In This Issue

	Dire Need for Highway Financing
	Mineta gives $489 Million for Utah Rail
	Atlanta Buses Air News
	TDOT Approves Orange Route Recommendations
	Toll Road Passes Supreme Court
	No Bids for Minnesota Project
	Photo Cop catches Violators
	NC Study Favors Tolls
	Congestion Up 9 Percent on Bay Area Freeways in 2005

Dire Need for Highway Financing

National - As departments of transportation across the country celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Interstate Highway System, more attention has been drawn to the dire financial situation facing this important part of our nation.

During Dwight Eisenhower’s first term as President of the United States, he signed a bill that led to the construction of 46,800-mile network of highways, bridges, and tunnels. It has been said that the interstate system is the greatest public works project in history.

Unfortunately, Eisenhower’s beloved highway system is deteriorating from a lack funding for maintenance and new construction. The Federal Highway Administration has reported the annual cost for urban interstates alone is $7.5 billion. And officials report it will cost over $10 billion annually to prevent congestion from worsening in high-population areas.

The need for money from the government and through local taxes has forced some states to turn to the controversial toll roads to make up for the deficit. The interstate system is critical in maintaining our economical and national lifestyle, and it is vital that our leaders do whatever is necessary to preserve it.

Mineta gives $489 Million for Utah Rail

Utah – During a recent visit to Northern Utah, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta committed almost a half -billion dollars to build the next stage of the state’s commuter rail system. The $489 million will be spent over the next seven years, and provides over 80 percent of the $581 million needed for the Utah Transit Authority’s FrontRunner commuter-rail line.

The grant will allow the first 44 miles of the line to be built from Salt Lake City to Weber County. While Congress still must approve the funding, UTA general manager John Inglish said Congress has never denied money budgeted under such an agreement.

“This project couldn’t come at a more critical time,” said Mineta, citing that the Wasatch Front population is projected to increase 62 percent over the next 20 years. He said when the FrontRunner system is fully operational, it is expected to carry almost 12,000 people every day. That is the equivalent of taking 6,000 cars off the road daily.

FrontRunner is expected to begin operating in fall 2008.

Atlanta Buses Air News

ATLANTA – Passengers on MARTA buses in the Atlanta area will now be able to catch up on their local news and weather through five-minute newscasts to be aired on local buses. The local CBS 46 news station has paired with Transit TV to broadcast the segments to 1,200 screens on buses across the city.

Transit TV is currently installed on all 540 MARTA buses, enabling the segments to be transmitted to the buses using WiFi technology. The newscasts will be updated twice daily and will run seven days a week.

The newscasts will include local news, sports, entertainment, and weather to be viewed approximately 1.4 million times weekly.

This is an example of how the transit industry is trying to attract riders to their systems by giving them options to “multi-task” during their commute. Watching the news is one way to do this. Offering WiFi Internet access is another. The American public is consumed by the need to maximize every moment of time in their lives. We offer them greater service by finding ways to assist them in this quest. TW

TDOT Approves Orange Route Recommendations

KNOXVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Transportation and state governor Phil Bredesen announced Monday that they have accepted the recommendations of the Regional Parkway Design Resource Team for the Knoxville Parkway (Orange Route).

The Resource Team used Context Sensitive Solutions while studying the options for alignment, how many interchanges to include, and the implementation of the proposed Knoxville Parkway.

The recommended Parkway route will stretch approximately 28 miles and will provide an alternate route for I-40/ I-75 during construction, emergencies, or maintenance operations. When the Parkway is completed, motorists will be able to travel between either I-75 south or I-40 west and I-75 west without traveling through west Knoxville.

Toll Road Passes Supreme Court

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Supreme Court has cleared the way for the state to lease the Indiana Toll Road to a foreign organization for the next 75 years. The court found no “substantial” constitutional issues Tuesday regarding a law passed in March, authorizing the state to enter into the $3.8 billion public-private partnership.

The public lawsuit, filed by Seven Hoosiers and a non-profit group saying the plan was unconstitutional, was thrown out by the court with a 4-0 ruling.

The Indiana Democratic Party responded by promising that Democrats would keep Indiana assets Indiana-owned, saying, “The court said that this kind of deal is legal, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.”

Governor Mitch Daniels is set to seal the deal with the Spanish-Australian partnership June 28, funding hundreds of state road projects over the next ten years. Daniels issued a statement following the ruling: “This is a sound decision with historic positive consequences: tens of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars of new investment in Indiana, and a better Indiana Toll Road as well.”

No Bids for Minnesota Project

Minnesota – No bids were submitted by Minnesota construction companies after the state department of transportation announced the contractor may have to front money for the work in between state payments.

The lack of bids for the project to relieve congestion at the bottleneck at Interstate 35-Highway 62 means that ground will probably not be broken this year.

Contractors were afraid they wouldn’t be paid back according to Dave Semerad, the chief executive of Associated General Contractors of Minnesota. “There was just too much risk for there to be viable proposals.”

The funding shortage for the $250 million Crosstown project comes from the federal government hesitating to send it’s portion of the construction money to Minnesota. In hoping to begin work on the project in August, the state asked private firms to front the state up to $96 million until they could get the full federal funding in 2008.

If the Crosstown project had started in August, it’s estimated completion would be December 2009. MnDOT says it “remains committed to delivering this important project as soon as possible.”

This is a very important project for the state of Minnesota. However, cash flow circumstances made starting construction in 2006 impossible without the contractor carrying the financing for the first year or so. I personally think a commitment from a state DOT for repayment is as good as money in the bank. The ball is in Mn/DOT’s court now to see what they will do next. TW

Photo Cop catches Violators

New Jersey – Motorists running red-lights in New Jersey are a little more likely to get caught now, thanks to camera surveillance. Such violators in 160 communities across the country are getting their citations in the mail, rather than from police officers. As a result, fewer drivers are running red lights in most of these regions.

For fear of privacy suits, the New Jersey Legislature banned the use of cameras for traffic control in 1992. A committee-approved bill addresses these concerns by capping fines at $54, and only allowing cameras at the more dangerous intersections.

Cameras have been installed on roadways in 21 states, from Washington D.C. to Arizona and California.

“Red-light running violations dropped 42 percent…after cameras were introduced at only nine intersections,” said police commander Tom Chronister in Oxnard, Calif.

Some experts say engineering improvements are much more effective safety tools than cameras. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration both support red-light cameras, but say engineering and enforcement options should be thoroughly reviewed before installation.

We added this story since it is the first time we have seen a summary of how many states and communities are using cameras for red light enforcement. More than one would think. TW

NC Study Favors Tolls

Raleigh, NC – The conclusions of North Carolina’s first feasibility study for one if the six proposed toll project agree with local officials. Tolls are the answer to the need for alternate financing for projects such as the Cape Fear Skyway, and allow for these projects to be built decades sooner than traditional methods would allow.

“No toll roads today pay for themselves,” said David Joyner, executive director of the N.C. Turnpike Authority.

Officials with the authority said the most important conclusion of the preliminary financial study for the Triangle and Western Wake parkways is that the two Triangle toll roads are doable.

“We’ve got to change the paradigm of how people look at road building in this state,” Joyner said, noting that Texas has adopted a toll-first approach to all of its new highway projects. Authority officials believe the toll-first approach is the way to solve the financial struggle the N.C. Department of Transportation has found itself in.

Congestion Up 9 Percent on Bay Area Freeways in 2005

OAKLAND, Calif. – Fueled in part by an expansion of the regional economy that spurred the creation of some 26,000 jobs in 2005, commute-hour traffic congestion on Bay Area freeways increased last year at the fastest rate since 2000, according the latest congestion-monitoring data released Tuesday by Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

The daily number of vehicle hours of delay due to congestion rose by 9 percent in the nine-county region last year, compared with just a 2 percent rise in 2003. Regionwide, the congestion data show that on a typical weekday, vehicles spent about 135,700 hours in congested conditions on Bay Area freeways in 2005.

“Beyond the overall increase, what really stands out is that the worst of the congestion is concentrated in a few familiar places,” observed MTC Chair Jon Rubin. The only newcomer to the list is the eastbound afternoon commute along State Route 4 from Bailey Road in Pittsburg to the A Street/ Lone Tree Way exit in Antioch.