Texas Tells Its Tolling Story at IBTTA’s 2014 Annual Meeting

Ya’ll know you’re in Texas next month when you attend IBTTA’s 82nd Annual Meeting & Exhibition, September 14-17 in Austin.

The state has been one of the world’s hottest centers of innovation in tolling and transportation, and the detailed story behind that headline will leave you with a wealth of ideas and inspiration to bring home to your own organization.

You’ll hear a keynote address from Governor Rick Perry—a fifth-generation Texan, the state’s 47^th and longest-serving governor, and the first Texas A&M graduate to occupy the Governor’s Mansion. Infrastructure has been one of the cornerstones of Governor Perry’s drive to make the state a magnet for unlimited opportunity and prosperity. Under his leadership, Texas has consistently been ranked as one of America’s best places for economic development and expansion.

And on the first day of the conference, IBTTA presents a very special session on Texas as a laboratory for tolling innovation. From managed lanes, to public-private partnerships, to innovative financing, to regional mobility authorities, Texas is trying it all, doing it all, and blazing new paths for other jurisdictions.

“With great diversity comes a great variety of mobility needs and expectations, from urban commuters battling congestion to state and local agencies crafting workable approaches to border tolling,” states IBTTA President Mike Heiligenstein and Executive Director of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. “The on-the-ground solutions that have taken shape across the state are as unique and varied as are communities that created them.”

The session, chaired by Heiligenstein, will feature:

• Kirk Watson, State Senator and former Mayor of Austin
• Honorable Ed Emmett, Harris County Judge
• Kenneth Barr, Chairman of the North Texas Tollway Authority
• Jeff Austin, Commissioner, Texas Transportation Commission
• Pete Winstead, former chairman of the Texas Turnpike Authority
• Joseph Krier, City Councilman, San Antonio.

“A laboratory is a place where not every experiment ‘succeeds,’ but every attempt is a chance to learn what works and imagine what’s next,” Heiligenstein states. “This panel of state and local tolling pioneers will include a reaction round with members of the Texas business community whose success relies on a reliable, affordable tolling system.”

Click here to learn more about IBTTA’s 82^nd Annual Meeting and Exhibition, September 14-17, 2014 in Austin, Texas.