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Oct 5, 2016

MILEAGE TAX * USA: Best option for infrastructure funds

* Indiana - Vehicle mileage tax is best option for long-term highway funding

--- A study that forecasts state and federal fuel tax revenues based on different fuel taxation policies found adoption of a vehicle mileage tax would best meet highway construction needs in the long run... Current taxes on gasoline and diesel, levied at a fixed cents-per-gallon rate, are the primary sources of transportation funding at the state and federal levels... But, due mainly to an increase in fuel economy and fuel tax rates that are not adjusted to inflation, revenue generated by those taxes is increasingly inadequate, according to the study... According to the study, fuel tax revenue will decline by up to 50.5 percent between 2015 and 2040 in states that do not adjust fuel taxes to inflation... 
(Photo, by GREGORY BULL/AP: Nearly a third of all U.S. roads are in poor or mediocre condition, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers)   --  Indianapolis. IND, USA - Phys.org - October 3, 2016

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Apr 18, 2016

TRUCKS' TOLL * USA: Rhode Island ROAD SYSTEM

* Rhode Island - Ignore the truckers' crocodile tears

-- Rhode Island implement its plan to rebuild its shamefully inadequate road system through tolls levied on the very vehicles that cause most of the highway damage... Tolling trucks here would help place the burden of highway upkeep where it belongs, on the vehicles that inflict upwards of 99 percent of the damage all traffic causes to roads and bridges... Many analysts rate Rhode Island’s major road and bridge network as the nation’s worst, with 57 percent of the 1,162 bridges deemed structurally deficient or functionally obsolete... The trucking industry will no doubt continue to try to stir up anguish among motorists (“four-wheelers,” in the industry’s parlance) by warning that if tolls are levied on their rigs, car tolls are surely just around the corner. But the reality is that trucking hasn’t been paying its fair share for decades. One Washington think tank 10 years ago said that if trucking were to cover all of its direct expenses, including congestion, pollution and highway damage, the per-gallon federal diesel tax would have to be 69 cents (compared with today’s 24.4 cents) and trucks would also have to pay between 7 and 20 cents for every mile traveled... 
(Photo: Big truck travels through Providence on Route 95) -- Providence, RI, USA - The Providence Journal, by Howard Abramson - Apr. 17, 2016

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Oct 31, 2015

"RIDICULOUS" * USA: Transportation plan based on truck tolling ...

* Rhode Island - A possible legal action against "discrimination of one type of vehicle"

  (Video Road and Bridge Proposals, from WPRI on Oct 28, 2015: GOP and Trucking Assoc. both offer alternate plans to Gov. Raimondo's RhodeWorks) 

-- When Rhode Island Gov., Gina Raimondo, announced her transportation plan based on truck tolling Oct. 8, Rhode Island Trucking Association released an alternative focused on increases in fuel taxes and registration fees while threatening to sue if Raimondo’s proposal plan, becomes law... The trucking group's plan would produce an estimated $10.8 million annually by raising the state’s 34-cent diesel tax by 18 cents, which would still be 3 cents shy of the tax in neighboring Connecticut. A $500 increase in truck registration fees, currently the lowest in New England, would generate an expected $1.6 million annually. According to Rhode Island Trucking Association President Chris Maxwell, the plan would produce the same $220 million as RhodeWorks allocated to fix 453 of the state’s bridges unrelated to the 6/10 connector. Rhode Island has the highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges of any state, 22%. Starting in the fifth year, the Rhode Island trucking group's alternative would generate more than $25 million annually, enough to address the 6/10 connector, which consumes the vast majority of RhodeWorks' revenues... 
 Providence, R.I., USA - 12WPRI - 28 Oct 2015

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May 1, 2015

TRUCKING DEBATE * USA: About truck safety

* Missouri - Truckers tell Congress that FMCSA should review regulations for impact on safety

-- The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association gave testimony on behalf of professional and small business truckers before the U.S.A. House Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. OOIDA told Congress that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration needs to have a review of existing safety regulations for their effectiveness and impact on highway safety... OOIDA stated that instead of a reasoned understanding and approach to improving highway safety by addressing the key factors behind at-fault truck crashes, FMCSA policy and enforcement is hyper-focused on absolute compliance with the letter of every single regulation – no matter the connection to at-fault crashes... OOIDA contends that under its current methodology, the agency’s safety scoring system inaccurately paints safe, small carriers as unsafe, reducing access to business and opening them up to misguided enforcement activities. Meanwhile, truly unsafe carriers that crash frequently get ignored... The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association was established in 1973, and it's the only national trade association representing the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers. The Association currently has more than 150,000 members nationwide... OOIDA represents the small business truckers that are the majority of the trucking industry. More than 90 percent of U.S.A. carriers own 20 or fewer trucks, and half of all carriers are one-truck operations... The average small business trucker has driven more than 20 years and 2 million accident-free miles... 
  Grain Valley, MO, USA - Land Line Magazine - April 30, 2015) 


* DC - GOP spending bill reignites trucking debate
-- Safety groups have accused GOP lawmakers of using the appropriations process to undo a series of trucking regulations they say makes U.S.A. roads safer, including limits on the length and weight of trucks that have been opposed by trucking companies for years... The GOP measure provides $55.3 billion in funding the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, but the measure also includes a number of provisions dealing with policy issues like trucking regulations... The measure increases the limit on truck lengths to 84 feet and takes aim at a controversial set of scheduling rules that were implemented by the Obama administration to reduce fatigue among truck drivers... Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx sharply criticized Republicans for including the policy riders in the appropriations bill for his agency on Tuesday.... The trucking industry offered a starkly different perspective, saying the provisions that are included in the THUD bill have been on Congress’s agenda for a long time... “They’re the same issues we’ve been talking about for years, and now we’re going to talk about them again,” he said... 
(Photo from Wikimedia Commons) -- Washington, DC, USA - The Hills, by Keith Laing - 29 April 2015

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Jun 3, 2010

INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDS * USA - Truckers worry about proposed tunnel toll effects


Norfolk,VA,USA -WTKR/TV3 -May 21, 2010: -- A private company is looking to make improvements to the Downtown Tunnel, the Martin Luther King Expressway, and also adding a new tunnel next to the Midtown Tunnel... Building a new tube may help ease traffic jams on the Southside, but the $2 billion project will be constructed using private funds from Elizabeth River Crossing - and they want to pass that cost onto drivers... Many in the trucking industry are concerned, such as those who depend on these roads and tunnels to do their jobs... Hampton Roads transportation officials want to get the cost of the tunnel tolls down to $1.50, and even that seems expensive. Right now it's free to drive through these tunnels... But officials say there has to be a toll because there is simply no state money to pay for this project...

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Apr 21, 2010

INFRASTRUCTURES FUNDS * USA - DOT Providing $48.8 Billion for State Highway Projects

Washington,DC,USA -Transport Topics -21 April 2010: -- The Department of Transportation said $48.8 billion is now available to state transportation departments for federal projects through the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act... The act makes available $40.1 billion from the Highway Trust Fund through Dec. 31 for highway programs in the 2010 fiscal year, DOT said... President Obama signed the HIRE Act into law March 18 after both houses of Congress passed it... (Photo from Texas A&M University – Texas Transportation Institute: highway construction)


* Georgia lawmakers reach deal on transportation funding

Atlanta,GA,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Keith Goble - April 23, 2010: -- After three years of wheeling and dealing to come up with a solution to help fund transportation, the Georgia General Assembly has approved a funding plan that would let residents vote whether to tax themselves to pay for needed improvements... Getting transportation funding through the statehouse has been difficult the past couple of years... Critics say the state cannot afford to wait until 2012 to address needed transportation work. They caution that it could be at least 2014 before projects are completed... Supporters say it is important to hold off on the tax increase in the middle of a struggling economy. Others say the plan is needed to keep and attract businesses to the state... (Image from terragalleria - Picture: Georgia,Atlanta,USA)

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Jan 26, 2010

Infrastructure Bank * USA - Touted for transportation projects

Washington,DC,USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -Jan 25, 2010: -- A broad coalition of industry groups, state Governors, members of Congress, and public works experts are pushing the federal government to create a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) to increase and speed up investments in regional and national infrastructure projects... Transportation projects, in particular, are being touted as ideal candidates for NIB funding – largely because such a national financing entity would allow for more consistent funding instead of the “piecemeal” approach typically used today... If created, the bank would use grants, credit assistance, low-interest loans and tax incentives to fund infrastructure projects; encourage project sponsors to identify new revenue streams to leverage costs; promote more efficient governance, and spur further innovation...

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Jan 11, 2010

INFRASTRUCTURES' FUNDS * USA - VA. chamber outlines ideas for new year

The chamber of commerce said lawmakers should lure new businesses to the region

Roanoke,VA,USA -The Roanoke, by Jenny Kincaid Boone -11 Jan 2009: ... Funding for state transportation needs is the primary issue for Virginia businesses this year, Hugh Keogh, president and CEO of the Virginia chamber, and Clinton Morse, chairman, said Friday... The state has a multibillion transportation revenue shortfall that has caused job loss, canceled construction projects and closed rest areas... Poor infrastructure does not bode well for businesses "if you can't get your product delivered, your raw materials to your plant and your product out of your plant," Morse said Friday... But a solution for finding the funds is not easy. Keogh said he's not opposed to tolls, but he's aware that the trucking industry does not favor them... (Picture from i.telegraph: Virginia's Highway)

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May 13, 2009

INFRASTRUCTURES FUNDS * Australia - Industry told to expect higher charges

Greater government investment in road infrastructure means trucking operators may be hit with higher charges on a regular basis

Canberra,Australia -ATN, by Brad Gardner -13 May 2009: -- ... As the Rudd Government fast-tracks key projects and prepares to set aside $25 billion in infrastructure funding next financial year, there are claims the road user charge will need to be constantly adjusted to keep pace... A spokesman for the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) says it is inevitable the industry will need to pay more, with each increase gradually eroding the fuel tax credit... The comments come as the ATA’s Transport and Economics Policy Committee prepares to meet over the proposed 0.7 cent increase to the road user charge, which will cut the fuel tax credit to 16.4 cents a litre... A decision will be made by the committee on May 18 on whether to back the increase, which the National Transport Commission (NTC) says is justified on the basis of government expenditure...(Picture from narrogincottagehomes: Road between Kulin and Kondinin southern end of the flooded section of the road)

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Mar 26, 2009

Transportation Projects * USA - Stimulus Package Funds Thousands Ones

Washington,DC,USA - The Voice of America News, by Chris Simkins -21 March 2009: -- The Obama administration says money from the economic stimulus package will lead to the creation of tens of thousands of construction jobs and help strengthen the U.S. economy. Stimulus money has already triggered several transportation projects, including the widening of a highway and a bridge replacement in Missouri... The stimulus package contains $48 billion overall for transportation projects... President Obama says more than 200 highway construction projects have been started since the stimulus package was signed into law in February. Some of the money will go to improving mass transportation and airports... Obama estimates that by the end of 2010, the "investment in highways will create or save 150,000 jobs," mostly in the private sector... (Photo: Highway construction site in Missouri)

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Nov 14, 2008

INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDS * USA - NRF Backs Transportation Spending

Washington,DC,USA -Traffic World, by Thomas L. Gallagher -13 Nov 2008: -- The country needs to invest in transportation infrastructure in any additional economic stimulus package, said the National Retail Federation in a Nov. 10 letter to Congressional leaders... Pointing out the economic benefits of building and maintaining infrastructure including increased employment, NRF stressed the need for a viable and well-considered plan...

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