting tomorrow [May 9], when state officials end a grace period meant to help cash-only customers adapt to electronic tolls. The hefty fees are a result of the ‘associated administrative costs’ of tracking down drivers using their license plates, said Massachusetts Department of Transportation spokesman Patrick Marvin. But some are blasting the charge as a tax on residents who have privacy concerns or who are less technologically savvy.”

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Indiana Highways Commissioner Says a Tolling Study Won't Necessarily Lead to Tolling

WIBC  reports, “INDOT will be studying tolls as part of a newly passed road funding bill. But Indiana’s highway commissioner [Joe McGuinness] says a study doesn’t necessarily mean tolls will happen.” The station adds that Indiana’s governor has said the study will be done by the end of 2018.

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Longmeadow Parkway Opponents Remain Confident They Can Interrupt the Project

Northwest Herald reports that although litigation brought by a grassroots group opposed to the Longmeadow Parkway project could take a year to resolve, the organization and its lawyer are confident they can once again interrupt work “because permits and funding have not yet been issued for all sections of the road.”

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Major Structural Work on the MoPac Express Project Could Be Completed by June

Community Impact Newspaper reports, “Most of the major structural work on the MoPac express lane project is on track to wrap up by June. In the coming weeks, construction workers will be finishing paving and installing the walls of the underpasses that connect the express toll lanes to downtown Austin, said Steve Pustelnyk, director of community relations for the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, which is overseeing the project.”

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CEO of Boston's "A Better City" Makes the Case for Expanded Tolling, AET

Banker & Tradesman (subscription required) features an op-ed column by Rick Dimino, CEO of Boston’s A Better City organization, who argues for a “comprehensive and equitable strategy for toll rates and use, including expanding tolls beyond the Turnpike, Tobin Bridge and Harbor tunnels in Boston. All-electronic tolls also can allow the opportunity for some congestion pricing. . . .”

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BC Could Pay $8 Billion in Interest over 50 Years for George Massey Tunnel Replacement Bridge

Vancouver Sun reports, “B.C. will pay $8 billion in interest over the next 50 years on the George Massey Tunnel replacement bridge, according to an internal government document. The project backgrounder, which was obtained and released by the B.C. NDP, shows total interest costs for 2017 to 2068 — the entire construction and tolling period to debt retirement — are forecast at $8 billion, before federal assistance.” [Link inserted.]

CBC News also reports, observing that “experts are questioning whether anyone has yet to get the math right on the controversial megaproject.”

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Ontario Opens Next Round of Permit Applications for HOT Lanes

Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation announced it “has opened the next round of permit applications and renewals for Canada’s first High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, which provide another commuter option and help manage congestion.” The 10.25 miles of lanes on metro Toronto’s Queen Elizabeth Way can be used by solo drivers only with a CDN$180 permit.

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Pieces of the Original Mackinac Bridge Go on Sale

Associated Press reports, “Michigan residents can now buy 60-year-old grated metal pieces of the original Mackinac Bridge from an online auction as those sections of the bridge get cut away and replaced. Up until a year ago, workers had been taking the old bridge pieces to the scrap yard. Now residents who find value in the metal can buy the pieces from $270 to more than $1,500.”

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