News Roundup

Atlantic mayors say federal funding programs crucial  16/10-2009 02:45  (The Guardian)

Politicans put brakes on choke charge - The West Australian  15/10-2009 20:36  (Yahoo News Australia)

ABC TV News © Enlarge photo The State Government and the Opposition say there should be no congestion charge for Brisbane. The Federal Treasury Secretary has indicated ways of reducing road congestion could be part of his review of the tax...

Motoring groups rev Henry over congestion tax  15/10-2009 17:52  (ABC News)

Treasury secretary Ken Henry's idea for a congestion tax has been met with a muted response by motoring groups and transport...

Leaders to discuss tolls on 'free' highways  15/10-2009 13:57  (Wtop.com)

Adam Tuss, wtop.com WASHINGTON -- Because traffic in the D.C. region never seems to improve, transportation experts are about to ask a highly controversial question: Should drivers pay for a road they now ride for free, if it means a better commute? The region's Transportation Planning Board -- which...

Va. may have to cut $883M more, mainly from VDOT  15/10-2009 00:45  (PilotOnline.com)

RICHMOND Virginia faces the prospect of cutting an additional $883 million from its already-lean six-year transportation program, state officials said...

Officials push for interchange to be in I-15 project  14/10-2009 21:22  (Deseret News)

SPANISH FORK - More high-occupancy vehicle lanes, or an improved Interstate 15 and Main Street interchange? That's the battle heating up with Spanish Fork and state officials targeting the Utah Department of Transportation's I-15 Core...

The driverless road to transportation heaven  14/10-2009 06:04  (Globe Investor)

Commission studies 2010 toll increase  14/10-2009 05:56  (InsideBayArea.com)

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is taking a first step toward raising bridge tolls on all seven of the Bay Area's bridges. The Bay Area Toll Authority Oversight Committee meets at 9:30...

Riders packing buses for 'a long haul'  14/10-2009 05:40  (Delaware Online (AP))

DART's numbers climb as many find $1.15 fare a cheap...

Report: I-80 Corridor Could Pay Heavy Toll: Prof's Study Shows Ill Effects of Tolls  13/10-2009 22:22  (Public Works Online)

By Michael Roknick, The Herald, Sharon, Pa. Oct. 13--MERCER COUNTY -- As Halloween approaches, local business owners are looking at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission's latest attempt to breathe life into tolling Interstate 80 as...

Obama Ally Breaks With White House on Timing of New Transport Bill  13/10-2009 15:39  (Los Angeles Streetsblog)

Sen. Dick Durbin (IL), the No. 2 Democratic leader in the upper chamber of Congress and a close ally of the president, broke with the White House yesterday and called for a new long-term transportation bill to pass by early next year -- not after the Obama administration's preferred 18-month [1]...

Mullan sees T fare hike before toll increase - BostonHerald.com  13/10-2009 11:27  (BostonHerald.com)

The longtime state transportation official Gov. has appointed to orchestrate the transportation system's overhaul sees an MBTA fare increase before a Turnpike toll increase, acknowledging the widely held notion that the underfunded network of roads, bridges and rail will likely need a new...

How do we pay for vital trunk road expansion?  13/10-2009 07:08  (Logistics Handling)

David Bayliss OBE FCILT, the well-known former Chief Transport Planner for the GLC - and closely involved in the construction of the DLR, the Jubilee Line extension and the Croydon tramlink - has delivered a hard-hitting CILT lecture on the realities facing our trunk road network, to mark 50 years of British...

...Quarmby FCILT of the RAC Foundation asked what effect the income in fuel tax reduction caused by the drop in leisure traffic would have if road...

Report backs I-80 toll foes  13/10-2009 02:52  (Post-Gazette (AP))

Opposition casts argument as cities vs. rural area around road...

Tolling I-80 Support  12/10-2009 23:06  (WeAreCentralPA.com)

JOHNSTOWN, CAMBRIA COUNTY The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission wants to toll Interstate 80, and a group against the tolling presented a study saying it's a bad...

PLUS offers 20% festive discount  12/10-2009 20:01  (The Star Online)

PETALING JAYA: Private vehicles using the North-South and Elite expressways will enjoy a 20% discount on toll fees from midnight to 7am between Oct 14-16 and between Oct 19...

Road pricing to beat climate change  12/10-2009 11:48  (eXaminer.com)

Road pricing should be introduced to beat climate change states a new report. A new report from The Committee on Climate Change suggests that, amongst other measures, road pricing should be introduced into the UK in order to reduce driving and thus help to beat climate...

...idea, but it needs to be instead of the current use of fuel duty (gas tax for Americans) rather than as well as. For drivers in the UK already...

Lower costs drive roadwork surge | Oil prices and competition between contractors have combined to make street repairs and construction more affordable  12/10-2009 03:28  (The Register-Guard)

Intense competition by road contractors and a drop in oil prices delivered more bang for the buck during the road construction season to residents in Eugene and other parts of Lane County, officials...

...more work in the future, Jones said. With its nickel-a-gallon gas tax and a five-year bond measure to pay for street work, Eugene accomplished...

Two sides rev their engines for new I-80 toll attempt  12/10-2009 01:22  (Post-Gazette (AP))

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is preparing to revive its application to impose tolls on Interstate 80 as the clock ticks toward a new statewide transportation funding...

An analysis of various policy instruments to reduce congestion, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in Beijing  11/10-2009 13:45  (Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News (Blog))

Summary: Using a nested multinomial logit model of car ownership and personal travel in Beijing circa 2005, this paper compares the effectiveness of different policy instruments to reduce traffic congestion and CO2...

Idaho road funding total half amount projected  10/10-2009 22:55  (Idaho Statesman.com (AP))

BOISE, Idaho - Idaho lawmakers and Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter negotiated a compromise earlier this year to set aside $54 million in new funding to help maintain state highways and bridges, but months later the pot of money is just half the amount...

...legislative task force recommended delaying shifting $21.1 million in gas tax funding from parks and the state police budgets to road work until...

TABLE-Indonesia tax revenue drops 8.47 pct in Jan-Sept  09/10-2009 08:13  (Forbes)

JAKARTA, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Indonesia collected 377.87 trillion rupiah ($40.02 billion) of tax revenue in the first nine months of 2009, down 8.47 percent from a year ago amid slowing economic growth, tax chief Mochamad Tjiptardjo said on...

...quarter (in trillions of rupiah): 9-mth 9-mth pct 2009 2008 change Non oil and gas tax: - Income tax 191.47 187.81 1.95 - Value-added tax/tax...

Gubernatorial candidate Penry pledges to repeal Colorado vehicle-registration fee hike  09/10-2009 06:54  (Denver Post (AP))

Gubernatorial hopeful Josh Penry vowed this week to repeal the vehicle registration fee hike put in place this summer. Once the economy begins rebounding - and the state's general fund expands with it - Penry said, he would begin setting aside hundreds of millions in new money to replace the $250 million...

...streams, leaving in place only the new fees, $450 million in gas tax and the original vehicle registration revenue and the promise of an additional...

Closing The $1.5 Trillion "Fix-Up" Gap in Obama's Economic Plan  08/10-2009 20:55  (The Huffington Post)

Let's face it. America is one giant fix-up project. Bridges are crumbling. Public transportation systems are rusting. Water mains are leaking. Getting everything repaired and modernized is perhaps the largest and most expensive "honey do" list...

Bulova Makes Plea for 95/395 HOT Lanes Project  07/10-2009 20:20  (Connection Newspapers)

Fairfax County Chairman Sharon Bulova (D-At-large) wrote a strongly-worded letter to Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) last month, asking the commonwealth to continue work on the high occupancy toll [HOT] lanes project for interstates 95 and...

Nickel gas tax hike likely in 2010  07/10-2009 18:47  (Sun Herald)

Forty bucks. An average Mississippi family may start shelling out that much more per driver in fuel taxes per year before too long. The stage is being set - artfully - to increase Mississippi's excise tax by a nickel per...

Pr. William declines to join anti-HOT lanes lawsuit  07/10-2009 14:30  (Washington Business Chronicle)

Prince William County decided not to join Arlington County in its lawsuit against high-occupancy toll lanes on Interstates 95 and 395, citing what it characterizes as race-baiting and class warfare in the...

...Pr. William declines to join anti-HOT lanes lawsuit Prince William County decided not to join Arlington County in its lawsuit against high-occupancy...

Senator Sees Industry Support for Fuel Tax Hike  07/10-2009 12:03  (The Journal of Commerce Online)

Washington | Intermodal Shipping | Regulation | Government + Regulation | United States Voinovich predicts big push by manufacturing, truckers for early transport bill The top Republican on the Senate's Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee predicted that truckers, manufacturers and other key...

TxDOT officially kills Trans-Texas Corridor  07/10-2009 11:59  (Khou.com (AP))

AUSTIN, Texas - State transportation officials, who earlier this year declared the Trans-Texas Corridor dead at least in name, plan to stick a fork in the lingering Interstate 35 section of the project...

Setting Ethanol Free  07/10-2009 01:21  (The Energy Collective)

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued its report assessing the impact of the production and use of biofuels in the US. Among its recommendations was a call for the Congress to reassess whether corn ethanol still needs the support of a...

No way to build nation's bridges  05/10-2009 01:41  (PilotOnline.com)

The Virginian-Pilot © October 5, 2009 Washington's vast influence-peddling machine continued to churn as the Oct. 1 deadline for passing a new transportation bill came and...

Transcore rings toll contract  13/10-2009 16:03  (GSN: Government Security News)

Hummelstown, PA-based TransCore, which describes itself as the worlds largest provider of transportation-based radio frequency identification (RFID) products, reports that it has been notified by Georgia's State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) of the intention to award TransCore a contract to provide RFID...

Tamarack not competing with private industry, manager says  08/10-2009 00:18  (The Register-Herald)

An effort to engage in a long-term lease for development of some 80 acres surrounding Tamarack is no effort to compete with existing private enterprise in the vicinity, turnpike manager Greg Barr insisted...

State making way for creation of private toll roads  16/10-2009 03:01  (The Arizona Republic)

Arizona has opened the gates to building the state's first private toll road, and would-be developers are poised to rush in. When Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law in July allowing public-private partnerships to build toll roads, she granted Arizona more freedom than most states to cut such deals, experts...

PPP may not have an auspicious beginning  06/10-2009 14:44  (The Financial Express Bangladesh)

The public-private partnership (PPP) as a development concept has been boldly recognized in this year's national budget for the first time. There were a few initiatives in the past under the same concept in telecommunications sector and areas of development of land port and other physical...