Don Young lovable rogue sabotaged a toll truckway
Posted Wed, 2007-08-08 20:11
A couple of years ago when he was chairman of the House Transportation Committee Rep Don Young (GOP, Alaska) agreed to do a
book launching ceremony, a publicity 'do,' in one of the House office buildings on Capitol Hill for a Reason Foundation report that I'd written with Robert Poole on toll truckways. The appearance of a committee chairman ensured a solid crowd of about fifty or so - congressional staffers, lobbyists, policy geeks, and the odd hack. You couldn't help but like Young. He's a man with a personality that fits with his rumpled appearance - informal, easygoing, affable.
At the podium he spoke without notes, saying our report was the most important new idea for transportation in decades, pouring such lavish praise on it I was thoroughly embarrassed, but happy. This was the wave of the future, he said.
The Congressman did seem to have read the report, or at least had been well briefed on its main themes by some staffer, because he characterized it quite accurately, and he seemed genuinely enthusiastic. Legislative obstacles to toll truckways or tolled truck lanes must be removed, he said, and the federal government should support them as voluntary self-supporting toll facilities. There wasn't the money to do this without user fees, he said.
Bob Poole got his hand shaken and his back patted. I scored better. I'm more huggable perhaps. Anyway I got a vigorous 5 or 6 second Don Young bearhug with the congressman saying "great stuff, great stuff, keep at it" in my ear.
Though flattered and grateful for the Congressman's support of our ideas I didn't expect a great deal to come of it, except I went around for a while thinking the toll truckway idea had an important friend in high places, who would give the idea some worthwhile favorable mentions here and there. I did hope the chairman would sponsor a permissive clause in the SAFETEA-LU reauthorization allowing the states to do toll truck lanes on the interstates if they chose.
No permissive clause in SAFETEA-LU appeared, but it came as a slight shock even to this skeptic of politicians to hear that Young was actively sabotaging what he said at that podium at our report launch ceremony was such a great idea and bearhugged me for - the toll financing of truckways.
The evidence came from Tampa.
Right in line with the Reason proposals Pat McCue, as chief executive of the Tampa toll agency (THEA) was sponsoring a toll truckway connector between I-4 and the port of Tampa. McCue thought the truckway project could be self-financing as well as welcome to the people and businesses of the charming Ybor City area through which port-bound tractor-trailers rumbled by sidewalk cafes on the surface streets. The truckers would get the 2 miles or so between the port and I-4 in two minutes on the elevated toll truck lanes as compared to 15 minutes going traffic light to traffic light through downtown and Ybor City local streets. Most of the truckers would gladly pay the toll for the time and fuel savings.
But McCue had been forced to abandon his plan for the trucklanes as a toll project. He'd had none other than supposed toll truckway enthusiast, Rep Don Young down to visit. McCue said he wanted Young, as a powerful US congressman to be informed about the project, which was the first in the country to put heavy trucks in their own exclusive roadway. He wasn't seeking federal grants to cover the construction. That could be financed with tolls.
I got the impression he wanted Young's praise and endorsement for the project. McCue is an innovator and he likes to be recognized as such. He deserves to be. He was the force behind the brilliant reversible elevated lanes on the Crosstown Expressway, and earlier the soaring Sunshine Skyway cable stayed bridge over the mouth of Tampa Bay.
He may also have wanted to land some small change for design work and some buzz in the departments in DC to accelerate permitting.
He was much too successful in selling the truckway project to Don Young.
I don't know if Pat McCue got a Don Young bearhug, but McCue told me that Young was beside himself with enthusiasm for the project. So much so he said he'd make sure it was fully funded by the federal government if McCue would drop the tolls and allow him to make it the centerpiece of a new federal pilot program. Young loved the truckway part of the project, but not the tolling. Indeed he would oppose the whole project if THEA continued to sponsor it as a toll project, he said. It had to be free.
McCue was somewhat dismayed since toll financing would allow the truckway to be built more easily and more quickly, and with more assurance of actually getting it done. But he could hardly persuade his board of directors to do tolls on the project if there was the prospect of federal grants conditioned on no-tolls.
I suspect McCue was also attracted to the idea of being the sponsor of the number one showpiece of the new federal pilot program for truckways being promised by Don Young.
I think it's likely that Don Young was genuine in his enthusiasm for federal funding of the Tampa port truckway at the time he made those promises to Pat McCue. It is likely, also, he was also genuine in wanting a new "innovatory" federal truckway pilot program.
Somehow that program got aborted. The trucker lobbies were always divided on it. Reason was always firm that truckers should lose none of their existing rights to drive on free roads or free lanes, that the toll truckways should attract voluntary use by offering time savings, and heavier longer loads than the free lanes. On that basis the American Trucking Associations lobby in DC was initially supportive, but then turned against it, as mindless anti-toll thinking reasserted itself. Maybe they helped kill it.
Also it seems Don Young's support for any individual project is linked to local contributions to his campaign funds. Perhaps the businesses in Tampa and local truckers didn't cough up enough in checks at his breakfast or lunch there, so his staff put it low in a list of priorities. In any event no federal earmark grant as promised to McCue ever emerged for the port truckway.
The political bearhug smothers good things.
If McCue had been able to proceed with toll financing of the truckway the big rigs would by now be rolling quietly down their exclusive lanes in three minute trips between I-40 and the port of Tampa. Thanks to Don Young's behind the scenes sabotage of THEA's toll financing the truckway remains only a plan and to this day the big rigs rumble and creak through the surface streets of Ybor City, stuck at one traffic signal after another.
The elevated truckway remains in permitting as a minor component of a much grander Florida DOT/FHWA scheme for a connector about ten lanes and four roadways wide. It remains unfunded - makework for lots of design and planning consultants, but, without tolls to finance it, all this is little help to truckers, the Port carriers, or the neighborhood.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-08-08
book launching ceremony, a publicity 'do,' in one of the House office buildings on Capitol Hill for a Reason Foundation report that I'd written with Robert Poole on toll truckways. The appearance of a committee chairman ensured a solid crowd of about fifty or so - congressional staffers, lobbyists, policy geeks, and the odd hack. You couldn't help but like Young. He's a man with a personality that fits with his rumpled appearance - informal, easygoing, affable.At the podium he spoke without notes, saying our report was the most important new idea for transportation in decades, pouring such lavish praise on it I was thoroughly embarrassed, but happy. This was the wave of the future, he said.
The Congressman did seem to have read the report, or at least had been well briefed on its main themes by some staffer, because he characterized it quite accurately, and he seemed genuinely enthusiastic. Legislative obstacles to toll truckways or tolled truck lanes must be removed, he said, and the federal government should support them as voluntary self-supporting toll facilities. There wasn't the money to do this without user fees, he said.
Bob Poole got his hand shaken and his back patted. I scored better. I'm more huggable perhaps. Anyway I got a vigorous 5 or 6 second Don Young bearhug with the congressman saying "great stuff, great stuff, keep at it" in my ear.
Though flattered and grateful for the Congressman's support of our ideas I didn't expect a great deal to come of it, except I went around for a while thinking the toll truckway idea had an important friend in high places, who would give the idea some worthwhile favorable mentions here and there. I did hope the chairman would sponsor a permissive clause in the SAFETEA-LU reauthorization allowing the states to do toll truck lanes on the interstates if they chose.
No permissive clause in SAFETEA-LU appeared, but it came as a slight shock even to this skeptic of politicians to hear that Young was actively sabotaging what he said at that podium at our report launch ceremony was such a great idea and bearhugged me for - the toll financing of truckways.
The evidence came from Tampa.
Right in line with the Reason proposals Pat McCue, as chief executive of the Tampa toll agency (THEA) was sponsoring a toll truckway connector between I-4 and the port of Tampa. McCue thought the truckway project could be self-financing as well as welcome to the people and businesses of the charming Ybor City area through which port-bound tractor-trailers rumbled by sidewalk cafes on the surface streets. The truckers would get the 2 miles or so between the port and I-4 in two minutes on the elevated toll truck lanes as compared to 15 minutes going traffic light to traffic light through downtown and Ybor City local streets. Most of the truckers would gladly pay the toll for the time and fuel savings.But McCue had been forced to abandon his plan for the trucklanes as a toll project. He'd had none other than supposed toll truckway enthusiast, Rep Don Young down to visit. McCue said he wanted Young, as a powerful US congressman to be informed about the project, which was the first in the country to put heavy trucks in their own exclusive roadway. He wasn't seeking federal grants to cover the construction. That could be financed with tolls.
I got the impression he wanted Young's praise and endorsement for the project. McCue is an innovator and he likes to be recognized as such. He deserves to be. He was the force behind the brilliant reversible elevated lanes on the Crosstown Expressway, and earlier the soaring Sunshine Skyway cable stayed bridge over the mouth of Tampa Bay.
He may also have wanted to land some small change for design work and some buzz in the departments in DC to accelerate permitting.
He was much too successful in selling the truckway project to Don Young.
I don't know if Pat McCue got a Don Young bearhug, but McCue told me that Young was beside himself with enthusiasm for the project. So much so he said he'd make sure it was fully funded by the federal government if McCue would drop the tolls and allow him to make it the centerpiece of a new federal pilot program. Young loved the truckway part of the project, but not the tolling. Indeed he would oppose the whole project if THEA continued to sponsor it as a toll project, he said. It had to be free.
McCue was somewhat dismayed since toll financing would allow the truckway to be built more easily and more quickly, and with more assurance of actually getting it done. But he could hardly persuade his board of directors to do tolls on the project if there was the prospect of federal grants conditioned on no-tolls.
I suspect McCue was also attracted to the idea of being the sponsor of the number one showpiece of the new federal pilot program for truckways being promised by Don Young.I think it's likely that Don Young was genuine in his enthusiasm for federal funding of the Tampa port truckway at the time he made those promises to Pat McCue. It is likely, also, he was also genuine in wanting a new "innovatory" federal truckway pilot program.
Somehow that program got aborted. The trucker lobbies were always divided on it. Reason was always firm that truckers should lose none of their existing rights to drive on free roads or free lanes, that the toll truckways should attract voluntary use by offering time savings, and heavier longer loads than the free lanes. On that basis the American Trucking Associations lobby in DC was initially supportive, but then turned against it, as mindless anti-toll thinking reasserted itself. Maybe they helped kill it.
Also it seems Don Young's support for any individual project is linked to local contributions to his campaign funds. Perhaps the businesses in Tampa and local truckers didn't cough up enough in checks at his breakfast or lunch there, so his staff put it low in a list of priorities. In any event no federal earmark grant as promised to McCue ever emerged for the port truckway.The political bearhug smothers good things.
If McCue had been able to proceed with toll financing of the truckway the big rigs would by now be rolling quietly down their exclusive lanes in three minute trips between I-40 and the port of Tampa. Thanks to Don Young's behind the scenes sabotage of THEA's toll financing the truckway remains only a plan and to this day the big rigs rumble and creak through the surface streets of Ybor City, stuck at one traffic signal after another.
The elevated truckway remains in permitting as a minor component of a much grander Florida DOT/FHWA scheme for a connector about ten lanes and four roadways wide. It remains unfunded - makework for lots of design and planning consultants, but, without tolls to finance it, all this is little help to truckers, the Port carriers, or the neighborhood.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-08-08