In This Issue

	Schwarzenegger signs Toll Privacy Measure
	Traffic Upsets $1B Plans for New 6,400 Facility
	Florida’s Turnpike Unveils TOLL-BY-PLATE Paying
	Most Americans Prefer Transit
	DOT Pushes for Decision on SC Expressway
	BWI Airport near bottom for On-Time Departures
	Minn. saves Quarter of a Billion Dollars in Construction Projects

Schwarzenegger signs Toll Privacy Measure

California – Drivers using California’s FasTrak system for payment on toll roads and bridges will be more protected as Gov. Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill to prevent people from being tracked while driving. The system currently keeps travel and billing records of FasTrak drivers when they pass through electronic toll booths, to measure congestion and use cameras to verify toll compliance – even for drivers who pay cash.

“There’s just no reason for a government agency to track movements of Californians, let alone maintain that information in a database forever,” said Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, of the new law, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2011. The measure prohibits Caltrans and other transportation agencies from selling or sharing personal information, and requires the data to be deleted when no longer needed.

“The net results is that relatively obscure transportation agencies have personal data and travel histories for well over a million Californians, with no real meaningful legal protection from misuse of or inappropriate access to the data,” Simitian said. Drivers will have the right to sue for a minimum of $2,500 in damages if their personal information is sold or used improperly, according to the new law.

Traffic Upsets $1B Plans for New 6,400 Facility

Traffic could ruin the $1 billion plans for the brand new Department of Defense (DoD) facility, a 1.4 million-square-foot structure next to I-395, in development for the last five years. By next September, the agency must relocate 6,400 personnel currently working in transit-accessible leased office space in Northern Virginia to the new Mark Center facility in Alexandria, complying with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). DoD officials hope to mitigate the traffic gridlock by running an express shuttle from various Metro stations to the Mark Center site.

“A building of this size – with no access to [Washington’s mass transit system] Metro – should have never been considered for this location,” said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., who represents the district where the building – and expected traffic disaster – is located. “With one year until 6,400 people are slated to begin commuting to the Mark Center, we need to act quickly to minimize the negative impact for Northern Virginia’s roads, businesses and neighborhoods.”

Both the Virginia Department of Transportation and the military have conducted extensive studies of the situation. Most recently, DoD issued a report concluding that even with the current transportation management plan (which includes a shuttle bus service), I-395 and local roadways and intersections will experience “failing levels of service” that will dramatically increase traffic during rush hour.

Florida’s Turnpike Unveils TOLL-BY-PLATE Paying

FORT LAUDERDALE — The pace of construction on Florida’s Turnpike continues to increase in advance of all-electronic open road tolling, scheduled to begin early next year from Florida City to the Miami-Dade/Broward County line. As part of this effort, the Florida’s Turnpike installation of TOLL-BY-PLATE signs in Miami-Dade County began this week.

While cash tolls will continue to be collected through early 2011, Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise is gradually rolling out TOLL-BY-PLATE between Milepost 0 in Florida City and Milepost 47 at the Miami-Dade/Broward County line to ensure the system is operating smoothly before the implementation of all-electronic open road tolling, scheduled to launch on the southern 47 miles of the Turnpike early next year.

TOLL-BY-PLATE is a toll collection method for customers without SunPass, taking a photo of a vehicle’s license plate as it travels under tolling equipment installed overhead then mailing a bill for tolls incurred over a 30-day period plus a $2.50 administrative fee to the registered owner.

Current Turnpike cash customers are encouraged to become SunPass customers in advance of all-electronic tolling to save money on tolls and avoid administrative charges.

Looking back 10 years you’ll remember how each toll system was stand alone with virtual inability for non-subscribers to participate in electronic toll programs. This is all changing with these transparent systems coming on line to make the experience easy and hassle free. I frequently use the systems found in rental cars that allow me to use toll roads as if I were a regular commuter. Transparency and ease of use are what the public expects. TW

Most Americans Prefer Transit

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A new study from HNTB Corporation takes a look at public transportation and what Americans think about it. According to the HNTB America THINKS transit survey, nearly 9 in 10 (87 percent) Americans who have access to public transportation where they work or live use it. In addition, 69 percent of commuters often feel public transportation is a better option than driving.

Approximately 1 in 4 respondents said the most valuable feature of public transportation is that it reduces traffic congestion (28 percent) or saves users money (24 percent), while just 13 percent said the most valuable feature is the environmental benefit.

The nation’s largest public transit agencies face an $80 billion maintenance backlog just to bring rail systems to a state of good repair. Within the next six years, almost every transit vehicle (55,000 vehicles) in rural America will need to be replaced. Fortunately, the Obama administration has set aside more funding for transit development than any other time in the past 20 years, including Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER), sustainability and planning grants – literally hundreds of millions of dollars waiting to be awarded. Elizabeth Rao, chair of public transit services for HNTB, said the problem is that federal monies require a local match, and many cities, already forced to cut basic services, don’t have the revenue to ante up their share.

“Healthy transportation infrastructure is economically and environmentally sound. It spurs job creation, stimulates the economy, reduces dependence on foreign oil and enhances quality of life,” said Rao, “Economically viable cities will make transit a priority because they realize they can generate multiple, positive economic outcomes with a single investment,” Rao said. “There has never been a better time for cities to build, improve or expand their public transit systems.”

Nearly half (46 percent) of Americans think local, state and federal governments don’t spend enough money on public transportation in their area. Almost 28 percent think these governments should rely on a greater share of gas tax to help fund improve public transportation options.

DOT Pushes for Decision on SC Expressway

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Transportation officials in South Carolina are urging the Charleston County Council to make a formal decision before the agency moves forward with the final environmental impact study for the I-526 Project across Johns and James island. Public opposition and lack of funding have been prevalent in planning the $489 million, 8-mile highway that would include five miles of bridges, including two 80-foot-high spans over the Stono River.

“The owner of the project (Charleston County) has got the option here of keeping the project going or pulling the plug,” state Transportation Secretary Buck Limehouse said in a letter to Charleston County Administrator Allen O’Neal.

The project would link Folly Road at the James Island connector with I-526 where it connects to U.S. Highway 17. SCDOT agreed in June 2007 to manage the project for Charleston County. Public hearings for a draft EIS found that speakers at the public hearings opposed the project by a 2-1 ratio, with 1,033 opposed versus 522 in favor.

“We’ve certainly got to deal with the objections if we’re going to move forward,” O’Neal said. The majority of the money for the highway, called the Mark Clark Expressway, is currently from a $420 million pledge from the infrastructure bank.

BWI Airport near bottom for On-Time Departures

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport ranked nearly last for on-time departures at the nation’s major airports, coming in 26th out of 29 U.S. airports. The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics show 74.3 percent of scheduled flights at BWI departed on-time so far through August 31 of this year. BWI ranked 17th overall in 2009, with an on-time departure rate of 79.24 percent.

The best ranking airports for on-time departures this year so far are Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake City. New York’s JFK, Miami and Chicago Midway rank worst.

If you travel at all you knew this before we printed it in the Tom Warne Report. Savvy travelers avoid airports with chronic delays if at all possible. They also avoid airlines with poor on-time performance records or those whose connections never seem to work. Avoiding DFW and Denver in the summer due to thunderstorms in the afternoon is a good idea and Chicago at almost any time of the year. Travelers also use flight tracker programs to see the real status of flights and don’t rely on the information being put out by airlines. Information is power; we can use it to control our lives or at least limit the adverse control others might temporarily have on our lives. TW

Minn. saves Quarter of a Billion Dollars in Construction Projects

Minnesota – Highway construction bids in Minnesota have been coming in well under engineers' estimates for the past two fiscal years and the state transportation department has saved $263.2 million. MnDOT officials say that as a result, they have seen huge discounts on stimulus-funded transportation projects. The most recent example is construction of the new Hastings Bridge, which received a low bid of $120 million, roughly $85 million less than two independent estimates completed for MnDOT. A team of Lunda Construction and Ames Construction were awarded the contract to build a new four-lane bridge, which is expected to open in 2013.

"It's a combination of a tough market, skilled labor looking for work and materials like asphalt and oil coming down in price," said Tim Worke of Associated General Contractors of Minnesota. "There's not a lot of margin in public work anyway. Now some contractors are willing to take a job at cost just to have some work. You can only do that for so long."

Overall, MnDOT's construction jobs have come in more than 20 percent under expectations for 2010. This has helped the state add about 20 additional road and bridge projects to its federal stimulus construction program.