In This Issue

	No Single Solution to $78B Annual Cost of Congestion
	Turnpike Postpones Toll Hikes
	NYC Transit System Aims to Go Green
	Study: Toll Roads Save Fuel, Time
	Real Time Traffic Congestion Map Available in SLC
	Panel Unveils $18.7B Toll and Tax Plan
	County Seeks Control of Roads
	Mn/DOT Awards I-35W Bridge Contract

No Single Solution to $78B Annual Cost of Congestion

A widespread national strategy is needed to rein in congestion, which is costing our nation $78 billion a year in wasted fuel and delays, according to a report released Tuesday by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) at Texas A&M University. The average commuter in metro areas spent almost a full work week – 38 hours – stuck in traffic in 2005, the most recent data available.

“You can’t put the solution all on the planners or the engineers or the agencies,” says Tim Lomax, a TTI research engineer and co-author of the study. “It’s going to require the active participation of the business community and the active participation of commuters.”

TTI researchers offered several steps: Businesses offering employees more flexible schedules to reduce peak travel times; Commuters carpooling, using public transportation, or telecommuting whenever possible; transportation organizations need to make existing road and transit systems more efficient, and expand capacity where needed.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said Tuesday’s report “is ample evidence that our current transportation model is broken. We need fresh approaches like new technology, congestion pricing and greater private sector investment to get America moving again.”

Turnpike Postpones Toll Hikes

BOSTON – Massachusetts Turnpike officials are postponing the consideration of toll increases for two weeks while the authority considers measures to cut costs. Members of the turnpike board agreed to the motion by Director Michael P. Angelini of Worcester. The announcement came after board members revealed Monday that the likely toll increases could be dramatically higher than expected due to inadequate toll revenues and rising operational costs.

“Before we consider a toll increase we should look at every opportunity to reduce expenses,” Mr. Angelini told the board. Turnpike Authority finance officials said toll hikes built into the 1999 finance plan could not close the newly revealed funding gaps, even with the previously planned hikes. The turnpike currently faces a shortfall of $117 million annually, including $77 million in yearly costs not expected in 1999, and a $40 million annual shortfall in toll revenue from the 1999 predictions.

The board is considering four toll increase options presented to them. Board chairman and State Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen said the board will convene in two weeks to decide which cost-cutting proposals for the authority will best “minimize the toll increase.”

“At the end of the day this is going to be a little bit of pain for everyone,” said Secretary Cohen. “We don’t want to vote a toll increase that is going to build in a financial gap from day one.” He emphasized that it was unlikely that the cost saving efforts would lessen the toll increases beyond those previously anticipated.

Cutting costs is always the first step in addressing funding shortfalls. It must be done. However, you cannot address funding needs by simply cutting costs. A $117 million shortfall cannot be resolved by eliminating a few FTE’s or saving on travel expenses or office suppliers. The gaps now are just too big. New or increased revenue streams are inevitable in most states and certainly at the national level. TW

NYC Transit System Aims to Go Green

NEW YORK - Rooftop gardens at bus depots and windmills at rail yards are being considered in an effort by the nation’s largest mass transit system to go “green”. A 18-member panel of experts created by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority are considering those ideas among others to develop a green master plan for the city’s buses and subways over the next six months, by Earth Day, 2008.

“This is a unique moment both globally and here in New York, with more and more people focused on sustainability and living greener lives,” said MTA Executive Director Elliot Sander. “As we advocate for a sustainable future based on increased transit usage, the MTA is doing its part to make sure our transportation network operates as sustainably as possible.”

“Green” housing developer Jonathon F.P Rose will chair the panel, named the Sustainability Commission. Its representatives include environmentalist groups as well as city Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn and Environmentalist Protection Commissioner Emily Lloyd. The panel said the gardens on bus depot rooftops could absorb rainwater to reduce subway flooding. Windmills at rail yards could be used to power operations.

Next week at the AASHTO Annual Meeting there will be a technical session on energy and a policy roundtable on climate change are scheduled. We hear about carbon impacts resulting from new facilities. Its not just about concrete and steel anymore. Collectively we need to be more knowledgeable in our efforts to address the issues of the 21st Century. TW

Study: Toll Roads Save Fuel, Time

Australia - Drivers who pay tolls spend up to 75 percent less time in their cars, compared with those who take other roads, according to a recent study by the National Roads and Motorists' Association, Australia’s leading insurance, motoring and travel companies. Up to 40 percent less fuel is consumed as a result of the toll roads.

The NRMA also said completing the “missing motorway links” in Syndey would help cut fuel consumption and ease traffic congestion. “It really does highlight the need to make sure those missing links in Sydney are completed to ease traffic congestion but also make sure that we’re making a contribution to reducing greenhouse gases,” said NRMA’s president Alan Evans.

However, New South Wales Greens MP Lee Rhiannon argues that better transport is the solution, rather than more freeways. “More public transport is the only way to successfully move large numbers of people without having the gridlock, which is what we see on so many of our motorways in the evening and morning peak periods,” she said.

Real Time Traffic Congestion Map Available in SLC

Utah- Salt Lake City commuters are now able to access real time traffic congestion maps with speed data at key locations along the major arteries throughout the metropolitan and surrounding areas. The Travel Advisory News Network (TANN) offers commuters a free 30-day trial to receive personalized traffic alerts on mobile phones, internet, and PDA’s, as well as access to hot spot congestion maps.

The subscription-based service sends full color map displays of traffic speeds, incidents and real-time traffic cameras to user’s mobile devices. TANN has also recently announced the availability traffic maps for the Louisville, Kentucky and Atlanta, GA areas. The company also supplies real time traffic congestion maps to radio, television and newspaper media websites to assist commuters with traffic conditions access through other sources.

We try not to overtly give credit to particular vendors in the Tom Warne Report. However, sometimes advancements seem to be far reaching enough and the story so compelling that we would do our readers a disservice not to include a mention. The utility of this technology and how it can help us in our lives was noteworthy enough to include here. TW

Panel Unveils $18.7B Toll and Tax Plan

Massachusetts - Nearly $19 billion in new tax and toll increases is needed to fund roads, bridges and rail services, including the institution of tolls on every major highway over the next 20 years, according to a special state transportation panel in Massachusetts. The report, released September 17, compels Gov. Deval Patrick and legislators to make radical changes to pull the state out of an enormous funding deficit.

Compiled by the state’s Transportation Finance Commission, the report calls for about $2.5 billion in cost cuts. However, commission members emphasized that the majority of the money will have to come from taxes and tolls. The report recommends immediately establishing new, 5-cent-per-mile tolls on all major interstates, and a gas tax increase of 11.5 cents per gallon.

The commission also calls for the use of new technology such as video tolling to collect the per-mile fees so drivers won’t have to slow down. “With such technology,” the report states, “our roads and bridges can be treated like other utilities – gas, electricity, water – where everyone pays in small increments based on their actual usage.”

County Seeks Control of Roads

JAMES CITY, Va. – A Hampton Roads county in Virginia may soon become the first county in the state to resume responsibility for secondary roads, with officials preparing to pitch the significant change to supervisors. The county’s general services manager, Steven Hicks, said in November they hope to present the board with a report and the recommendation to take control of construction and maintenance duties for the county’s secondary roads.

Currently, all Virginia counties except Henrico and Arlington agreed to allow the state to run their streets under the 1932 Byrd Road Act. James City would be the first county to take advantage of a 2001 law allowing counties to resume that responsibility.

Mr. Hicks says the move could create a “fresh start” for county officials to respond to issues such as drainage problems and potholes without relying on VDOT. For example, establishing a Surface Transportation Division within the county government would allow officials to perform unique maintenance requests for rural nature roads, etc.

If the concept and timeline are approved by supervisors in November, negotiations will begin with VDOT to determine resource needs, namely maintaining a reliable funding stream from the state, said Mr. Hicks.

Mn/DOT Awards I-35W Bridge Contract

Minnesota - Following an intense competition, a Colorado company has been selected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation to rebuild the I-35W bridge which collapsed last month, killing 13 people. Despite their submittal of the highest bid, and their acknowledgement that it would take longer than the other bidders to do the job, a joint venture, which is led by Flatiron Construction and includes Seattle’s Manson Construction Company, beat three other teams with a bid of $233.8 million.

Flatiron has not previously worked on a major project in Minnesota, but was a key player in the rebuilding of the I-10 bridge in Pensacola, Fla. after Hurricane Ivan damaged it in 2004. Two Florida-based companies in the partnership, Johnson Bros. Construction and Figg Engineering have worked on other projects in the Twin Cities.

Flatiron estimates it will take 14 months to complete the project, and MnDOT plans for construction to begin by Oct. 15, to meet their completion goal of the end of 2008.