Free Republic

COLUMBUS, Ohio – After just two hours of public testimony, a committee looking for solutions to Ohio’s highway funding gap found consensus on just one potential revenue source: raising the Ohio gas tax. The panel didn’t get to the level of detail Wednesday afternoon of specifying how much the tax increase should be. The Governor’s Advisory Committee on Transportation Infrastructure otherwise didn’t find agreement on other ways to raise money for Ohio’s road system, but additional sources of revenue could be added to a report being compiled on the group’s work. Other ideas discussed included indexing the gas tax to...

Miami-Dade’s mayor flies to Tallahassee this week to fight a state takeover of local toll roads, and he says an early victim of the proposed legislation would likely be a planned extension of the 836 expressway into West Kendall. “One of the major issues I have with that bill is the fact that it may stall that project for some time,” said Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who also serves as the appointed chairman of the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority. The toll board of state and county appointees, best known as the MDX, collects tolls on the 836 and four other expressways. “The...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - The toll bills haven't stopped coming for some drivers in Central Florida after SunPass’ software meltdown last summer. In fact, state senators were told more than 4 million outstanding bills are still heading to mailboxes, adding up to an outstanding balance of $100 million. Related Headlines Last June, SunPass took its online payment system offline for a week of scheduled maintenance. At the end of the week, the system wouldn’t come back online. Almost 250 days later, people are still getting bills in the mail for the weeks of tolls that SunPass couldn’t process. Some drivers...

AUSTIN, Texas — A historically inaccurate brass plaque honoring confederate veterans will come down after a vote this morning, WFAA has learned. The State Preservation Board, which is in charge of the capitol building and grounds, meets this morning at 10:30 a.m. to officially decide the fate of the metal plate.

Connecticut could stand to gain $1 billion annually with electronic tolling, the state Department of Transportation said in a new report. The report, released last week, said Connecticut could achieve $1 billion annually even with per-mile rates lower than many other states. The 81-page report is based on a study by CDM Smith, an engineering and construction firm. The company looked at electronic tolling on interstates 84, 91, 95, and 691, and routes 2, 8, 9, and 15, with up to 82 toll gantries possibly being installed. The authors of the report urged the state to continue with a proposed...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Northern Indiana lawmakers are calling into question Gov. Eric Holcomb’s decision against imposing new tolls on the state’s interstate highways, while allowing the Indiana Toll Road’s private operator to significantly boost rates for large trucks using that highway. Democratic Sen. Karen Tallian of Portage tells the South Bend Tribune that the situation is unfair because only the communities in northern Indiana along the Toll Road will have the burden of higher tolls, while all parts of the state will benefit from the toll money. The Republican governor announced in September that the operator of the Toll...

In life, some things are unavoidable: death, taxes — and if you live in South Florida — tolls. Coughing up money to drive on the highways add to the cost of living in South Florida. Drivers in Miami-Dade and Broward spent more than a half billion dollars in tolls fees in the last year. Consider: A daily trip from Kendall to downtown Miami costs over $4 roundtrip by Sunpass, or about $1,000 a year for a five-day a week, 50-week commuter. For those who haven’t signed up for Sunpass, the toll-by-plate rate of almost $8 per day amounts to $2,000...

North Carolina officials are trying to figure out how to unwind parts or all of a 2014 public-private partnership that is building managed toll lanes on a Charlotte-area highway.Ever since the ink dried on North Carolina’s first transportation P3 contract, the plan to relieve severe congestion in the Charlotte region has generated controversy.Public opposition remains just as fierce today to the project that will add express lanes on Interstate 77, even though more than one report says the deal with I-77 Mobility Partners LLC, a consortium led by Cintra Infraestructuras S.A., was properly authorized and permitted.The 26-mile-long project is designed...

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is poised to implement a new regulation without legislative approval to join 10 other states in a climate change agreement based on restricting carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.But lawmakers, policy analysts, and tea party activists in Virginia who oppose what they consider costly regulations of industry are raising questions about the economic and scientific arguments underpinning the proposed rule.They say the Virginia General Assembly should have a straight up-or-down vote on Northam’s plan, in part to ensure that any revenue the governor raises from “carbon trading” is collected and dispersed in a manner consistent...

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – An Oklahoma representative says that she has filed legislation this week that would increase the financial scrutiny given to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. House Bill 2530 would require the state auditor and inspector to perform an audit of the Turnpike Authority at least once every two years. “Taxpayers deserve to know where their hard-earned money is going,” Rep. Tess Teague said. “The Turnpike Authority has an annual budget of nearly $100 million, and lawmakers owe it to Oklahomans to track those dollars closely.” The legislation dictates that the audit will take no more than 90 days....

Over the last decade, short-term rental platforms like Airbnb, HomeAway, and VRBO have expanded and provided an economic boom to many communities. Yet several localities are pursuing onerous zoning rules and other regulations that would restrict short-term rental activity. For many homeowners, short-term rental provides a critical source of additional income to help them pay their mortgages and to meet other financial obligations. States can protect their residents from overzealous, local bureaucrats with state pre-emption. Short-term rental helps local communities by growing the number of tourists that visit the area. A recent study published by the National Bureau of Economic...

I knew nothing was ever going to change there,” (Kim) Foxx is quoted as saying. “It’s a fruitless effort when the boss knows the predator and says, ‘He’s a good dude.’ That was it for me, ..., I knew I couldn’t work... there, any longer.'” In her chapter of the book, (Lisa) Madigan speaks more generally about “inappropriate and uncomfortable comments” made to her at political events she attended with her parents. “When as a state senator, a man would come to my office or serial call my phone and leave 30, 40, 50 messages a day, I snuck around...

Executive Councilors are contemplating a 50 percent increase to tolls on New Hampshire roadways – including the plaza on Interstate 93 in Hooksett – in order to fund an acceleration of long-term construction projects. A proposal presented to councilors by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation on Wednesday would raise cash fees at the Hooksett tollbooth from $1 to $1.50, and EZ-Pass charges from 70 cents to $1.05. The Hooksett I-93 ramp, which currently charges 50 cents cash, would increase to 75 cents; other toll areas in Hampton, Dover and Rochester would increase by lower amounts. The pricing scheme, drawn...

Take Interstate 65 south across the Ohio River and you might not notice you've just spent $4. No toll booth stands between the Indiana border and Louisville. Motorists who frequently travel the route likely have a transponder device, with the cost charged automatically to their account. For those without a transponder, a camera captures a license plate photo and the tolling system operator, with access to motor vehicle records, sends a bill to the vehicle's registered owner. As technological advances make highway and bridge tolling easier and more efficient, technology also is delivering more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. The gasoline-tax...

BROWN COUNTY (WLUK) -- If you experience stop-and-go traffic heading to work or backups on your way home, you’re not the only one frustrated. Every community experiences traffic delays. Transportation planners design new roads to ease the congestion. But FOX 11 Investigates found that in Brown County, those planning the roads are frustrated too. Ads by ZINC Highway 172 in Brown County carries a heavy load of cars and trucks. During peak traffic hours, motorists are trying to cross the Fox River. A little over two miles to the south, the Claude Allouez Bridge in De Pere can be even...

ANNAPOLIS — In 2009, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley closed the visitor center at the Sideling Hill cut, the symbolic gateway to Western Maryland, as a cost-saving effort. Some saw the move as personal, or at least confirmation of how the former governor felt about the state’s rural counties. “We had only two visitor centers that were closed in the entire state under O’Malley,” said William Valentine, an Allegany County commissioner. “It wasn’t too hard to figure out what happened.” Current Gov. Larry Hogan reopened the Sideling Hill Visitor Center in 2015. Earlier this year when Hogan took the stage...

In a stunning announcement with huge repercussions for the future of the Texas House and Republican Party politics in Texas, House speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, announced Wednesday morning that he won’t run for re-election.

North Carolinians agreed to borrow $2 billion last year to support higher education and infrastructure. Should they borrow a similar amount to more quickly build Interstate 87 and other important roads? Some local officials say yes. For more than a year, Interstate 87 has been a burning issue for elected officials in Pasquotank and surrounding counties. Creating that road from Raleigh to the Virginia state line would cost more than $1.3 billion, based on early estimates, and it could take decades to develop. Just widening U.S. Highway 17 to interstate standards from northern Pasquotank through Camden may cost almost $187...

BOSTON — One year after the lights went permanently dark inside the Bay State’s remaining human-staffed tollbooths, giving way to the era of all-electronic tolling, a bill on Beacon Hill touted by a powerful Democrat from Lynn would expand tolling throughout Greater Boston, with high-traveled freeways like Route 128, Interstate 93, Interstate 95, and Route 2 transitioning into tollways. State Senator Thomas McGee, the chairman of the Joint Transportation Committee, filed the bill, “An Act Establishing the Metropolitan Transportation Network,” last January. His bill was heard by the committee on Tuesday. Testifying at the hearing against the bill was Citizens...

Being from West Virginia, Rep. Manchin has had to push back against the coastal Democratic machine from time to time, but this round, the Dems may have gone too far and might be losing one of their Representatives to the Republican side. We’ve already seen that the Governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, was willing to switch to the Republican side of the aisle, making his announcement at a Trump rally. Now, it’s looking like Rep. Joe Manchin might do the same. Democrats have already lost the state, both in terms of their wide support for Trump and the loss...