Daily News Briefs, September 27, 2016

I-405 Express Lanes' First Anniversary: "More Popular Than We Were Planning."

The Herald (Everett, WA) marks today’s one-year anniversary of the I-405 Express, noting, “More than 1 million people have made 12 million trips in the express toll lanes.” The report adds, “A year ago, the state was planning to break even on operations costs. Now, even after switching to ‘open to all’ hours on nights and weekends, the one-year forecast pins revenue at $20 million. ‘The lanes were more popular than we were planning,’ said Tyler Patterson, operations manager with the Washington State Department of Transportation.”

The Herald also posts some of the responses to its reader survey on I-405 Express, including one from a man who writes, “I love the toll lanes. I fly by the idiots who are trying to save 75 cents while wasting who knows how much time. I think the tolls should be rolled out to all the freeways around here, especially on 522 between Monroe and Bothell.”

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Golden Gate Tolls Likely to Keep Rising as Deficit, Project Costs (Like $198 Million for Suicide Barrier) Mount

Marin Independent Journal reports, “With myriad capital projects in its future, a transit system to operate and salaries and benefits to pay, the Golden Gate Bridge district appears unlikely to curtail toll increases any time soon. Last week bridge officials announced a $51 million operating and capital deficit over the next five years and $339 million over 10 years.” The report adds, “About half of toll revenues go to subsidize bus and ferry service.” Finally, the newspaper looks at a host of bridge projects and notes that bids for a planned suicide barrier were “almost double the $76 million estimate.” Officials say the project could cost “as much as $198 million, but caution that figure is likely high.”

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Golden Gate Bridge "Epic" Traffic Woes "May Never Improve"

San Francisco Examiner reports, “Despite recent efforts like the installation of a movable median barrier, the Golden Gate Bridge’s epic traffic problems may never improve. That’s the conclusion of Kary Witt, deputy general manager of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, who presented on the status of bridge traffic during weekday commutes and weekend excursions to the Golden Gate Bridge District Board of Directors on [September 23].”

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Another Lawmaker Chides FDOT for Frankland Bridge Express Lanes Proposal

Tampa Bay Times reports, “Another prominent elected official said Monday [September 23] the Florida Department of Transportation mislead him about its plans to rebuild the Howard Frankland Bridge with one fewer free lane for drivers. Sen. Jack Latvala, R- Clearwater, wrote a letter to DOT District Secretary Paul Steinman conveying his ‘great concern’ about the agency’s plan to add a toll on one lane in each direction, creating ‘express lanes’ that could cost as much as $6 to use. Drivers who don’t pay will have three lanes instead of the current four.”

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FDOT and FL Polytech University Will Create New Transportation Testing Facility

Tampa Bay Business Journal reports, “The Florida Department of Transportation is partnering with Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland to create a new transportation testing facility. SunTrax is expected to establish Florida as a transportation technology leader and serve as a high-tech hub for things like tolling, intelligent transportation systems and autonomous vehicles.”

Click here to access a press release, infographic, illustrations and other SunTrax information.

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TxDOT's SH 249 Extension Project Progresses without Threatened Litigation

Southeast Texas Record reports, “Frustration over the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) plans to potentially build a toll road through rural Grimes County could lead to lawsuits being filed by fed-up property owners, although none have been filed to date.” The report adds, “TxDOT’s website lists the portions of the SH 249 project that run through Grimes County as ‘finalizing for construction,’ including construction of a four-lane tollway at an estimated cost of $46.1 million and a new location of a non-freeway facility, which comes with a $100 million price tag.”

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Bridgegate Testimony: Wildstein Says Plotting Started Weeks before Lanes Closing

Asbury Park Press reports, “New revelations linking Gov. Chris Christie’s former campaign manager and an ex-Bergen County executive to the Bridgegate scandal spilled out [on September 26] as the government’s star witness took jurors inside the politically motivated plot to paralyze Fort Lee with traffic in 2013. Weeks before he set the scheme in motion, David Wildstein testified that he alerted William ‘Pat’ Schuber, a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, of the plan to create gridlock by closing access lanes to the George Washington Bridge.”

Courier-Post (Cherry Hill) reports, “The government’s star witness in the political conspiracy trial of two former allies of Governor Christie, recounted on Monday how in 2011 he identified local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge as a ‘potential leverage point’ against the mayor of Fort Lee.”

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DRJTBC Approves Toll Changes and New AET Rates for Scudder Falls Bridge

Lehighvalleylive.com reports, “Drivers of pickup trucks with four rear wheels — dualies — will continue paying the same tolls as other passenger vehicles on Delaware River crossings. The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission on Monday approved several toll changes but rejected the proposal to boost the rate for dualies. . . .” The report adds, “Commissioners also approved new tolls for the new Scudder Falls (Interstate 95) bridge” that will open in 2019. The current bridge, which is not-tolled, will be replaced by one with an AET system. Click here for more on the project.

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All Alabama Voters Will Decide Referendum to Create County Toll Authority

AL.com explains why the proposal to create a Baldwin County toll road authority is one of three constitutional amendments on the November ballot that requires statewide voter approval even though it pertains to only one county. The newspaper notes that “if voters statewide approve a local amendment, it becomes law even if a majority of those in the affected county voted no.”

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With Private Car Ownership Peaking, Cities May Have a Chance to "Reclaim Space"

Vox reports, “A recent report from the Rocky Mountain Institute argued that the era of private car ownership may peak within a decade, as new networks of shared, electric, possibly autonomous vehicles become cheaper. Instead of buying a car, you can simply buy a ride whenever you need one. That shift has the potential, at least, to revolutionize our streets.”

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RI Scofflaw Enforcement Measure Becomes Law without Governor Raimondo's Signature

Providence Journal asks, “Has anyone seen Governor Raimondo’s pen? For the second consecutive year, Raimondo allowed more than half the bills sent to her desk by the General Assembly this past session to become law without her signature.” Those new laws include “toll evasion bills [Public Laws 16-381 and 16-398] . . . requested by the quasi-state Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority. They increased penalties for toll scofflaws and authorized the state Division of Motor Vehicles to freeze vehicle registrations.”

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MA Newspaper Calls Turnpike's AET Conversion a "Band-Aid" on Infrastructure Problems

The Republican (Springfield) editorial board says forthcoming turnpike improvements like AET “will put a thin Band-Aid on a problem that needs surgery. The state ranks 46th in an infrastructure study that examined road conditions, bridge quality, fatality rates, costs per mile and all related costs and expenditures.”

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Fitch Rates $600 Million in MTA Revenue Bonds

Fitch Ratings “has assigned an ‘A’ rating to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), New York’s approximately $600 million transportation revenue refunding bonds, series 2016D. The Rating Outlook is Stable. . . .”

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