Briefs

NTTA is removing the last remnants of cash toll collection on its six toll facility system in the Dallas area. The last cash tolls were collected over two years ago - in December 2010. Conversion to all-electronic tolling (AET) only involves opening up a regular section of highway through the toll plaza area and installing toll equipment over and within the roadway at the new AET toll point.

Atkins are celebrating three new consulting contracts. In Dallas Texas they are the general engineering consultant (GEC) to North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) under a new competitively procured three-year contract. They've previously worked at NTTA as project consultants - on conversion to all-electronic and on construction.

The Detroit Windsor Tunnel is expanding payment options announcing that it will add 6C sticker tags and a mobile phone app to the prox cards and other toll payment modes. They're planning to stop selling tokens at 11:59pm February 28.

"For decades, an increasingly large percentage of our economic output has been moved from the positive-sum game of markets and private property to the zero-sum game of government and politics. According to the Office of Management and Budget, total government spending in the U.S. rose from 17 percent of GDP in 1948 to 35 percent in 2010.

Clayton Howe is leaving NTTA Operations and chairmanship of Texas Interoperability (IOP) Task Force to join Atkins. He was the senior officer in Operations at NTTA from 2009 until the previously vacant position of deputy executive director and chief operating officer was filled in October last year by John Carreker - a specialist in new payments methodologies from outside the toll business.

Fitch Ratings say that all the US toll operators they cover showed improved toll revenue in 2012 compared to 2011. Traffic was up modestly at most, exceptions being the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway where there were 50% toll hikes. Their traffic dipped 4.1% and 2.9%.

Several readers commented or queried us on our JOBS posting "Director of Operations (NCTA/NCDOT)" and the salary range mentioned: "$20,000.00 - $350,000.00 Annually."

Now like INDUSTRY POSTINGS, RFPs, and UPCOMING EVENTS, the JOBS section uses copy provided by the person or organization doing the posting.

We have nothing to do with the words used.

You pay for it, so you write what you want (within limits.)

But the queries got us fascinated enough to ask the NCDOT poster whether it needed a correction.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's plan to dump the gasoline tax and tolls (on I-95) and to substitute a 16% increase in the state sales tax was so way out it never got a serious hearing in the state legislature, let alone a vote.

In a humiliating fiasco his own party leaders have agreed instead of dumping the state's gasoline tax to increase it!  The tax will rise by 5c to 22.5c and there will be some tinkering with general funds monies.

January numbers show Canada-US toll traffic inching up, again commercial traffic a bit lower and private cars slightly higher. Truck traffic is down 201301 on 201201 from 544k to 522k, off 4%. Car traffic is up 3.3% from 2.06m to 2.12m. Total traffic is 2.65m from 2.61m or 1.7% higher.

Numbers come from the Public Border Operators Association of eleven toll crossings Quebec and Ontario to New York and Ontario to Michigan.

Among the big crossings:

- the Ambassador is down 2.5% to 560k this January from 575k last Jan

Ronald L 'Ron' Freeland, former chief executive of Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA) the state toll agency is now on the Parsons Brinckerhoff payroll as a Principal Consultant.