IBTTA Participates in Discussion on Priced-Managed Lanes at National Press Club

For more information, please contact:
CONTACT: Kristofer Eisenla, Luna Eisenla Media
[email protected] | 202-670-5747 (mobile)
MEDIA ADVISORY: Monday, April 22, 2013

Most Americans are unaware of a proven time-saving next generation highway concept; one that would be used by many if given the opportunity. Priced managed lanes, also called express lanes, are tolled lanes that operate in the middle of non-tolled highways with a price that varies to ensure cars maintain a speed of at least 45 miles per hour and are guaranteed a predictable, congestion-free trip. A new America THINKS survey looks at the public’s views on priced managed lanes and the results will be shared at the event.

WHAT:
News conference with Q&A at the National Press Club to present:

Priced Managed Lanes 2.0: The Next Generation of U.S. Highways

Why is it newsworthy? Traditional funding mechanisms for maintaining and expanding the nation’s interstate highways are in decline and politically unpopular. Yet a new vision for surface transportation must take into account that today more than three-quarters of our nation’s commuters drive by themselves and 85 percent of our goods are shipped by truck. The next generation of interstate innovation will be priced managed lanes, corridors and networks.

From State Route 91 in Southern California to U.S. 290 in Houston to the recently opened 495 Express Lanes on D.C.’s Capital Beltway, these facilities are helping ensure the economic pipelines are open. Managed lanes are scaling up across the country. Currently there are more than a dozen projects operating – and more than two dozen in development or under study in large metro areas across the nation.

WHERE/WHEN:
National Press Club on Monday, April 22, 2013 – Zenger Room
10:00 am-11:00 am (EST); 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC (202) 662-7500
Transit: 14th & F Streets NW near “Metro Center"

WHO:
Experts will discuss planning and implementation of priced managed lanes and answer questions:

• Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti is executive director of Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, one of the Florida Department of Transportation’s eight districts, which is responsible for the statewide 460-mile Turnpike System, the largest user-financed transportation system in the State and the second largest in the nation. FDOT currently operates managed lanes along Interstate 95 in Miami and currently is developing guidelines for the development of a managed lanes network in the Miami region that will be released later this spring.
• Patrick D. Jones is executive director and CEO of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association in Washington, D.C. IBTTA is the worldwide association for the owners and operators of toll highways, bridges and tunnels and companies that provide products and services to the toll industry.
• Matthew Click, HNTB Corporation, is one of the transportation industry’s most recognized specialists in priced managed lanes, corridors and networks, having worked on such programs in Florida, Texas, Georgia and Virginia. Click has experience working with both the public and private sectors, including public tolling authorities, private concessionaires, state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, regional transportation authorities and the federal government.

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