- OTA Approves 17% Toll Hike Contingent on Resolution of Expansion Litigation
- AZDOT to Study State's First Toll Road
- Bridgegate: Witness Says Christie Laughed about GWB Lane Closings. Governor Still Denies Involvement, Knowledge.
- MDX Again Offers Rebates to Frequent Drivers
- $67 Million Spaulding Turnpike Widening Project Begins
- A Hard Look at the "Mythology of HOT Lanes"
- I-405 Express Lanes Usage, Results Please WSDOT Tolling Director Rubstello. Toll Rate Ceiling May Rise.
- WA Newspaper Says I-405 Express Lanes Are Making the Grade
- WA Gubernatorial Candidates May Spar, but Ultimately Agree Tolling Makes Sense
- Public Reaction to Proposed Cibolo Parkway Project Is Mixed. Concerns Raised About Road's Private Development.
- A Call for More P3s and Relaxation of the Federal Prohibition on Interstate Tolling
- MA Newspaper: AET Makes Sense . . . but that "Revenue Neutral" Thing? Not So Much.
- Indiana University Research Recommends VMT for Highway Infrastructure Funding
- Kelley Blue Book Poll Finds "Most Americans Still Deeply Skeptical of Fully Autonomous Vehicles"
This is a Subscribers-Only area. If you are a subscriber, please login. If not...
Become a Subscriber Today »
OTA Approves 17% Toll Hike Contingent on Resolution of Expansion Litigation
KOCO News reports, “The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has voted to increase the costs on Oklahoma tollways by 17 percent to help expand and renovate the state’s turnpike system, including the construction of new toll roads in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. OTA spokesman Jack Damrill says the rate hikes approved on [September 27] are contingent upon the resolution of a lawsuit challenging the use of toll revenue to finance the new construction. That lawsuit is pending before the Oklahoma Supreme Court.”
The Oklahoman notes in its coverage that OTA “plans to incur $480 million in additional bond debt to fund new construction. The increased tolls would service that debt.”
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) Toll Rate ChangesAZDOT to Study State's First Toll Road
Phoenix Business Journal (subscription required) reports, “They have them on bridges, California has a couple on highways, they’re all over the Midwest and East. Now a toll road is being seriously broached for the Valley to relieve traffic in the West Valley between SR 85 and I-17. The study will start soon.”
ArizonaBridgegate: Witness Says Christie Laughed about GWB Lane Closings. Governor Still Denies Involvement, Knowledge.
The New York Times reports, “Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey was told about the George Washington Bridge lane closings — and that they were done to punish a mayor who had declined to endorse him for re-election — during a Sept. 11 memorial service two days after they began, a former ally who orchestrated the scheme testified in federal court [in Newark] on Tuesday [September 27]. Mr. Christie, the witness recalled, laughed at the news.”
NJ.com reports, “Gov. Christie Christie on Tuesday night refuted allegations made by a former ally that the governor was told about the Bridgegate lane closings as they were going on and even joked about them when he was informed.” The report adds that during his monthly New Jersey 101.5 radio show on Tuesday night, Christie said, “I knew nothing about the lane realignments before they happened, I knew nothing about lane realignments as they happened, and I had nothing do to with the planning and the authorizing of it.”
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)MDX Again Offers Rebates to Frequent Drivers
Miami Herald reports, “Miami-Dade’s toll authority will once again offer rebates for frequent drivers, extending a program enacted amid a backlash against toll hikes along the county’s busiest highways. The Miami-Dade Expressway Authority . . . announced Tuesday [September 27] its board approved a 30 percent rebate for customers already enrolled in the rebate program. Spokesman Mario Diaz said the checks will go out in December, with an average amount of $100.”
Florida Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX)$67 Million Spaulding Turnpike Widening Project Begins
Seacoastonline.com reports, “Construction has started on the final roadway project on the Newington-Dover corridor of the Spaulding Turnpike, according to the N.H. Department of Transportation. This project involves widening the turnpike from the Woodbury Avenue interchange to a point 3,000 feet north of the Dover Toll Plaza.”
New HampshireA Hard Look at the "Mythology of HOT Lanes"
Streetsblog USA contributor Kevin Posey, in a look at the “mythology” of HOT lanes, writes, “So, if HOT lanes don’t reduce overall congestion along their routes, worsen congestion in previously existing HOV lanes, and either hurt or fail to improve high occupancy vehicle usage, why build them? Perhaps politicians, desperate to appease angry drivers, are succumbing to a scheme that offers false hope. However, many commuters have begun to lose faith. They are moving to the cities, where they are less dependent on highways to get around. If taxpayer dollars are to be spent effectively, they will have to follow the people.”
Express LanesI-405 Express Lanes Usage, Results Please WSDOT Tolling Director Rubstello. Toll Rate Ceiling May Rise.
MYNorthwest.com reports, “The state’s social experiment with congestion pricing on I-405 is one year old” and adds, “From the state’s perspective, the launch really couldn’t have gone much better. Other than creating a daily nightmare in the northbound direction in Bothell, where we go from five lanes to three, state tolling director Patty Rubstello is happy with the results. ‘We’re seeing high utilization,’ she said. ‘[Commuters] are getting a benefit, and in most situations the general purpose lanes are working better as well.’”
KIRO News reports that the high usage of the I-405 Express Lanes might force the toll rate above the current ceiling of ten dollars, but notes that “WSDOT also says they are looking into a number of options to improve operations on the I-405 toll lanes without a rate increase.”
Express Lanes Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)WA Newspaper Says I-405 Express Lanes Are Making the Grade
The Herald (Everett) editorial board looks at the first year of the I-405 Express experiment and concludes that the facility “should be allowed to continue, with an eye toward making improvements where practical.” The editors note that the express lanes, for the most part, are delivering congestion relief, meeting minimum speed requirements and generating “enough revenue [a projected $20 million in year one] to pay for themselves.”
Express Lanes Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)WA Gubernatorial Candidates May Spar, but Ultimately Agree Tolling Makes Sense
The Seattle Times fact checks a debate between Governor Jay Inslee and GOP challenger Bill Bryant and, on tolling, notes that despite some criticism by Bryant of the I-405 toll lanes, “As detailed in The Seattle Times earlier this year, Bryant has previously endorsed increased tolling for highways because gas-tax revenues are not projected to raise enough money for long-term road improvements and maintenance.”
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)Public Reaction to Proposed Cibolo Parkway Project Is Mixed. Concerns Raised About Road's Private Development.
KSAT News staffs a public meeting on the Cibolo Parkway project, a proposed toll road that would be built by the private Texas Turnpike Corporation, reporting that, “There is support in town, but there [ ] is also a group in the city strongly opposing the project.” According to the report, Terri Hall of Texans for Toll Free Highways cites the use of eminent domain by a private, for-profit company as one matter of concern. Cibolo City Council will likely vote in November on whether to allow the company to launch a study of possible routes for the road.
Texas Texas Turnpike Corp.A Call for More P3s and Relaxation of the Federal Prohibition on Interstate Tolling
Dallas Morning News publishes an op-ed co-signed by Henry Cisneros, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Suzanne Shank, CEO of investment bank Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co., that laments the lack of investment in interstates. They write, “The federal government has an opportunity to employ innovative transportation funding and financing approaches including creating the national infrastructure bank, relaxing the federal prohibition on tolling most interstate highways, and indexing the federal gas tax to inflation, among others. Public private partnerships can also play a role, if the next administration untangles and clears some of the regulatory and statutory hurdles that prevent us from fully harnessing their power.”
P3 & PrivatizationMA Newspaper: AET Makes Sense . . . but that "Revenue Neutral" Thing? Not So Much.
The Cape Cod Times editorial board contends that the Massachusetts Turnpike’s proposed AET toll rates are not exactly “revenue neutral,” because the cost for some trips will increase by anywhere from $75 to $125 per year for some motorists. “State transportation officials blame the previous administration for choosing the gantry locations, and offer little explanation for their decisions to arbitrarily drop the tolls for some drivers while raising them for others,” the editors note. On the upside, they do add that, “All-Electronic-Tolling is a good idea. Taking down the tollbooths should ease congestion, reduce pollution and make the Pike safer.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts Massachusetts TurnpikeIndiana University Research Recommends VMT for Highway Infrastructure Funding
Indiana University announces the forthcoming publication of a study “that forecasts state and federal fuel tax revenues based on different fuel taxation policies found adoption of a vehicle mileage tax would best meet highway construction needs in the long run.” The study is co-authored by Jerome Dumortier, an assistant professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and John Marron of IndyGo, the Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation. The announcement quotes Dumortier: “Our results indicate that although a mileage fee is politically and technologically difficult to achieve, it is the only measure that avoids a declining tax revenue in the long run.”
RUC & VMT ProgramsKelley Blue Book Poll Finds "Most Americans Still Deeply Skeptical of Fully Autonomous Vehicles"
The Verge reports, “Americans like the idea of self-driving cars, but are less willing to cede control of the steering wheel to a computer program, according to a new poll released today. An overwhelming majority, 80 percent, said humans should always have the option to drive themselves, while 64 percent expressed a need to be in control of their own vehicle.” The poll of 2,200 US residents was commissioned by Kelley Blue Book.
Self-Driving Vehicles