OKLAHOMA:Profit down in 99

The increase in costs is widespread. Toll operations costs are 9.3% up to 10.8% of revenue (vs 10.3% a year earlier) and turnpike maintenance up 15.6%, police up 13%, information technology up a third. On the capital side of the accounts depreciation rose 8.4% and interest expenses 11%. The OTA seems to have high accounting standards, reports on an accrual basis and does proper depreciation and amortization of assets. It presents more detailed information than many agencies.

The turnpike system is now owned by the Oklahoma Transportation Authority (OTA), a name change effected Nov 1, 1999 from Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) which was formed in 1947. An arm of the state of Oklahoma, the governor appoints the OTA board members and the secretary of Transp is always the OTA’s director. An official said the name change was designed to give the OTA the charter to get involved in other transport projects such as oil and gas, airports and possibly fiber optic cabling.

The legislature has to approve all new turnpike routes, and bond sales.

Oklahoma’s turnpikes are, relatively to the state’s population the most extensive system of any state, approximately equaling the length of free motorway standard roads. The OTA has four urban toll extensions underway totaling 80km (50mi) – parts of beltways for the major population centers of Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Already the Creek Turnpike (map CK) in the southern part of Tulsa tops the system in terms of daily tolls taken. By 2002 when it becomes a 54km (34mi) half-beltway around the eastern and southern edges of the metro area it will be further ahead of the earlier intercity and rural toll roads.

The system also has the dubious distinction of having the lowest grossing toll road in the country – the Chickasaw (map CW) – which last year collected 667k tolls or 1,800/day for a revenue of $369k. It’s a 2-lane toll road, but otherwise full motorway standard, and officials hasten to say it was very much a ‘pork pike’ that the legislature ordered them to build.

Maintenance

The OTA is putting major emphasis on maintenance and believes in rehabbing pavement at the 75% or earlier of estimated life, claiming this costs $1 compared with 90% of life when rehab costs $4 to $5. (See below) It introduced a read-only toll tag system from Amtech – brandname Pikepass – in 1995 and at the turn of the year there were 440k tags on issue for 245k accounts. The ET system does just under half the transactions.

The OTA is planning a major toll system upgrade and will go to read-write tags. (tel 405 425 3600 www.pikepass.com)