- MTA Selects TransCore to Convert All Nine Bridges and Tunnels to AET
- MassDOT's AET Launch Goes Smoothly as Toll Collectors Bid a Fond Farewell
- MassDOT Message: Avoid the Turnpike While the Toll Plazas Come Down
- MassDOT Is Ready for Scofflaws with New Raytheon AET System
- PANYNJ Begins Replacing Lincoln Tunnel's Toll Collection System
- Bridgegate Prosecutors Hammer Away at "Staggering Evidence." Jury Deliberations Start Tomorrow.
- Governor Christie Called a "Clear Loser" in the Bridgegate Trial
- Did Bridgegate Cost Christie the VP Slot? (It Probably Didn't Help!)
- Golden Gate Bridge District Board Eyes Multi-Year Toll Increase Plan
- TCA Holding "Consensus Meetings" on Dealing with South Orange County Congestion
- Caltrans Uses 12,000 Pounds of Explosive to Demolish Former Bay Bridge Pier
- Mid-Bay Bridge Authority (FL) Considers Options for Reducing Tolls
- Chesapeake, VA, Opens New Dominion Boulevard Lanes. Toll System Testing to Begin Today.
- WA Gubernatorial Candidates Spar Over Tolling
- NY Times Plugs Transportation Ballot Proposals, Challenges Feds to Provide More Support
- Fitch on PANYNJ Debt and Commercial Paper
This is a Subscribers-Only area. If you are a subscriber, please login. If not...
Become a Subscriber Today »
MTA Selects TransCore to Convert All Nine Bridges and Tunnels to AET
TransCore announced this morning that it has been selected by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority to convert all nine of MTA bridges and tunnels to an all-electronic tolling system. According to the company’s news release, “Under an accelerated roll-out schedule, TransCore will finish converting the first three facilities by January 2017. The remaining conversions will be completed through November 2017.” TransCore will install its Infinity∞ Digital Lane System™ on all the bridges and tunnels, which will permit MTA to eliminate its existing gated toll plazas.
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)MassDOT's AET Launch Goes Smoothly as Toll Collectors Bid a Fond Farewell
Associated Press reports, “State highway officials say there have been 215,000 transactions since all-electronic tolling got underway on the Massachusetts Turnpike. Transportation officials held a news conference Saturday [October 29] to give an update since the system went into effect Friday night. State highway director Thomas Tinlin says motorists should plan for the next several weeks as they would for a snowstorm: Drive carefully, leave extra time or consider public transportation as an alternative.”
The Boston Globe chats up toll collectors on their final day in the lanes, reporting that some workers “were given the chance to apply for other state jobs, such as plowing highways or driving a bus, but others had decided to retire or move on, leaving behind jobs that can pay as much as $80,000 a year with overtime.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts TurnpikeMassDOT Message: Avoid the Turnpike While the Toll Plazas Come Down
MassLive.com reports, “Drivers using the Massachusetts Turnpike to get to work this week might simply want to find another way to get there, highway officials said [yesterday, October 30] as they discussed the progress of all-electronic tolling in the state.” State highway administrator Thomas Tinlin tells the press that today’s traffic “is going to be a heck of a lot different than Saturday and Sunday. We’re asking you to look at the way you travel and maybe make a difference. Use the MBTA if that’s an option. . . .” The report adds that active demolition at all 23 toll plazas was scheduled to begin last night, October 30, after utilities were “capped and cut” over the weekend.
WWLP News reports, “Demolition of the old toll booth lanes started Sunday morning. Contractors are working to remove the center lanes by November 22nd. During that time, traffic will be channeled through the outside lanes at a 15 mph speed limit.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts TurnpikeMassDOT Is Ready for Scofflaws with New Raytheon AET System
MassLive.com reports, “Across the country people have tried all sorts of ways to trick all-electronic tolling technology from capturing their license plates in order to avoid paying a toll, but officials in Massachusetts said the tricks aren’t new and the technology is ready to catch the scofflaws.” The report adds that MassDOT’s new Raytheon toll collection system “is able to take color pictures of vehicles and track the make and model of the car if it goes through the tolls without a transponder. The system, according to Raytheon, can even read bent or illegible license plates with some human help.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts TurnpikePANYNJ Begins Replacing Lincoln Tunnel's Toll Collection System
NJ.com reports (dig to the bottom of the traffic advisory), “The Port Authority has begun replacement of the Lincoln Tunnel’s toll collection system. This project will require the closure of at least one of the tunnel’s toll lanes at any given time, for approximately six months. . . . Lanes within the tunnel will not be affected by the toll lane closures.”
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)Bridgegate Prosecutors Hammer Away at "Staggering Evidence." Jury Deliberations Start Tomorrow.
NJ.com reports, “After a six-week trial, prosecutors began closing arguments on Friday [October 28], spending nearly four hours in a methodical presentation that characterized the evidence stacked up against [Bill] Baroni and [Bridget] Kelly as ‘staggering.’” The report adds that, “Closing arguments were delayed a day because of a last-minute discovery that several text messages entered as evidence had an incorrect time stamp. . . . The timing of the emails is significant because Kelly testified as to when she sent the emails which differed from the timestamp on the evidence.” Jurors are expected to start deliberations tomorrow, November 1.
New Jersey Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)Governor Christie Called a "Clear Loser" in the Bridgegate Trial
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports, “Whatever verdict jurors return in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure case, one clear loser has emerged from the six-week trial: Gov. Christie. In the criminal trial of two former aides to the governor, Christie has been depicted as managing New Jersey through threat and intimidation: a boss who threw a water bottle at an employee, made profanity-laced threats to destroy others’ careers; and peddled pieces of 9/11 World Trade Center steel for reelection endorsements.”
New Jersey Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)Did Bridgegate Cost Christie the VP Slot? (It Probably Didn't Help!)
New York Post reports, “Donald Trump initially offered the vice-presidential running-mate slot to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie but then withdrew it, sources said.” An unnamed Trump campaign source tells the newspaper, “Trump had wanted Christie but Bridgegate would have been the biggest national story.”
New Jersey Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)Golden Gate Bridge District Board Eyes Multi-Year Toll Increase Plan
Marin Independent Journal reports that the Golden Gate Bridge District Board will consider “a multi-year toll increase plan” in 2018, according to the agency’s strategic financial plan. The article adds, “The bridge board approved a similar plan, which was implemented in 2014 and runs through 2018. When it ends the FasTrak toll will be $7 and the pay-by-plate toll at $8. That five-year toll plan raises $138 million over the period, but more toll increases appear likely in 2019 and beyond.”
CaliforniaTCA Holding "Consensus Meetings" on Dealing with South Orange County Congestion
The Capistrano Dispatch reports, “Since at least 2008, the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) has been trying to find a way to connect the 241 Toll Road to Interstate 5 by way of San Clemente and its neighboring areas. Plans to build a toll road through Trestles was defeated in 2008 and again in early 2015, but TCA is now holding consensus meetings to gather data from the public to address a broader issue that seems inevitable: alleviating traffic through the South Orange County corridor.”
Transportation Corridor Agencies (CA)Caltrans Uses 12,000 Pounds of Explosive to Demolish Former Bay Bridge Pier
NBC Bay Area reports that another section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge’s old eastern span was demolished on Saturday, October 29. “Caltrans said the E-4 support pier was imploded with 12,000 pounds of explosives. The blast occurred just before 11:30 a.m. and lasted under four seconds.”
Mid-Bay Bridge Authority (FL) Considers Options for Reducing Tolls
Northwest Florida Daily News reports that the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority is holding public meetings as it considers four options for reducing tolls. According to the report, most people who commented at the first meeting last week were in favor of raising the cash toll in order to give a deeper toll discount to SunPass transponder users.
Florida Mid-Bay Bridge AuthorityChesapeake, VA, Opens New Dominion Boulevard Lanes. Toll System Testing to Begin Today.
WTKR News reports on a Dominion Boulevard Improvement Project milestone, the scheduled weekend opening of two new bridge spans and all four tollway lanes from Grassfield Parkway to I-64/464. The article notes that “[t]he speed limit will stay at 35mph until tolling begins to accommodate continued construction. The toll system testing period will start [today, October 31] and last for approximately 30 days. No tolls will be collected during this period of time.”
VirginiaWA Gubernatorial Candidates Spar Over Tolling
Seattle Times reports, “GOP governor candidate Bill Bryant has made Puget Sound’s traffic woes one of his main campaign themes, especially the troubles with I-405 toll lanes. Gov. Jay Inslee has sought to turn those criticisms back on Bryant, who in the past has supported tolling.”
Express Lanes Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)NY Times Plugs Transportation Ballot Proposals, Challenges Feds to Provide More Support
The New York Times editorial board writes, “This could be a record year for transportation ballot proposals, because local politicians and voters have realized that Congress is not coming to rescue America’s aging bridges, roads and transit systems. On Nov. 8, there will be about 45 ballot proposals across the country that could raise nearly $200 billion for transportation improvements.” The editors add, “During this campaign season, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and some congressional candidates have talked a lot about improving infrastructure. It will be up to the next president and Congress to make good on those promises.”
Fitch on PANYNJ Debt and Commercial Paper
Fitch Ratings “has assigned a ‘AA-‘ rating to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s . . . $432.8 million 197th series consolidated bonds and $350 million 198th series consolidated bonds.” Fitch also affirmed its ratings for the following existing authority debt:
- $20.2 billion in outstanding consolidated bonds at ‘AA-‘;
- Commercial paper obligations series A, B and C, each authorized up to $250 million at ‘F1+’; and
- Subordinated special payment obligations with respect to the Goethals Bridge Replacement Project and Four World Trade Center at ‘A’.
“The Rating Outlook on all bonds and non-commercial paper obligations,” Fitch says, “is Stable.”
Investment Ratings Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)