- US Senate Approves FY 2024 Transportation Funding Legislation
- 66 Express Operator Says Businesses Recognize The Value Of Managed Lane Use
- Trucking Industry Asks US Governors To Alleviate Parking Area Shortage
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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US Senate Approves FY 2024 Transportation Funding Legislation
Roll Call reports, yesterday, the US Senate approved a “minibus” budget package (HR 4366, as amended) that included FY 2024 transportation and housing program appropriations. The measure passed easily, receiving 82 affirmative votes. Roll Call looks at transportation-related amendments offered on the floor, few of which received approval, as well as the status of House transportation funding legislation, which is now in the Rules Committee being prepared for referral to the floor. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) contrasted his colleagues’ bipartisan approach to working out spending issues with the appropriations process taking place in the House, where members, Schumer said, are “going through a futile exercise of passing partisan appropriations bills that have no input or support from Democrats. They’re going nowhere.”
US Department of Transportation (USDOT) US Gov't Transportation Funding US Highway Trust Fund US Infrastructure Funding And Financing Initiatives66 Express Operator Says Businesses Recognize The Value Of Managed Lane Use
“Prince William Living” publishes another contributed article from I-66 Express Mobility Partners (EMP), the Cintra-led operator of tolled express lanes outside the DC beltway. The firm states that since its facility fully opened about eleven months ago, “usage of the lanes has risen to more than 1 million trips each month. As of September 2023, more than 370,000 unique vehicles have passed through the gantries of the 66 Express.” EMP attributes the traffic growth to the time-savings and trip predictability that its customers — commuters, freight haulers and business travelers — are experiencing. “By unlocking congestion along one of the nation’s busiest corridors and allowing a wide range of vehicle types, [our managed lanes are] a major factor in business opportunities and growth along [the interstate] in Prince William County and beyond,” the firm maintains. It backs up the claim with endorsements from business owners who say their operations have benefitted from being able to bypass general lane backups.
66 Express Lanes (Outside DC Beltway) Cintra US Express Lanes I-66 Express Mobility Partners Virginia Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Washington (DC) Metro RegionTrucking Industry Asks US Governors To Alleviate Parking Area Shortage
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Transport Topics) reports, the American Trucking Associations and two other hauling industry groups have sent letters to the governors of all 50 US states urging them to use IIJA funds or unspent pandemic stimulus money to “take such actions as are necessary” to expand truck parking facilities. The letters state, “Drivers are unable to find a safe place to rest after a long day on the road due to a severe shortage of truck parking. We are asking for your assistance with this long-standing and growing safety problem.” Surveys show that the shortage of safe parking spaces is a major problem for trucking companies and drivers, and it’s also an issue of concern to highway safety advocates. According to the article, drivers say it especially difficult to find parking in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Georgia. The problem has grown acute in recent years along with the increase of truck traffic on major highways.
“Land Line” Magazine notes that HR 236, a measure directing the Pennsylvania legislature’s Joint State Government Commission to conduct a “thorough and comprehensive study of truck parking” was approved unanimously by the House Transportation Committee on October 30. Before the vote, the sponsor told his colleagues, “We all see it. We all travel on the highways and the interstates. You see trucks parked on the shoulder of the road.” He added, “We want to give these drivers the dignity to be able to park somewhere safe to take their [federally mandated breaks]. Somewhere they have access to facilities to wash their hands and use the bathroom, maybe grab a bite to eat. Aside from that, just somewhere to safely park, not along the interstate, where they can get a good night’s rest so they can get out there and do their job.”
American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) American Trucking Associations Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Maintenance Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Service Plazas US Gov't Transportation Funding US Infrastructure Funding And Financing InitiativesThese are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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