International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association Applauds Reason Foundation’s New Interstate 2.0 Study Released Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 12, 2013
CONTACT: Kristofer Eisenla, Luna Eisenla Media
[email protected] | 202-670-5747 (mobile)

New Report Examines the Feasibility of Using Toll Revenues to Rebuild and Modernize the Aging Interstate Highway System

WASHINGTON, DC – Speaking at an event this morning at the Reason Foundation on the release of their new report, Interstate 2.0: Modernizing the Interstate Highway System via Toll Finance, Patrick D. Jones, Executive Director and CEO of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) applauded the report calling it “a serious effort to examine the costs of reconstructing and widening our 50-year-old Interstate highway system using all-electronic tolling."

The new study released today details how much it will cost to reconstruct and widen Interstate highways in all 50 states and shows how to pay for the modernization efforts with toll revenues.

The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, the worldwide association representing toll facility owners and operators and the businesses that serve them, joined several other groups at today’s press conference including the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), Associated General Contractors (AGC), Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and Transportation Transformation Group (T2).

“When the Interstate highway system was first being built in the 1950s, the emphasis was on paying to get it built, creating an interconnected national system and creating immediate jobs and economic growth. The Highway Trust Fund is one valuable tool to maintain roadways, bridges, and tunnels, but it is not funded at a level needed to address the rebuilding of our Interstate system. The recommendations outlined in the Reason Foundation report are critical to helping bridge the huge funding gap to fund our nation’s transportation infrastructure. Tolling is one proven funding option to address this huge gap,” Jones said at the press conference.

The new report, Interstate 2.0: Modernizing the Interstate Highway System via Toll Finance, makes the case for lifting the federal prohibition on tolling existing lanes of the Interstate highway system. The report states:

“…as the reality of the cost of Interstate reconstruction and modernization sinks in at the legislative level, and the low cost and convenience of all-electronic toll collection becomes better understood, elected officials may catch up with public sentiment that is already receptive to tolling as better than (or less bad than) increases in transportation taxes to pay for major new investments in highway infrastructure.”

The report says, “The one thing states need from Congress in the next reauthorization is permission for all states to use toll financing for the specific purpose of replacing worn-out Interstate pavement and bridges with new and better ones.”

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About IBTTA
The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) is the worldwide association for the owners and operators of toll facilities and the businesses that serve them. Founded in 1932, IBTTA has members in more than 20 countries and on six continents. Through advocacy, thought leadership and education, members are implementing state-of-the-art, innovative user-based transportation financing solutions to address the critical infrastructure challenges of the 21st century. For more information, visit www.ibtta.org or join us on Twitter @IBTTA or #TollRoads.