SCANDAL: Pennsylvania toll officials charged with bribery

Link to article here.

Pennsylvania: Eight Charged In Toll Road Scandal
Officials, politicians and contractors charged in bribery scandal at Pennsylvania toll road.
The Newspaper.com
March 20, 2013

Top officials at a toll road in Pennsylvania have been charged with shaking down motorists and pocketing the cash. Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane last week filed charges against a former state senator, two contractors and five Pennsylvania Turnpike employees, including the CEO, chief financial officer and a commissioner.

"The former state officials charged wielded extraordinary power which they wrongfully used for self-enrichment and for their own political purposes, rather than for the good of the commonwealth and its citizens," Kane said in announcing the charges. "Their criminal acts resulted in the misdirection, misuse, and theft of millions of dollars of public monies."

Ordinary Americans hurt by P3s

Link to article here.

Obama Plans to Sacrifice Ordinary Americans Yet Again in “Public/Private Partnership” Infrastructure Scam
Naked Capitalism
March 31, 2013

Apparently Obama’s idea of a Holy Week sacrifice is to feed American citizens to rapacious bankers, this time through the device of “public/private partnerships” to support infrastructure spending. Some NC readers were correctly alarmed by a speech by Obama on Friday on using public/private partnerships to fund infrastructure spending. This is not a new idea; Obama first unveiled it in his Statue of the Union address. But it is a singularly bad idea, that is, if you are anyone other than a promoter of or investor in these deals.

Toll roads are double taxation

Link to article here.

Toll Roads and Double Taxation: The Left and Libertarians Converge

By Rachel Alexander
Town Hall.com

4/1/2013

Toll roads are appealing to many on the right, because the fees don't look like taxes; motorists are charged for the voluntary action of driving on a specific road. Toll roads appear to be run by private entities, not the government. Also known as turnpikes, they are becoming an increasingly popular way to raise money to build roads, instead of increasing gas taxes which have traditionally paid for highways. Gas tax revenues only have about one-third the buying power they did a decade ago, insufficient to build new roads or maintain existing ones. There are now 5,244 miles of toll roads in the U.S., operating in 35 states.

Cintra’s credit woes, speed limit hike adjacent to toll road spell trouble

Link to article here.

Cintra’s credit woes, speed limit hike adjacent to toll road spell trouble
By Terri Hall
Examiner.com
March 29, 2013

It’s been a rough road for Cintra, Spain-based global toll operator, ever since it opened its first privately-operated tollway, State Highway 130, in Texas last fall. Yesterday, the Texas Transportation Commission voted to increase the speed limits on US Highway 183 to 60 MPH through Mustang Ridge and up to 65 MPH on the southern leg that runs through Lockhart, on the freeway that now serves as the frontage road to Cintra’s high-speed tollway. When SH 130 opened, the Commission increased the speed limit to the fastest in the country - 85 MPH - while also lowering the speed limit on the adjacent freeway, US 183 from 65 MPH down to 55 MPH.

The public fury was swift and Caldwell County Commissioners passed a resolution requesting that the Commission return the speed limit on US 183 to 65 MPH. TxDOT claimed it was ‘studying’ the speed limit situation, meanwhile SH 130 experienced its first fatality due to the dramatic difference in speed when a car on the tollway collided with a car getting onto the tollway from the dramatically lower speed frontage road that’s now US 183. The speed differential was believed to be the cause of the fatal accident.

Broken promises? Texas lawmakers fail to end gas tax diversions

Link to article here.

Broken promises? Texas lawmakers fail to end gas tax diversions
By Terri Hall
March 28, 2013
Examiner.com

Texas Governor Rick Perry, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, and House and Senate budget writers have so far failed to end diversions from the gas tax and help fix the structural road funding shortfall in the budgets passed last week. Perry, Dewhurst, and Straus all promised to end diversions of the gas tax in an effort to enact truth in budgeting -- to ensure taxes collected for a specific purpose actually go to fund that purpose.

The Texas Constitution restricts the use of state gas tax revenues to "...the sole purpose of acquiring rights-of-way, constructing, maintaining, and policing such public roadways..." Yet lawmakers continue to raid the gas tax to fill holes in the budget for non-road purposes like funding public pensions and benefits for state agencies other than the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

TxDOT lowers truck tolls, increases speeds on free route

Link to article here.

Transportation commission lowers truck tolls on Texas 130, raises speed limits on its frontage roads
By Ben Wear
American-Statesman Staff
March 28, 2013

The Texas Transportation Commission unanimously decided Thursday to lower truck tolls on Texas 130 for the next year and to increase the speed limit on the tollway’s frontage roads near Mustang Ridge and Lockhart.

Starting Monday, all vehicles will pay the same toll rates on Texas 130 for its full 90-mile run from north of Georgetown to Seguin, about $17 for the entire trip (or 25 percent less for those with an electronic toll tag). Likewise, all vehicles will pay the same rates on Texas 45 Southeast. Larger trucks with more than two axles currently pay two to four times what cars and small trucks pay, and they will do so again starting in April 2014 unless the Texas Department of Transportation decides to continue the discounts.

Default coming? Cintra's SH 130 may receive credit downgrade

Link to article here.

Light 130 traffic prompts credit review of toll debt
By Ben Wear
American-Statesman Staff
March 26, 2013

The privately operated section of the Texas 130 tollway south of Mustang Ridge is attracting about half the predicted traffic, according to Moody’s Investor Service, prompting it to investigate downgrading credit ratings for more than $1.1 billion in debt attached to the toll road.

Meanwhile, toll rates for trucks on the entire length of the tollway, from Seguin to north of Georgetown, will likely be lowered for one year to encourage more traffic. That move is expected to put a dent in revenue, however.

Rail plan of Trans Texas Corridor lives on

Link to article here.

This rail plan is part and parcel of the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC). It's also no coincidence that this uptick in interest in rail occurs when several bills have been filed in the Texas legislature to give TxDOT the authority to enter into controversial public private partnerships (the financing mechanism of the TTC) to build the rail components of the TTC without the radioactive name.

TxDOT to hold meetings about potential rail corridor to Oklahoma
by BAILEY MCGOWAN
WFAA.com
Posted on March 26, 2013

The Texas Department of Transportation will hold three meetings in the North Texas area over the next two weeks looking for input on the possibility of a Texas-Oklahoma passenger rail.
 
The possible 850-mile stretch of rail would go from Oklahoma City to South Texas in order to alleviate some of the heavily condensed traffic along roads like Interstate 35, according to Mark Cross, an information specialist for TxDOT.

Senator warns of 'fiscal cliff' on transportation funding in Texas

Senate approves budget, warned of transportation 'fiscal cliff'
By Peggy Fikac Austin Bureau
San Antonio Express-News
Wednesday, March 20, 2013

AUSTIN — Texas senators highlighted efforts to restore education funding and keep up with health services for the poor as they approved a $195.5 billion state budget Wednesday.

But Senate leaders warned there is much work yet to be done to meet the state's needs.

Texas faces a “fiscal cliff” on transportation that remains unchanged by the budget, said Finance Committee Chairman Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands. Some advocates, meanwhile, pushed to put more money into public schools and other programs as Senate Bill 1 advances.

Buy out of SH 130 tollway could make it a freeway

Link to article here.

$3 billion plan would end tolls on Texas 130
By Ben Wear
Austin American Statesman
March 20, 2013

How could the state lure people away from Interstate 35 and onto the Texas 130 tollway several miles to the east? State Rep. Paul Workman has a $3 billion answer to that question: make it free.

The solution proposed in House Bill 3682 by the Austin Republican, whose district doesn’t include Texas 130, likely faces more political hurdles than there are miles in Texas 130 — 90. Some lawmakers Wednesday referred to it as a “statement” bill, in effect no-hope legislation filed mostly to make a point.

TxDOT's cost savings rolled out

We've been some of the loudest critics of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), so when we find that the agency is doing something right, we want to let the public know.

TxDOT recently posted a sampling of the cost savings they've achieved under the leadership of its new Executive Director, Phil Wilson.

See the achievements here.

Among the listed cost-saving achievements it shows TxDOT has reduced the size of its fleet (estimated savings $50 million/yr), switched from conventional to synthetic oil (estimated savings $1.4 million/yr), renegotiated energy contracts (estimated savings $4.5 million/yr), and refinancing its debt on the Central Texas Turnpike System (savings of $200 million over the life of the bonds).

The web post says:
These cost savings reflect the work of resolute, knowledgeable and collaborative professionals determined to solve our state’s toughest transportation challenges and be good stewards of taxpayer money.

Texans say 'No' to more tolls, road debt

Link to article here.

Here's a few of the articles resulting from our press conference at TURF Lobby Day at the Texas Capitol.

Texans to lawmakers: no more tolls
By James Jeffrey
Austin Business Journal
March 13, 2013

Texans from across the state gathered at the Capitol Tuesday to urge Senate and House budget writers to accept long-term road funding solutions and avoid raising tolls.

State Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and State Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, have filed Senate Bill 287 and House Bill 782, respectively, that would allocate revenue from motor vehicle sales tax to the state highway fund.

Representatives from Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom are concerned those bills have been sent to budget committees to die. They oppose an alternative solution, SB 1632 by State Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, that would fund transportation projects and authorize fees, which they argue would result in more tolls for Texas road users.

Washington voters eliminate new toll roads, unelected boards raising toll rates

Link to article here.

This is sorely needed in Texas where not only are ALL unelected boards setting and raising toll rates at will without voter consent, the unelected Transportation Commission is also imposing tolls on previously free lanes in a DOUBLE TAX rip-off of Texas-sized proportions! Texas does nto have statewide initiative referendum, which is why this horrible transportaiton policy has not been remedied. So much for the fantasy image that Texas is freedom-loving and a low tax state. Tolls represent the largest tax increase in Texas history.

Washington: Voter Initiative Kills New Toll Roads
State official rules Transportation Commission can no longer set tolls in Washington state.
3/13/2013
The Newspaper.com

Converting freeways into toll roads is one of the most popular types of project among transportation bureaucrats and certain politicians. When asked their opinion on the wisdom of tolling, voters have expressed a far different sentiment. In Washington state, for example, there is now no question that Initiative 1185, which took effect last December, will block a number of tolling projects that have been in the works.

"There will be no unilateral increase in tolls by the Transportation Commission because the voters said no to agency-imposed increases in November," initiative sponsor Tim Eyman said in a statement. "That means no tolls for 405 HOT lanes, no tolls for the Alaska Way Viaduct, no tolls for the Columbia River Crossing, and no toll increases on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge."

Some veterans to get free ride on toll roads

Link to article here.

When certain groups of a special status get free rides on toll roads, there will be no end to the groups seeking a way out of paying this new tax on driving -- brought to you by Texas Governor Rick Perry and the Texas legislature. In many cases, carpoolers get a free or discounted ride on toll roads, those with electric cars sought a free ride on toll roads, now some veterans will get a free ride on toll roads. We think ALL Texas taxpayers should be spared this punitive new tax on driving and return to a freely accessible public roads for ALL. Tolls restrict our freedom to travel, period.

Bill would require free toll roads for some veterans
By Ben Wear
Austin American Statesman
March 6, 2013

Four years after the Legislature passed a law allowing wounded and disabled veterans to drive for free on toll roads, about half of Texas’ nearly two dozen tolled roads and bridges are still charging them for passage.

A House bill set for its first hearing Thursday could eliminate that practice by simply changing one word in the statute — “may” to “shall.” State Rep. Abel Herrero, D-Corpus Christi, who carried the 2009 bill allowing toll agencies to discount or forgive tolls for veterans who are officially disabled, were awarded a Purple Heart or a Medal of Honor, now believes the option needs to become a mandate.

Trans Texas Corridor redux? I-69 presses forward

Whether they call it a different name or not, I-69 is Trans Texas Corridor TTC-69 and needs to be done as a free interstate or not at all. The primary purpose is to move freight, not people, and trucks have already proven with their wheels that they won't take a toll road. Look no further than the failing SH 130 bypass around Austin. Any day of the week, any time of the day, two lanes of I-35 remain stacked with 18 wheelers who refuse to pay $50 one way to bypass congestion by taking SH 130. They'll sit in congestion rather than lose that much money taking toll roads. Even worse, the original intent was to make TTC-69 a foreign-owned toll road where the taxation is in the hands of a foreign company who charges much higher toll rates.

Officials seeking progress on I-69 planning
By Peggy Fikac and Dug Begley
February 7, 2013
San Antonio Express-News

AUSTIN — An ambitious multibillion-dollar effort to push forward a new interstate spanning Texas was highlighted at the Texas Capitol on Wednesday as lawmakers struggle with transportation funding needs.

The Texas leg of the Interstate 69 project would stretch from the Lower Rio Grande Valley to Texarkana, tracking U.S. 77 and U.S. 281 in South Texas and U.S. 59 in the Houston area north.
Officials called the project, estimated to cost $16 billion in some mix of primarily state and federal money, important to safety and economic development as goods move north to the Midwest and northeast.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Officials-seeking-progress-on-I-69-planning-4257510.php#ixzz2Mj0RRNgh

When all else fails in the Texas legislature - toll, toll, toll

Link to article here.

Charging Texans an extra 15 cents to 75 cents per mile to get to work, isn't fiscally conservative or sustainable. Taking away existing free roads by slapping tolls on them and building those toll projects with tax & fee money, so the road is 100% paid for, is highway robbery. No one should have to pay a toll to drive on it, period. Ebullient politicians gleefully announced their double tax rip-off. Texas doesn't have a road policy -- it has tolls, tolls, tolls by default and lack of leadership.

Those who have tried to solve the problem with higher taxes, get cut-off at the knees, yet what are tolls if not a Texas-sized tax increase -- by unelected boards to boot? Tolls are the MOST expensive and unaccountable way to fund roads. It's time for government to tighten its belt. Texans are sick and tired of being asked to bail out our politicians from their bad decisions and their refusal to properly fund a core function of government -- building roads!

Wear: If all else fails (politically), toll
By Ben Wear
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Austin American Statesman

Listening to transportation officials last week extol the virtues of what will be Austin’s seventh tollway, I couldn’t help but think of John Carona.

Carona, make that state Sen. Carona, is a Dallas Republican who just about broke his legislative pick in 2009 trying to get a “local option” transportation bill into state law. His measure, which passed the Senate, would have allowed county commissioners in urban areas to ask voters to OK a local gas tax or to increase existing automobile fees. The point was to raise money for local transportation projects.

Bill would mandate all streets be 'complete'

Link to article here.

No matter how you slice it, 'complete streets' are Agenda 21 and sustainable development initiatives designed to be anti-car by mandating streets accommodate bikes and pedestrians at the expense of drivers. Bikes can already lawfully share all roads, so this really seeks to give cyclists special lanes all their own. It's also resulted in shrinking the existing footprint for autos in order to re-do our streets for bike lanes and sidewalks. Since 99% of all travel is done by vehicle, such a law would use scarce resources to re-structure our roads for hike & bike lanes only 1% of travelers use.

And this bill would leave it up to an un-elected Transportation Commission as to how to decide what defines a 'complete street,' not our elected officials.

A Texas Lawmaker Wants Every New or Redone Street in the State to Be "Complete"
By Eric Nicholson
February 8, 2013
Dallas Observer

In November, Mayor Mike Rawlings took a stroll down Bishop Avenue to inaugurate its status as a complete street, the term of art for roadways designed as much to welcome pedestrians, cyclists and small-scale retail as to accommodate cars. It was a consummation of sorts of the city's prolonged flirtation with the concept.

But if you thought the embrace of a generally hidebound bureaucracy like Dallas meant the whole complete-streets thing had jumped the shark, you'd have been wrong. It had only partially jumped the shark. Now, the Texas legislature could push it the rest of the way.

MoPac toll project bid comes in under estimates

Link to article here.

Instead of return the excess money for the project to build other badly needed highway improvements eleewhere, they plan to spend it on 'enhancements.' This is what happens when you have unelected toll boards in charge of building public highways -- they spend, spend, spend and only think of how to keep their doors open and feed their own bureaucracy, not provide affordable travel with our scarce tax dollars.

Contract for MoPac toll lanes lower than expected
By Ben Wear
Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013
American-Statesman Staff

The low bid for adding express toll lanes to North MoPac Boulevard came in well below expectations, toll authority officials said Wednesday, allowing engineers to consider up to $20 million in enhancements to the project.

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority board awarded the contract for final design and construction of the 11-mile project Wednesday to a consortium led by the Colorado-based engineering firm CH2M Hill. The $136.6 million bid was more than $62 million below the second-lowest of the three bids submitted, and about $33 million below the mobility authority’s estimate of $170 million.

Cost of cars becoming out of reach for many Americans

Link to article here.

San Antonio, TX is listed among those cities with incomes that can least afford a car payment for the average cost of a new car. Adding tolls to Texans' daily commute will not solve the affordability of driving problem our nation faces, yet that's the de facto transportation policy in Texas and many other states - tolls and debt to fund roads since the gas tax is a fixed amount and has not kept pace with inflation and is no longer adequate to fund road expansion or even to maintain our state highway system.

It's time to re-think the punitive taxation involved in tolling, and look to dedicating other existing taxes on roads and vehicles (that are being to diverted to other purposes) solely to transportation to ensure roads are adequately funded without tax increases that hurt Texans and our economy.

New Cars Increasingly Out of Reach for Many Americans
By Paul Eisenstein
NBC News
Wed., Feb. 27, 2013

Looking to buy a new car, truck or crossover? You may find it more difficult to stretch the household budget than you expected, according to a new study that finds median-income families in only one major U.S. city actually can afford the typical new vehicle.

The typical new vehicle is now more expensive than ever, averaging $30,500 in 2012, according to TrueCar.com data, and heading up again as makers curb the incentives that helped make their products more affordable during the recession when they were desperate for sales.

Cintra's concession fees go to feeder roads to SH 130

Link to article here.

TxDOT has worked a deal to spend the $100 million concession fee it received for increasing the speed limit on SH 130 to 85 MPH for non-priority projects. I use the interchange at I-10 & Hwy 46 in Seguin frequently and it may have a bump in truck traffic, but nowhere near the gridlock of the 100 Most Congested Roads. Both of these projects serve as feeders to Cintra's toll road. So basically Cintra's payment helped itself.

Also note, despite a whole lot of legislators claiming you can't toll existing roads in Texas, TxDOT does it routinely (note plans to convert existing Hwy 71 in Austin to toll lanes with Cintra's money, leaving frontage roads as the non-toll as they allowed Cintra to do to Hwy 183 in Lockhart to build its SH 130), which is why HB 1054 needs to pass to protect taxpayers from such outrageous double taxation.

TxDOT revives Texas 71 tollway project
By Ben Wear
Austin American Statesman
Wed., Feb. 27, 2013

The Texas Department of Transportation, in part using money generated by the Texas 130 tollway, has revived dormant plans to build toll lanes on Texas 71 from near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to Texas 130.

Officials estimate the 2-mile-long project, which could begin before the end of 2014, will cost about $140 million and take two years to complete.

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