Are Small Towns Addicted to Traffic Fines and Fees?
Editor’s Note: This article was initially written for the Spring edition of Driving Freedoms magazine and instead appeared as NMA weekly E-Newsletter #592 in May 2020. The information here pertained primarily to life before the COVID-19 crisis. Still, we believe traffic fines and fees will be even more of an issue for small towns (and […]
Is it Really Tough Times for Toll Roads Ahead?
By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director The website Chief Investment Officer posted in June a lament for how tough it is for toll roads right now. Here’s a quote, “The typically stable asset class has been hit as traffic levels have dropped 40 percent to 85 percent globally, S&P analysts say.” So the website tells […]
Summer Update from the ALLIANCE FOR TOLL-FREE INTERSTATES
Editor’s Note: The ATFI is a coalition (of which the NMA is a member) which work tirelessly to maintain the longstanding policy of protecting existing interstates from new tolls. ATFI’s Charlie Kiefer has given the NMA permission to showcase the summer update. Due to the current global pandemic caused by COVID-19, the tolling industry has […]
Big Changes for Toll Roads in New Jersey and Pennsylvania
By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director Despite NMA and public opposition plus general condemnation for holding hearings during a pandemic, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority voted unanimously on May 27 to increase tolls on two of the state’s largest toll roads. The increase takes effect on September 13, 2020, and would increase the average Turnpike […]
Urban activists and officials dishonestly use “temporary” pilot projects to impose permanent policies
Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared on the Washington State Policy Center Blog and was written by Mariya Frost, director of the Center’s Cole Center for Transportation. Ms. Frost has given the NMA permission to use her post dated May 28, 2020. Not letting “a crisis go to waste,” urban activists and public officials in […]
Motorists Vote 2020: Arkansas Ballot Issue 1
By NMA member, Tom Beckett Editor’s Note: A couple of months ago, Tom wrote the NMA National Office an email with some information on what is going on in his home state of Arkansas with regards to infrastructure funding. We asked him to write more formally about the situation, and we feel his insight gives […]
Opposition comes Together to Oppose Federal Bailout for Toll Operators: NYC Congestion Pricing now Iffy
By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director The Newspaper. Com reported this month that traffic is down two-thirds on US toll roads. This downturn in traffic indeed threatens the revenue model of the foreign companies that operate them. So much so, that earlier in the month, the International Bridge, Tunnel, and Turnpike Authority asked the federal […]
New Jersey takes Advantage of the COVID-19 Crisis by raising Tolls: NMA Tolling in America Blog for April 13, 2020
By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director The Tolling in America Blog is a biweekly feature of the NMA blog. We want to bring the issues of tolling and infrastructure funding to our supporters. Please feel free to comment below the post. New Jersey takes Advantage of the COVID-19 Crisis by raising Tolls Written with assistance […]
Nothing as Permanent as a Temporary Solution—Driving in America: Arkansas Report Part 2
By NMA Member Tom Beckett Editor’s Note: This post is the second in at least a three-part on the complicated funding for roads in a mostly rural state. Check out Part 1 of the Arkansas Report. Back in 2012, Arkansas voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase to generate revenue dedicated to transportation. With this […]
Ticket Quotas are Alive and All Too Well
Editor’s Note: After news this week that Washington State lawmakers are pushing Senate Bill 6316 to stop the police practice of traffic ticket orders, we thought this would be a great companion blog. One of the national issues of the NMA is to advocate against traffic ticket quotas which if implemented by a police department, […]