Link to article here.

Washington: Group Proposes Statewide Initiative To Ban Freeway Tolls
Initiative filed in Washington state would outlaw the tolling of interstate highways.
The Newspaper.com
February 14, 2013

Activists in Washington state want voters to decide whether interstate highways should ever be converted into toll roads. An initiative filed on Tuesday with the secretary of state's office would repeal provisions in state law that promote the use of tolling and force full disclosure of information on existing and proposed projects. About 330,000 signatures would be needed to guarantee the measure a spot on an upcoming ballot.

Read more: Washington citizens seek ballot measure to ban freeway tolls

Link to article here.

TxDOT Tells Lawmakers Funding Crisis Around the Corner
By Aman Batheja
Texas Tribune
February 4, 2013


After funding billions of dollars in roadwork through debt over the last decade, the Texas Department of Transportation is two years away from a severe drop in funding unless lawmakers find more cash, agency officials said at a budget hearing Monday.

TxDOT Chairman Phil Wilson told the Senate Finance Committee that the agency is at a crucial turning point as large state bond programs are set to hit their limit by 2015.

Read more: TxDOT tells lawmakers of funding crisis

Link to article here.

U.S. keeps building new highways while letting old ones crumble
By Curtis Tate and Greg Gordon
February 3, 2013
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- Oil-rich Texas has built more highways and bridges than any other state, but over the next two decades it will fall $170 billion short of what it needs to keep the sprawling network in good repair.

In California, transportation officials estimate that 60 percent of the state’s roads and a quarter of its bridges need to be repaired or replaced, at a projected cost of $70 billion over a decade, some $52 billion more than the available funds.

Read more: U.S. building more highways, letting old ones crumble

Link to article here.

The primary thing to look at with these privately-run toll express lanes is the difference between the forecasted traffic and the actual traffic. Though Toll Road News is cheerleading for the success of these toll lanes, the expected traffic is off by 64% and revenue is 85% less than expected. Scroll down to the end where it tells you all the fines and fees you rack up if you can't figure out how to pay these electronic tolls without an electronic Toll Tag account. These tolls are a threat to your freedom to travel, and can bankrupt you if they mail the bills to the wrong address (which happens frequently with TxDOT).

VA495 Express Lanes report good start after 6 weeks - doing 24k weekdays
Toll Road News
January 11, 2013

Operators of the 495 Express Lanes on the Capital Beltway in the Washington DC area - a Transurban/Fluor subsidiary - report  traffic has been building steadily since they opened November 17 and that they are getting "great feedback" from customers via twitter, emails, and calls to the customer service center.

They cite motorists saying the new toll express lanes are saving them up to 20 minutes on their Beltway commutes, that they are "a game changer" and "the best money I've ever spent."

On startup they had some motorist confusion and minor incidents at the entry northbound from the Springfield Interchange.

Read more: Virginia's 495 Express Lanes attracting much less traffic than needed

Link to article here.

Perry solicits ideas for tax relief, grassroots say nix toll taxes
By Terri Hall
January 29, 2013
Examiner.com

In his State of the State speech today, Texas Governor Rick Perry asked Texans how they'd like to see tax relief implemented in the current legislative session. Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF) and other taxpayer groups called for eliminating toll taxes and using our existing road taxes, currently being diverted to other purposes, to expand our freeways without tolls. The Governor's web site, http://www.gov.texas.gov has no option for toll tax relief.

Perry did announce his support for ending gas tax diversions for non-road purposes. Ending diversions is part of the Governor's truth in taxation plank in his Budget Compact, which means taxes collected for a certain purpose should go only to that purpose. Perry's leadership to end gas tax diversions, estimated to be $1.3 billion per biennium, is much needed and very helpful. But that alone isn't sufficient to properly fund our state highways without higher taxes -- tolls.

Read more: Perry calls for end to diversions, Rainy Day raid for roads

Link to article here.

While we like Sen. Robert Nichols' bill, we love Rep. Linda Harper-Brown's bill, HB 479, better because it moves the vehicles sales tax money over to roads quicker. We can't wait 10 more years to properly fund our state highway system and end the practice of tolling everything, which is a $2,000-$3,000/yr hike in the average commuter's taxes.

Texas' top transportation lawmakers pick vehicle sales tax as preferred way to boost highway fund
By Tom Benning
Dallas Morning News
January 30, 2013

Texas’ top transportation lawmakers have now made official their preferred method for infusing the Texas Department of Transportation’s highway fund with much-needed cash.

Robert Nichols and Larry Phillips — the chairmen of the state Senate and House transportation committees, respectively — jointly filed bills Monday to dedicate to TxDOT the 6.25 percent sales tax levied on new and used vehicle purchases.

Read more: Transportation chairmen want existing vehicle sales taxes to boost road funding

Link to article here.



Electric car fees considered

By Aman Batheja
Texas Tribune

Wednesday, January 23, 2013



Owning an electric car in Texas could become more expensive under one proposal being considered by state lawmakers to raise money for road construction.

Increasing registration fees on owners of electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf is “one of the options on the table,” according to state Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, who was vice chairman of the House Transportation Committee last legislative session.


Various transportation-minded lawmakers have said they are set on finding a reliable stream of revenue for transportation this session. Most of the current funding comes from the 38.4 cents in state and federal taxes Texans pay per gallon of gas, an amount that has not been raised in 20 years and has failed to keep up with inflation and the increasing fuel efficiency of new vehicles.



Read more: Lawmakers mull tax on electric cars

Tolling authority to lay off employees

By Vianna Davila

Express-News

January 22, 2013



Several employees of the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority will be out of a job by March 2, not quite a year after Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff first called for downsizing the tolling agency's operations.

They include the RMA chief financial officer, director of engineering, community development director and public information manager.

Read more: Alamo toll agency lays off nearly all its workers

Link to article here.

What's TxDOT trying to hide from the public? That our boycott of Texas' first foreign-owned toll road is working?

TxDOT mum on use of new tollway section
By Ben Wear
Austin American Statesman
January 27, 2013


Maybe they should have set the speed limit at 90.

I kid.

I’m referring to the new section of the Texas 130 tollway, of course, the 41-mile stretch from Mustang Ridge to Seguin that last fall was briefly the most famous (notorious?) road in America. Having an 85-mph speed limit will do that.

But has it enticed a substantial number of drivers?

Read more: Boycott success? TxDOT keeps Cintra's early traffic data on SH 130 secret

Link to article here.

Ohioans sideline sale of Ohio Turnpike
By Terri Hall
January 19, 2013

In a victory for state sovereignty, property rights, and taxpayers, the grassroots managed to defeat Ohio Governor John Kasich’s proposal of selling off the Ohio Turnpike to a private toll operator using a controversial public private partnership (P3). The state officially pulled the plug on the P3, announcing the turnpike would stay public but the state will issue bonds backed by future toll revenues to generate needed cash. Kasich considered the turnpike an ‘unused asset’ that he could sell-off for a half century to get $3 billion now for other road projects. But Ohioans had a different opinion.

At the first public hearing held by the state to get public feedback last summer, 75 of 77 attendees said they were against privatizing the Ohio Turnpike. The Cuyahoga County Commissioners in northern Ohio opposed the sale. Many pointed to the poor conditions of the Indiana Toll Road once it was handed to Spain-based Cintra and Australian company Macquarie in a 75-year lease. Rates more than doubled, maintenance went down, and the concession company is struggling financially.

Read more: Victory: Ohioans reject sale of Ohio Turnpike