News Roundup

O.C. Toll Agency Hails Wildlife Deal
Los Angeles Times (05/10/08) P. B-7; Reyes, David

A deal to shield wildlife was announced on May 9 between the Orange County, Calif., toll-road agency and a California agency regarding the suggested extension of a county toll road, a controversial connection that would go through the San Onofre State Park and a famous surfing location. Supporters contend the deal helps resuscitate the proposed toll-road project, while opponents reject it as unimportant. While the Foothill South project was opposed by the California Coastal Commission earlier this year, the toll-road agency regards the deal as a significant victory. The deal calls for establishing, improving, or repairing 57 acres close to creeks as a mitigation initiative because 23 acres on the proposed route would be irrevocably impacted, according to state Department of Fish and Game senior environmental scientists Marilyn Fluharty. She claims the toll-road agency would require extra permits because the deal is restricted to stream beds and bird habitats on numerous creeks in the region, but not for the whole route. The Transportation Corridor Agencies, which manage the majority of the tollways in Orange County, have repaired, established, and protected over 100 acres under earlier deals with the Department of Fish and Game for previous road projects, according to transportation officials.
(http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2008/05/oc-toll-agency.html)

Public Wary of Leasing Roads
Wall Street Journal (05/09/08) P. B5; Perez, Santiago; Sinclair, Jason

Pennsylvania is considering leasing its major highways to private investors, who would charge drivers tolls for using the highways and use the money to pay for maintenance. Several private investors have said they are considering making a bid for a lease, including units of Spain's Grupo Ferrovial SA, Australia's Macquarie Group Ltd., and the Spanish construction firm Actividades de Construccion & Servicios SA. If a bid is accepted, the winning company will be granted a 75-year lease on a state highway that will allow them to raise tolls at the rate of inflation or at least 2.5 percent a year. Although such lease deals are increasingly being seen as the best way to meet the U.S.'s growing infrastructure investment needs, the idea of leasing state highways to private companies faces considerable opposition in Pennsylvania. Among those who are opposed to leasing highways to private companies is State Rep. Joe Markosek, the Democratic chairman of the Pennsylvania House's transportation committee, which must approve the plan. He noted that the Pennsylvania Turnpike--one of the highways that would be leased to a private investor--is a "huge contributor" to the state's transportation infrastructure, and that getting an upfront cash payment and giving away control of it for 75 years "would be detrimental." Despite the opposition from Markosek and other Pennsylvania Democrats, State Rep. Richard Geist, the Republican chairman of the House's transportation committee, said he expects the idea of leasing highways to private investors to eventually be approved.
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121028424023478757.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace)

Legal Umbrella for Six Turnpikes in Jakarta Still Under Deliberation
Antara (Indonesia) (05/07/08)

Indonesia's Infrastructure Construction Crash Program Policy Committee is trying to develop a legal umbrella that will allow work to begin on six new toll roads in Jakarta. According to Rudi Hermawan, a member of the Toll Road Regulatory Agency, the legal umbrella could come in the form of a Presidential Decree. While work is being done to develop a legal umbrella, the Jakarta City Administration needs to begin revising the zoning plan so construction on the toll roads can start, Hermawan added. After all the legal hurdles have been cleared and the Rp27 trillion project has been completed, the six toll roads will form an inner-most ring road around Jakarta. The project is expected to help alleviate congestion in the city, where 80 percent of the traffic is made up of private cars.
(http://www.insideworld.com/r/Legal_umbrella_for_six_
turnpikes_in_Jakarta_still_under_deliberation,,wid,1148336.html)

Toll Vote a Victory, Foes Say
Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN) (05/08/08) P. 1; Ferrar, Rebecca

The Knox County (Tenn.) Commission voted 18-1 in early May to oppose the construction of toll roads such as the co-called Orange Route, which would connect I-75 north of Knoxville in Anderson County with I-40/75 west of the city. The toll road would also eventually connect I-75 in Anderson with I-40 east of Knoxville. Ed Cole, the assistant commissioner for environment and planning at the Tennessee Department of Transportation, said the state did not want to build the toll road if it did not have local support. "We are not going to pursue a tolling project where there is strong opposition, and the County Commission represents the people of Knox County," he said. "The county would make a big impact on our thinking." However, the county commission's vote would not be the only thing that the state would consider when deciding whether to move forward with the Orange Route, Cole noted. He said that TDOT would pay the most attention to the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, a group of officials from Knoxville, Knox County, and surrounding cities and counties that was formed to provide coordinated planning. In February, the group voted to ask TDOT to move ahead with an extended study on the possibility of funding a project that would include the Orange Route. If the TPO approves the study after it is completed this summer, it would ask the state legislature in January to designate the Orange Route as a pilot toll road. If the TPO does not approve the study, it would be very unlikely the project would move forward, Cole said.
(http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/may/08/toll-vote-a-victory-foes-say/)

Transit Panel Planning Tolls
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (CA) (05/10/08) Ortega, Fred

On May 8, the San Gabriel Valley, Calif., Metro board approved a deal with the U.S. Department of Transportation to bring congestion pricing to the region. Under the deal, Metro would get almost $214 million from the federal government to change sections of carpool lanes on the 210 and 10 freeways into toll lanes. It is still not known how tolls would be obtained or how much motorists will have to pay under the plan, which still must be approved by the California Legislature and the state Transportation Commission. The tolls would, however, be based on the time of day, so the busiest driving periods would cost more, stated Metro spokesman David Sotero. He added that Metro officials must still decide whether vehicles with a particular amount of passengers would ride at no cost, or whether they would be charged a smaller toll. In addition, Sotero said that single drivers might be permitted to utilize the toll roads while paying the highest amount to do so. Metro has to obtain legal permission from the Legislature and Transportation Commission by October in order to get the federal money, and the lanes must be functioning by Dec. 31, 2010.
(http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_9220290)

Key NJ Senators Say Toll Road Agency Should Boost Tolls
Associated Press (05/06/08) Hester, Tom Jr.

New Jersey state senators are urging the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) to use its authority to raise tolls to cover the cost of expanding heavily used toll roads and renovating bridges on them. The recommendation by Senate President Richard J. Codey (D) and Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D) was offered as an alternative solution to stalled efforts to renovate New Jersey's toll roads in the wake of an unpopular proposal by Gov. Jon Corzine (D) that would form a new agency that would borrow money and order major toll increases for decades to pay off state debt and fund transportation. Codey and Sweeney are suggesting that the agency use its own powers to raise tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway. Though the governor could veto any decision the turnpike authority makes, the NJTA still has the power to order the 45 percent toll increase Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri says is necessary to repair toll roads and bridges on them. In the end, Sweeney believes the public would prefer using toll money to widen the Turnpike and Parkway than to pay down state debt. "No one wants to raise tolls, but the costs go up, and if I can improve my commute, use less gas, get there safer and quicker, there's a balance," Sweeney says.
(http://www.ap.org)

States & Localities: Falling Bridges
Congressional Quarterly (05/04/08) Harkness, Peter

The devastating affects of federal infrastructure spending cuts are evident in the recently discovered I-70 sinkhole, the corroded support pillars along Philadelphia's I-95 corridor, and the Minneapolis bridge collapse. A nonpartisan task force of 15 governors, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have seen federal infrastructure spending fall as a share of non-defense expenditures, from 10 percent in 1966 to around 4 percent in the 1990s. States and localities now carry three-fourths of the infrastructure spending, but the accumulating problems cannot be fixed without the federal government's aid. Since this is aid is unlikely to come, local leaders have four options: raise tolls, increase taxes, borrow in the bond market, or extract capital and know-how from the business community. The long-term outlook is more dour, however, according to Booz Allen Hamilton. In a highly publicized report released shortly before the Manhattan underground pipe explosions, the consulting firm estimated the United States and Canada would need to spend $6.5 trillion over 25 years in order to fully renovate the integrated transportation, water, and energy infrastructures. Responsibility for amending the country's internal systems must be split among federal and local governments, the authors say; on the national level, leaders must conceptualize the design of the projects and give "light-handed oversight" while trusting local and business leaders to raise capital and maintain ownership.
(http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=weeklyreport-000002716572)

Dulles Metro Extension Still Faces Hurdles
Washington Post (05/04/08) P. LZ01; Somashekhar, Sandhya

Loudoun County, the only area in the Washington Metropolitan Area not served by a major interstate or commuter rail system, is one step closer to having its own subway line stretching from Dulles International Airport to Washington, D.C. Federal transportation officials met on April 30 and agreed to move into the final design stage of the $5 billion, 23-mile project. The decision will likely goad U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Federal Transit Administration chief James S. Simpson into giving the project $900 worth of federal funds to start the first phase of building. The money would only cover 11 miles worth of construction, or five of the 11 planned rail stations, but Tony Howard of the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce says an initial thumbs-up is critical to getting the project started. The new Silver Line will pass through Fairfax County, Virginia's most concentrated jobs sector, and will terminate at two high-density developments in Loudoun County. Howard says this might encourage more young professionals to relocate to Loudoun County, especially if they do not have cars or face long commutes on congested highways like routes 7 and 50. Officials are confident the second building phase will proceed once the first phase is approved.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/02/AR2008050204233.html)

Alabama-Florida Toll Road Talks Spill Into Public Stage
Northwest Florida Daily News (05/04/08) Gant, Andrew; Felsberg, Jay

For the past six years, officials in Alabama and Florida have been quietly holding talks on a proposed four-lane toll road that would run parallel to U.S. Highway 331 and would connect Montgomery, Ala. with the under-construction West Bay International Airport near Panama City. But those talks are set to go public on May 15, when the Washington County (Fla.) Chamber of Commerce holds a workshop on the proposed highway. The toll road is opposed by Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ted Everett, who said the highway would offer few benefits to Washington County. Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Transportation has said that while it would feasible to build the toll road, it would prefer to improve existing roads. Among the improvements the DOT would like to make is the widening of U.S. 331 to four lanes between DeFuniak Springs and U.S. 98.
(http://www.constructionequipment.com/articleXml/LN786970692.html)

California in Brief: Tollway Safe, Says Wildlife Service
Los Angeles Times (05/06/08) P. B4

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wildlife would not be threatened by the proposed $875 million Foothill South toll road. The project, which would run through San Onofre State Beach, is the final section connecting Orange County's network of toll roads. An official for the wildlife service said the agency assessed the project's impact on nine species, including endangered species. After a lengthy review, the investigation determined that the toll road would not pose a threat to any of the species. The toll road agency is taking steps to manage the tollway in a way that benefits the species.
(http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-briefs6-2008may06,0,1652129.story?track=rss)

Toll Road Opens Months Ahead of Time
Australian Financial Review (05/13/08)

The Connect East group, the developer of the $A3.8 billion EastLink toll road in Melbourne, Australia, reports the freeway will open on June 29, 2008, five months ahead of schedule. ConnectEast says there will be a toll-free period for some time to attract users and that when the tolls start, they will be inexpensive. The toll road connects Donvale, northeast of Melbourne, to Frankston in the southeast.
(http://www.afr.com)

State Extends Deadline to Submit Bids for Turnpike's Lease
Harrisburg Patriot-News (PA) (05/01/08) P. A5; Thompson, Charlie

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell announced on April 30 that the deadline for firms to present bids concerning the Pennsylvania Turnpike has been lengthened until early May. Rendell is thinking about leasing the turnpike to a private firm which would operate the road system and obtain its toll revenue. The stipulation of the request for bids calls for a 75-year lease. Rendell has given an extension that could be as long as 14 days in the interest of receiving the most attractive offer, said his spokesman, Chuck Ardo. Rendell wants the turnpike lease to generate money for bridges, highways, and financially-struggling mass transit systems. The plan is that a lease would produce more funds than the transportation financing plan enacted in 2007, which is predicted to generate $940 million per year. Rendell has stated he would terminate plans to enact new tolls on Interstate 80, the focus of that proposal, if bids are viable. The Pennsylvania House and Senate would have to sanction a deal to hand the turnpike over to a private firm. The lease calls for toll hikes to be limited at growth on the consumer price index or 2.5 percent, whichever is larger.
(http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/120960513359770.xml&coll=1)

Toll Project Needs More Govt Money
New Zealand Herald (05/01/08)

Transit NZ is pursuing additional government money to finish Auckland, New Zealand's NZ$365-miollion toll road between Orewa and Puhoi. The agency stated on April 30 that a new NZ$26-million application was in addition to a NZ$180-million grant already sanctioned as a direct government donation to the 7.5-kilometer Northern Gateway motorway extension. The remainder of the cost for the road, set to open in February 2009, is being fulfilled by a NZ$159-million government loan repayable over 35 years by tolls beginning at NZ$2 for cars and NZ$4 for trucks. Transit regional manager Peter Spies explained that the additional funding was not expected to raise the total budget, which had been consented on with its building alliances partners to include escalation expenses. While the partners had wanted to earn enough savings to avoid the need for additional government funds, cost increases for such items as bitumen and diesel has limited their predicted margins. A shortfall of as much as NZ$26 million has been listed in an affidavit to the Environment Court from Transit CEO Rick van Barneveld to back an application to lengthen the designation of Link Drive through Orewa as a temporary section of the state highway system.
(http://www.nzherald.co.nz)

Harris County: Rental Car Companies Are Skipping Out on Paying Toll Road Fees
KHOU.com--11 News (Texas) (05/01/08) Woodard, Brad

The Harris County, Texas, Toll Road Authority, which facilitates 1 million toll transactions every day, is sending fines to rental-car drivers who are not stopping to pay tolls. Rental-car firms are required to offer information about such drivers to the toll-road authority within 30 days of notification so that the county can locate them. While Enterprise Rental Cart has stressed that it sent the documentation about toll-runners on time, Harris County is claiming it did not get it. "As such, we believe it's their responsibility to pay us and then deal with their customers," says attorney James Harris. Meanwhile, Avis apparently owns almost $400,000 to the toll-road authority, but settled for around half that figure. Harris County is negotiating as well with Dollar Rental and Thrifty. A lot of the bigger car-rental businesses have begun employing an electronic system that is similar to EZ Tag, so the county gets paid right away. Enterprise, however, is not one of them. Harris County claims Enterprise owes it around $1.8 million in unpaid tolls, fees, and fines.
(http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080430_tj_tollrentals.b732aec5.html)

HOT Lanes Proceed
Connection Newspapers (VA) (04/30/08) O'Donoghue, Julia

At a recent informational meeting for its upcoming five-year High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes project on the Capital Beltway, the Virginia Department of Transportation said it intends to build the lanes and deal with all of the construction issues on the interchanges along the 12-mile HOT lanes corridor at the same time. As a result, there will be congestion on the Beltway and the highways that intersect it, state transportation officials said. "There are going to be impacts," said state transportation official Nick Nicholson. "We will maintain the current capacity to the extent that we can." He noted that VDOT is organizing a $58 million "traffic management plan," and that there will be no lane or road closures during rush hour. However, Nicholson's remarks did not ease the concerns of area residents at the meeting, who feared that the impact of the construction on traffic would be unbearable. In response, Nicholson asked residents to focus on the outcome of the project, which will begin in July. "We will have a solution to congestion if this system works," he said.
(http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=314385&paper=68&cat=104)

QC-Baliwag Toll Road Project to Cut Travel Time
BusinessWorld (Philippines) (04/30/08) P. S1/7; Ramos, Marian Grace S.

The building in the Philippines of a 55-kilomter toll road from Quezon City's to Bulacan's Baliwag is predicted to reduce travel time between those two locations from two hours to 35 minutes. The P7.8-billion toll road will attempt to reduce the amount of traffic on the Manila-Bulacan route, which is predicted to rise to 89,000 cars a day by 2010 from the existing level of 52,000. The project will begin in July and is scheduled to be finished by 2011. The toll-road initiative will create a better flow of drivers and goods in the region, states Ausphil Tollways Corp. president and CEO Ricardo L. Penson. The firm is a joint venture between Filipino and Australian inventors. The four-lane toll road has a couple of phases, the first being the building of an 18.9-kilomter area between Commonwealth to Bigte and Norzagaray in Bulacan. The second phase involves the restructuring and broadening of the current two-lane, 36-km national road to Baliwag. It is part of the larger P13.-biillion North Luzon East Expressway project. Ausphil believes it will earn P2 billion in gross revenues from the toll road.
(http://www.gmanews.tv/story/92332/QC-Baliwag-toll-road-project-to-cut-travel-time)

Toll Roads Would Backfire on Region -- Chamber
Cape Times (South Africa) (04/30/08) P. 3

The Cape Town, South Africa, Chamber of Commerce and Industry is opposing a toll-road plan, contending it would provide large returns for the operating firms but raise costs for everybody else. A firm has presented an unsolicited proposal to establish a pair of toll roads. Chamber executive director Albert Schuitmaker claims tolls are the most pricey way to fund roads. While he conceded that significant road upgrades are needed, he thinks the fairest way to finance them would be via the fuel tax. He added that this would guarantee that payment is in proportion to road use. The chamber noted that toll roads would negatively impact financial development in the area and many drivers would have no choice but to utilize the roads.
(http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=181&art_id=vn20080430054625290C457880)

Wide Use of Tolls Could Unclog Roads, Seattle Study Says
Seattle Times (04/24/08) Pryne, Eric

Large-scale tolls could make chronic traffic problems in Seattle and other cities history, according to a study by the Puget Sound Regional Council. Tolls could reduce the typical late-afternoon drive time from downtown Seattle to Tacoma by possibly 40 percent, says the report. In addition, an average rush-hour commute from Bellevue to Lynnwood could be lessened by over a third. The report stresses, however, that such improvements could only be attained by enacting tolls on an unprecedented scale. Motorists would pay a toll on nearly each mile they drive. GPS and cellular technology would monitor their trips, and tolls would be taken out of prepaid accounts. At the heart of the Puget Sound Regional Council's experiment was researchers' recruitment of motorists from 275 households in the Seattle area to pay virtual tolls and then watching how their driving habits changed. The volunteers had gadgets attached to their dashboards that monitored their trips and sent the data to a main computer, and for several months, they paid variable tolls depending on the level of congestion. The charges were removed electronically and the volunteers were allowed to retain whatever was still in their accounts when the experiment concluded, giving them a reason to drive less or at less expensive times. As a whole, participants engaged in less trips and drove less miles.
(http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004369904_tolls24m.html)

City to Get Grant for Easing Traffic
Chicago Tribune (04/28/08) Hilkevitch, Jon

As one of the most congested cities in the nation, Chicago is slated to receive federal funding to abet the city's congestion problems. The Department of Transportation grant comes from excess funds from a former congestion pricing proposal in New York City that fell through. After being refused a bid for funding to employ a congestion pricing initiative pushed by state, regional, and federal agencies, Chicago separately filed an application to implement congestion pricing measures. The city's proposed traffic-relief strategies include charging roadway access according to the time of day and instating higher parking fees, which would be allocated for renovating congested neighborhoods. Additionally, the funding would be distributed among civil improvements to strengthen pedestrian safety. Mayor Richard Daley will receive the DOT funding at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where Transportation Secretary Mary Peters will discuss congestion pricing initiatives that will be piloted in Chicago.
(http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-chicago-traffic-congestionapr29,1,6825379.story?track=rss)

No Magic Bullet
Washington Technology (04/21/08) Vol. 23, No. 7, P. 17; Schultz, James

According to a study sponsored by the Texas Transportation Institute, over 400 urban areas in the country are faced with congested roadways. The study noted that traffic problems are expected to increase, particularly as urban areas continue to grow. Technology has been regarded as a promising solution for mitigating congestion nationwide, but there are still quite a number of challenges to ultimately eliminating lost hours and excess fuel spent in traffic. Studies have demonstrated that advanced traveler information systems, highway advisory radio, ramp petering, and variable message signs were linked to reduced commuting time and marginal increase in vehicle speeds. Employing mobile data collectors anonymously on all vehicles has also been a proposed strategy for reducing congestion, particularly because toll lanes and traffic lights could be adjusted accordingly. Similar technology has been proposed through usage of electronic vehicle registration devices that would contain sensors for reporting vehicle position and speed, while manufacturing "smart cars" is expected to abet long commutes and avoid traffic. The federal Congestion Initiative's Urban Partnership Agreement has been instrumental in easing nationwide congestion by allocating funding to regions that develop approaches for addressing tolling, transit, telecommuting, and technology and operations. Though congestion pricing has been implemented in some urban areas as a strategy for reducing gridlock, many are reluctant to instate such an initiative due to the possibility of ever-changing traffic patterns.
(http://www.washingtontechnology.com/print/23_07/32641-1.html)