toll roads

SH 130 offers reprieve from Central Texas bottlenecks

Toll roads are often maligned in the trucking world. Many carriers have been known to route their movements away from them in an effort to save a few bucks. This reputation is misguided, however, as toll roads can offer fleets the most valuable gift of all: time. 

This is especially true for carriers moving freight through Central Texas. 

The southern section of State Highway 130 between Austin and San Antonio is a publicly owned toll road, privately operated by SH 130 Concession Co. The 41-mile...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/sh-130-offers-reprieve-from-central-texas-bottlenecks

Texas tollway using satellites to monitor condition of road

A Texas tollway is using satellite technology to evaluate the condition of the roadway with “millimeter accuracy” to address potential problems before they impact safety or ride quality.

SH 130 Concession Co. has partnered with Richmond, Virginia-based EO59, a technology startup that provides remote monitoring services to measure ground and structural movement.

Satellites will pass over the SH 130 toll road between Austin and San Antonio every six days and provide measurements on over 30,000...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/texas-tollway-using-satellites-to-monitor-condition-of-road

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: First plan for national infrastructure issued in 1808

The Erie Canal in 1829. (Image: transportgeograpy.org)

In 1807, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution requesting the U.S. Treasury Department to prepare and submit “a plan for the application of such means are within the power of Congress, to the purposes of opening roads, and making canals,” and other recommendations on how the federal government could improve what was then an inadequate and fragmented national transportation system.

On April 4, 1808, President Thomas Jefferson’s Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin submitted a wide-ranging...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-first-plan-for-national-infrastructure-issued-in-1808

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: New Jersey Turnpike dedicated 70 years ago (Part 2)

A car and truck on the New Jersey Turnpike. (Photo: njspotlightnews.org)

Part 1 of this article ran yesterday, which was the 70th anniversary of the New Jersey Turnpike’s (NJTP) dedication.

The New Jersey Turnpike logo. (Image: NJTA)

The Turnpike’s roadways

Before construction on the Interstate Highway System (IHS) began in 1956, the entire Turnpike was designated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) as Route 700 (although it never had signs to designate this). The Pearl Harbor Memorial Turnpike Extension was Route 700P, and the Newark Bay...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-new-jersey-turnpike-dedicated-70-years-ago-part-2

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: New Jersey Turnpike dedicated 70 years ago (Part 1)

Traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike. (Photo: WHYY.org)

Overview

Seventy years ago today, the New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) was officially dedicated – despite not being completed yet. As the New York Times reported, “A major engineering feat, the new highway is an unimpeded route, without traffic lights, no cross roads, no left-hand turns and no grades over 3%.”

Today is the 70th anniversary of the New Jersey Turnpike's dedication. (Image: NJTA Facebook page)Today is the 70th anniversary of the New Jersey Turnpike’s dedication. (Image: NJTA Facebook page)

Today, the NJTP is a system of controlled-access highways that are maintained by the New...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-new-jersey-turnpike-dedicated-70-years-ago-part-1

FreightWaves Classics: New York State Thruway connects major cities in the Empire State

Cars and trucks move along the New York State Thruway. (Photo: cnycentral..com)

Overview

The New York State Thruway is a system of controlled-access highways that has a total length of just under 570 miles within the state. Although its official name is the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway, many residents of the state call it simply “the Thruway.” It is one of the largest toll highway systems in the nation. The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association rates the New York State Thruway as the fifth-busiest toll road in the U.S.

The system is operated by the New...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-new-york-state-thruway-connects-major-cities-in-the-empire-state

Drilling Deep: A greater private sector role on the nation’s highways?

Governments are strapped as a result of the pandemic, the nation’s infrastructure isn’t any better than it was at the beginning of the year and states are faced with keeping their roads in good shape. What’s the solution?

On this week’s Drilling Deep podcast, host John Kingston speaks with Bob Poole of the Reason Institute about bringing the private sector into the mix to turn toll roads into privately owned and operated highways. But that always raises the prospect of higher tolls, and Poole...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/drilling-deep-a-greater-private-sector-role-on-the-nations-highways

White Paper – Trends in Tolling

There is a distinct overarching challenge with tolling for commercial trucking fleets. Tolling is essentially a local and state-by-state business, but most carriers operate at least regionally and often nationally. This means that truck drivers need multiple transponders, which means multiple invoices, payments, violations, and points of contact with all the different toll operators in jurisdictions through which they routinely pass.

New trends and technological improvements have simplified...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/white-paper-trends-in-tolling