In This Issue

	Funding Crisis Renews Talk of Congestion Pricing in NY
	Kansas City’s 12-Mile Light Rail Line could Cost $727M
	Congressional Committee Votes to End Cross-Border Program
	Congestion Costs Chicago $7.3B Annually
	TDOT Halts Toll Plan for Knoxville Parkway
	Port Authority Threatens to Ban Bush’s Plan to Auction Airplane Slots
	Gov. Signs $3B Bridge Repair Bill
	$17.9B Transit Plan Heads to Vote

Funding Crisis Renews Talk of Congestion Pricing in NY

New York - Financial shortfalls at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have renewed discussions of congestion pricing, a plan rejected by the Legislature just a few months ago. Former M.T.A. chairman Richard Ravitch is at the head of a panel working on a plan save the authority from a $900 million projected shortfall next year, and an upcoming $15 billion to $20 billion deficit in its five-year capital plan.

The authority has proposed two fare increases over the next three years and requested hundreds of millions in financial aid from city and state governments. However, city and state officials, facing their own multi-billion-dollar shortages, are urging the agency to reduce spending and find alternate funding sources. They are counting on Ravitch to formulate a plan to solve the M.T.A.’s crisis.

When Ravitch was asked in a recent interview how seriously his panel was considering Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan to produce the funding to bail out the authority, he replied, “Very.” “I’m looking at a whole series of possible sources of revenue,” Ravitch said. “It would be inappropriate to comment on that except that I have said before publicly that we would certainly go down and look at congestion pricing, and every member of the commission knows it.”

Mayor Bloomberg said there is likely no alternative. “Congestion pricing will come, in New York and lots of other cities, because it is the only way where you were going to do the two things that you need to do: reduce people driving and find money for mass transit,” the mayor told reporters at the National Conference of State Legislatures in New Orleans last week.

Kansas City’s 12-Mile Light Rail Line could Cost $727M

Kansas City’s first light rail line could be one of the largest and most complex construction projects ever undertaken in the region. The 12-mile line could also be the most expensive, with an estimated $727 million price tag.

The project will include 19 stations, as well as bridge construction and improvements, construction of the 12-mile dual track rail line down the center of rather narrow city streets and a $70 million maintenance and office facility. The contractor will also need to relocate underground infrastructure, including water mains, sewer lines and fiber-optic cables.

Currently, HNTB Corp. is working on a light-rail alternatives assessment and economic impact studies for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.

KCATA is hoping to receive about 50 percent of the project’s financing through a program called New Starts, administered by the Federal Transit Administration. In November, voters in Kansas City will also decide on a three-eighths-cent sales tax to help finance the project.

Congressional Committee Votes to End Cross-Border Program

The controversial cross-border trucking program allowing Mexican trucks to travel deeper into the U.S. had another major setback in Congress recently when the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously voted in favor of a bill to stop the program after one year. The bipartisan bill also requires Congressional approval before any more authority to operate beyond the border zones is given to Mexican motor carriers.

The committee approved the bill, which despite funding cuts, is still advocated by the administration, less than 20 minutes after being introduced. The bill’s sponsors, including Rep. James Oberstar, D-MN, voiced concerns about the bill-including lack of drug testing, equivalent licensing and hours-of-service compliance in Mexico.

Trucking associations, including the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, immediately voiced their support of the bill. Rod Nofziger, director of government affairs for OOIDA, said the bill’s sponsors are hoping to fast track the bill to the House floor. “The leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are looking to pass this bill out of committee and have it teed up for a vote by the full House when they return from August recess,” said Nofziger.

The bill calls for the cross-border program to end no later than Sept. 6, 2008, exactly one year after it was launched by the U.S.D.O.T. It also mandates an end to the current demonstration project. It also seeks to prevent any similar programs from being launched by restricting the department from granting authority to any more Mexico-based motor-carriers to operate beyond the commercial zone after Sept. 6. Finally, the bill seeks to create an independent review panel that will report to Congress on a variety of aspects regarding the program.

Congestion Costs Chicago $7.3B Annually

Chicago-area traffic congestion costs $7.3 billion annually in lost time and wasted fuel, nearly double previous estimations, according to a study released this week. The Metropolitan Planning Council commissioned the study, which led to calls for road-expansion projects and more investment in mass transit to prevent the problem from worsening.

The study, “Moving at the Speed of Congestion: The True Costs of Traffic in the Chicago Metropolitan Area,” found that about 24 percent of traffic delays occur in nearby suburban Cook County, 16 percent in Lake County. Chicago, excluding downtown, represented 39 percent of the total traffic delays, and the downtown area accounted for another 8 percent. Other significant findings of the study include:

• Approximately 73 percent of Chicago area traffic takes place on arterial roads

• Congestion adds 22 percent to travel times during peak travel times, or about 66 minutes a week for the average driver.

• The cost of congestion in wasted time is $1,579 per car each year. It ranges from $3,014 in Chicago to $824 per car in some of the surrounding counties.

• The freight industry loses around $1 billion a year due to Chicago-area traffic congestion.

• About 2,000 miles of road have been constructed in the area over the last 20 years, yet rush hour travel times have doubled in that period.

The $7.3 billion total includes $5.1 billion in lost commuting time, $1 billion in freight delays, $681 million in wasted fuel and $33 million in environmental harm. The study concluded that about 87,000 new jobs could be created in the area by reducing traffic congestion.

This story should be read along with the renewed interest in congestion pricing in New York. The price of congestion is just too high to do nothing. What is missing here is the personal cost of congestion such as missed ball games with your kids, aggravation added at the end of a hard day at work, families who missed eating dinner together, etc. The list goes on and on. From a societal standpoint, the cost of congestion is much greater than the hard numbers found in these studies. TW

TDOT Halts Toll Plan for Knoxville Parkway

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – State transportation officials have announced plans to halt further study of tolls for the proposed Knoxville Parkway, citing citizen opposition as the reason for not continuing the effort. In a letter to Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, Transportation Commissioner George Nicely said he has decided not to pursue tolls on the proposed road, and acknowledged toll roads would be a difficult sell in the state. Haslam also serves as chairman of the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization.

Two pilot toll projects for roads and bridges in Tennessee were approved by the state legislature, and the TPO’s executive board approved a resolution in February requesting TDOT to “undertake the next level of study of the feasibility of this potential toll project.”

The proposed parkway, called the “Orange Route,” would connect I-75 north of Knoxville in Anderson County with I-40/75 west of town in Loudon County. It could also connect I-75 to I-40 east of Knoxville at Exit 409, near the Jefferson/Sevier County line.

However, TDOT officials maintained all along that they would not pursue plans to toll the parkway without the support of local citizens. Both the Knox and Anderson county commissions unanimously approved resolutions in opposition of tolling the road.

Port Authority Threatens to Ban Bush’s Plan to Auction Airplane Slots

WASHINGTON – The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is threatening to block the Bush Administration’s plan to auction landing slots at La Guardia, Newark and Kennedy Airports by banning any airliner that used an auctioned slot.

“When you get on the ground, you’ll have to turn around and go back,” said William R. DeCota, the director of aviation for the Port Authority, which manages the three airports. Airlines have also announced their opposition to the auction.

The Department of Transportation, which was told by Congress to allocate airspace for safety and efficiency, argues that landing rights should be awarded to the highest bidder, at prices that reflect the level of demand, just as airlines charge ticket prices to reflect demand.

The Port Authority says the plan is illegal, and would do nothing to reduce congestion yet would amount to an unauthorized new tax. DeCota said the auctions could not be conducted without precise Congressional approval. “They’re going to be selling something that doesn’t belong to them, in an attempt to raise revenue,” he said. “We clearly have the authority, as we’ve done with orders that currently exist, to determine which carriers can access the airports at what times.”

The DOT says the slots belong to the public. The Transportation Department’s top lawyer, D.J. Gribbin, said the Port Authority’s ban “vastly outstrips any authority they have. Officials predict a lawsuit to resolve the agencies’ powers, and may force the dispute into the lap of the new president to make the decision.

This almost has a Federalism ring to it to. The concept of Federalism was purposely implanted by our nation’s early leaders but has largely been pushed aside in many of our current policy debates. In some cases, the federal government overreaches in its actions. In others, the states have abdicated their responsibilities. The outcome of this discussion will be interesting for all transportation policy types. TW

Gov. Signs $3B Bridge Repair Bill

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill this week authorizing the state to borrow almost $3 million to fix up to 300 of the state’s most neglected bridges. He hopes the plan will breathe new life into the state’s infrastructure by focusing on the bridges in most urgent need of repair. The work is also expected to create thousands of jobs.

There are 543 structurally deficient state bridges, and at existing funding levels, that number would rise to almost 700 in the next eight years – a 30 percent increase. With the increased spending, that number will instead drop by about 15 percent by then end of the plan in 2016.

“This is emblematic in some ways of a challenge we’re facing all over the country,” Patrick said. “We have been lulled into a false sense that all we have to do in this country is build highway systems and bridges, and then they’ll take care of themselves ever after. They don’t.”

The work will be financed with $1.1 billion in expected future federal transportation funds and $1.9 billion in state fuel tax revenue. State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, who raised concerns over Patrick’s initial proposal for nearly $4 billion in repairs, said the final version is financially responsible.

$17.9B Transit Plan Heads to Vote

Sound Transit is asking Seattle voters to approve a $17.9 billion rail and transit plan on the November ballot, in hopes that overcrowded buses and $4-a-gallon gas will help increase the plan’s success.

Voters in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties rejected the $47 billion Proposition 1 last November, which would have meant billions in highway work as well as a bus-and-rail expansion to bring light rail to Tacoma.

The $17.9 billion figure is the latest proposal of how much would be spent between 2009 and 2023, with inflation and interest on borrowed money. Last year’s $47 billion included the same expenditures, from 2008 to 2028.

The 15-year plan would fund additional regional bus service from Tacoma and Lakewood to Sea-Tac Airport and Seattle, and add four round-trip trains from Tacoma and Lakewood through the Puyallup and Green River Valleys. It would supply matching funds for a potential extension of the Link rail line in downtown Tacoma to Tacoma General Hospital or to the Puyallup Tribe casino and planned resort on Tacoma’s East Side. The plan would also expand numerous commuter train stations in nearby cities.