Free Republic 1st Qtr 2024 Fundraising Target: $81,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $74,563
92%  
Woo hoo!! And we're now over 92%!! Thank you everyone!! God bless.

Keyword: congestionpricing

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • New Jersey Dems 'Outraged' About NYC Congestion Pricing

    06/26/2023 9:33:36 PM PDT · by Navy Patriot · 30 replies
    NewsMax ^ | June 26, 2023 | Eric Mack
    The price of environmentalism has always concerned conservatives, but now even New Jersey Democrats are getting upset about the costs on taxpayers under the guise of helping curb emissions. Federal transportation officials have green lighted New York's plan to charge escalating congestion tolls for drivers entering parts of Manhattan and New Jersey Democrats are "outraged," Politico reported. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., expressed their disappointment the Federal Highway Administration has allowed the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's congestion pricing to go forward without more review and environmental studies. The MTA is considering...
  • Maryland board approves 'monumental' multi-billion dollar Traffic Relief Plan

    01/22/2020 8:54:40 PM PST · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 17 replies
    Construction DIVE ^ | January 9, 2020 | Kim Slowey
    Dive Brief: In what Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is calling "a monumental and historic achievement," the three-member state Board of Public Works voted Wednesday to approve amendments to the public-private partnership (P3) that will deliver Hogan's $9 billion Traffic Relief Plan. The plan includes implementation of Maryland and Virginia's Capital Beltway Accord, which allows for a new American Legion Bridge between the two states near Washington, D.C., and the approval will allow the state to solicit bids. In order to win a majority vote for the plan, Hogan agreed to eliminate from the first phase of the project the widening...
  • Can Congestion Pricing Help Fund Infrastructure?

    08/31/2019 2:20:13 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 45 replies
    For Construction Pros ^ | August 26, 2019 | Jessica Lombardo
    Gridlock on America’s roadways is increasing, according to the 2019 Urban Mobility Report published by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute – in part due to job growth that is “exacerbating” the nation’s traffic woes. As a result, over that 26-year period from 1982 to 2018: The number of hours per commuter lost to traffic delay has nearly tripled, climbing to 54 hours a year. The annual cost of that delay per commuter has nearly doubled to $1,010. The nationwide cost of gridlock has grown more than tenfold to $166 billion a year. The amount of fuel wasted sitting in stalled...
  • The Interstate Is Crumbling. Try Fixing the Section Used by 200,000 Vehicles a Day.

    06/22/2019 3:43:56 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 33 replies
    The Wall Street Journal ^ | May 28, 2019 | Arian Campo-Flores and Paul Overberg
    ORLANDO, Fla.—The state dubbed it the I-4 Ultimate for its grand scope. For some here, it’s more like the ultimate headache. A reconstruction of 21 miles of congested interstate highway through the heart of Orlando will build or rebuild 140 bridges, redesign 15 interchanges, move exits and add new toll lanes, in a $2.3 billion project to smooth traffic through one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities. Dense cities have grown up around the aging freeways, hemming them in so that expensive engineering feats are needed to do work on them. Yet work is often unavoidable. I-4, for instance, was built...
  • Policy Corner: Gov. Ned Lamont’s New Tolls Bill Reveals More Gaps between Empty Promises

    06/22/2019 3:36:59 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 15 replies
    The Yankee Institute for Public Policy ^ | May 22, 2019 | Scott Shepard
    Just last week, House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz dismissed toll opponents as “emotional.” He claimed that they cling unthinkingly to “perceived details” such as that the number of gantries remain unfixed and the amount of revenue actually to be obtained from out-of-staters remains not only undetermined, but undeterminable. He did not mention, but could have, opponents’ continuing concerns about the eventual rate of tolls; about whether a state-wide, shared-sacrifice tolling structure will be authorized by the U.S. D.O.T. as promised, and what happens if it isn’t; and how much gross revenue from tolling will be eaten up by costs, which have...
  • Expect years of construction: Md. Beltway, I-270 toll lanes to be built in phases from Legion Bridge

    12/15/2018 10:18:54 AM PST · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 29 replies
    WTOP ^ | November 19, 2018 | Max Smith
    WASHINGTON — Toll lanes around the Capital Beltway and I-270 in Maryland could be built in several separate phases and even operated by different companies under the latest plans released to industry insiders. It indicates Beltway construction could last for years. The first phase would include fixes for the Legion Bridge.A new document sent last week ahead of the next forum for private companies that could design, build and operate the lanes said that while Maryland eventually plans more than 70 miles of toll lanes from Frederick to Bethesda and from the Legion Bridge to near Oxon Hill, building out...
  • How do Hogan and Jealous compare on transportation?

    11/04/2018 8:03:57 PM PST · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 34 replies
    WTOP ^ | October 26, 2018 | Bruce DePuyt, Maryland Matters
    By Bruce DePuyt — When Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced a major plan to widen three Maryland roadways last year, even transportation insiders were caught off-guard. “I was surprised by it, but I rejoiced at it,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA mid-Atlantic’s manager of public and government affairs. “As much as people are loath to admit it, the congestion in Maryland has limited economic development in the state. And [it has] impacted the quality of life because of the amount of hours — more than 80 hours a year [on average] — we spend being stuck in...
  • Poll: Maryland voters narrowly oppose Hogan’s big plan for express toll lanes

    10/17/2018 7:42:33 AM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 36 replies
    The Washington Post ^ | October 12, 2018 | Robert McCartney and Emily Guskin
    Maryland voters narrowly oppose adding express toll lanes to widen three of the state’s most congested highways, a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll finds, highlighting public skepticism about one of Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature transportation plans. The centerpiece of the Republican governor’s proposal — a $9 billion project to add four lanes apiece to the Capital Beltway, Interstate 270 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway — is even opposed by voters in the Washington suburbs, whom the plan is supposed to help. More than half of voters in the D.C. suburbs prefer to invest in public transit rather than building more roads....
  • MoPac toll lanes meeting traffic estimates, exceeding revenue hopes

    06/19/2018 11:09:49 AM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 3 replies
    The Austin American-Statesman ^ | June 6, 2018 | Ben Wear
    Use of the MoPac toll lanes has been steadily growing in the seven months since the lanes opened throughout their entire 11-mile lengths, but it is falling slightly short of a first-year estimate made before construction began. Revenue from the added lanes on each side of North MoPac Boulevard, due to variable toll rates that on average have been higher than expected, has at least met expectations this spring and could exceed them when the agency begins in earnest to pursue unpaid tolls. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see the numbers bump up a bit” as collections efforts step up,...
  • Maryland plan to build toll lanes on Beltway, I-270 piques companies’ interest

    12/30/2017 1:05:09 AM PST · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 21 replies
    The Washington Post ^ | December 13, 2017 | Katherine Shaver
    Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete K. Rahn dangled a $9 billion carrot Wednesday in front of more than 100 companies potentially interested in adding express toll lanes to the Capital Beltway, Interstate 270 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. “It’s amazing,” Rahn quipped to more than 320 highway engineers, designers and builders in a ballroom at the BWI Airport Marriott in Linthicum. “You can get a lot of attention when you put a nine in front of a ‘B.’” Officially, the Maryland Department of Transportation’s industry forum was intended to provide companies more details about the plan to add four toll lanes each...
  • $17 tolls? VDOT says 1st day on I-66 averaged $14.50 round trip

    12/29/2017 10:38:32 PM PST · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 23 replies
    WTOP ^ | December 8, 2017 | Max Smith
    WASHINGTON — About two years ago, during the last big debate over Interstate 66 rush-hour tolls for solo drivers, there was a lot of talk about $17 round-trip tolls. Virginia’s transportation secretary said this week that the tolls drivers have seen inside the Beltway so far remain in line with those projections. New data the Virginia Department of Transportation provided Thursday from the first day of tolls on Monday morning show the average morning toll for drivers who paid with an E-ZPass, or who will get automated violation notices in the mail, was $10.70, while the average afternoon toll paid...
  • Opinion: A $40 toll for a 10-mile trip? This is the new infrastructure math

    12/09/2017 9:02:49 AM PST · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 108 replies
    Market Watch ^ | December 7, 2017 | John Rennie Short
    Drivers in metro Washington, D.C. are experiencing the new realities of commuting in the U.S., and it’s not pretty: It cost drivers $40 to drive 10 miles on I-66, a main commuter route into the nation’s capital from the western suburbs in Northern Virginia, at one point this week. Is this the future for private car owners across the U.S.? The answer is yes. Tolls on public roads aren’t new. But the I-66 toll, which fluctuates based on demand and doesn’t have a ceiling, is by far the most expensive per mile. This toll at “the peak of the peak...
  • Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan proposes widening the Beltway and I-270 to include 4 toll lanes

    09/21/2017 8:13:26 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 28 replies
    The Washington Post ^ | September 21, 2017 | Robert McCartney, Faiz Siddiqui and Ovetta Wiggins
    Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Thursday proposed a $9 billion plan to widen three of the state’s most congested highways — the Capital Beltway, Interstate 270 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway — in what he said would include the largest public-private partnership for highways in North America. The projects would add four toll lanes each to Maryland’s portion of the Capital Beltway (I-495) and to I-270 from the Beltway to Frederick. It would also widen the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295) by four toll lanes after taking over ownership from the federal government. Because of private-sector involvement, Hogan said, the plan would...
  • PA's first diverging diamond interchange finished

    09/16/2017 1:04:21 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 56 replies
    ConstructionDIVE ^ | August 24, 2017 | Kim Slowey
    Dive Brief: The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has announced the completion of the state's first-ever diverging diamond interchange (DDI), located on Interstate 70, according to Equipment World. The DDI design eliminates left turns across oncoming traffic, improving vehicle flow and decreasing the chance of accidents. The agency also chose the DDI configuration because it could use the former interchange's cloverleaf footprint, reducing the impact of construction on the area. PennDOT said it modified the traditional DDI design slightly. Dive Insight: Design is one way transportation agencies are combating gridlock resulting from increased traffic. Other tools in DOT arsenals are...
  • Scott Walker says he's open to tolling

    06/17/2017 5:01:39 AM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 69 replies
    The Wisconsin State Journal ^ | May 31, 2017 | Mark Sommerhauser
    BELOIT — Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday signaled he’s open to charging tolls on Wisconsin’s Interstates, but with a key condition: linking it to a reduction in the state’s 30.9-cent-per-gallon gas tax. Walker also said an impasse over the state’s next transportation budget risks costly delays to billion-dollar highway projects now under construction. That includes a $1.2 billion expansion of Interstate 39-90 from the Madison area to the Illinois state line. The Interstate formed the backdrop for Walker’s remarks in a press conference at a Beloit rest stop. Republicans who control the state Assembly have proposed seeking federal approval to...
  • State Should Add Interstate Tolls

    04/26/2017 7:18:45 AM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 30 replies
    Urban Milwaukee ^ | April 24, 2017 | Robert W. Poole, Jr.
    Wisconsin’s highways are seriously underfunded. According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Transportation Fund Solvency report, spending only the $28 billion projected to be available over the next decade will lead to double the number of highway miles in “poor” condition — and will preclude even planning any highway expansions for nearly 40 years. Borrowing enough to spend $31 billion would slightly reduce the amount of “poor” highway miles but still would preclude planning any highway expansions until 2040. But a second WisDOT report offers a way out. Extensive research done last year for the DOT by the consulting firm...
  • The Mythology of HOT Lanes

    12/02/2016 2:11:47 AM PST · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 14 replies
    StreetsBlog USA ^ | September 27, 2016 | Kevin Posey
    In July Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe stood on the platform of a train station in Alexandria to announce that the U.S. Department of Transportation had granted $165 million for the Atlantic Gateway project.While this is a multimodal project featuring rail, bus, and highway improvements, it was clearly the latter that most enthused the governor. At one point during his remarks, he declared that because of the road projects, “Today, the congestion is going to end!”The primary focus of the highway improvements will be an extension of the HOT (high occupancy toll) lanes on I-95 and I-395. The only other speaker...
  • Worsening highway traffic slows down paid express lanes

    09/21/2016 11:51:07 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 7 replies
    The Rundown (PBS Blog) ^ | September 12, 2016 | Rebecca Beitsch, Stateline
    Highway express lanes provide a faster trip for carpoolers, people who drive low-emission cars, and solo travelers who are willing to pay more.ThatÂ’s the idea, anyway.But as Americans drive more miles than ever before, express lanes are facing a challenge: they are too popular. So many drivers of all kinds are using the lanes that it is increasingly difficult for transportation officials to keep them speedy.For solo drivers, the tolls in express lanes typically vary based on demand. In some places, drivers pay more during peak travel times, and in others prices go up as more cars enter the lane....
  • 2015's greatest hits: Nation's first bicycle HOT lanes planned for Mt. Vernon Trail

    01/02/2016 5:17:39 PM PST · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 26 replies
    Greater Greater Washington ^ | April 1, 2015 (originally) and December 31, 2015 | Seymour Rhodes
    The National Park Service and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) have announced a new partnership to construct the nation's first bicycle High Occupancy/Toll Express Lanes on the Mount Vernon Trail between Rosslyn and Mount Vernon.
  • Ontario government hiding plans for toll lanes

    08/28/2015 12:33:41 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 10 replies
    The Toronto Sun ^ | August 22/24, 2015 | Shawn Jeffords
    TORONTO - The Ontario government has been working on plans for high occupancy toll lanes on three Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area highways since 2013, but has kept most of the details secret. When the NDP filed a Freedom of Information request in early 2014 for detailed information on the work, which includes traffic models, most of the documents were to be blacked out or not released at all, according to a report obtained by the Toronto Sun. Ministry of Transportation staff prepared the note to give senior bureaucrats and the minister’s office a heads-up about the NDP’s “contentious” request....