Rhode Island joining E-ZPass and has back office RFP out

Rhode Island Turnpike & Bridge Authority (RITBA) is joining the E-ZPass interagency group (IAG) as an associate member, and is in the middle of an electronic toll systems procurement. Telvent Caseta got the $1.8m contract a few weeks ago for front end work, beating TRMI, Intrans and Transtoll.

They'll install and integrate front end systems for 12 lanes equivalent (ten real lanes, two being double covered superwide lanes).

RITBA has an RFP out now for the back office end of electronic tolling - an Account Management System and Customer Service Center.

Timetable:

RFP May 8
Pre-bid meeting May 22
Proposals June 9
Selection June 25

Contract term:

3 years, option to extend 2 more years

RITBA operates two major suspension bridges in Rhode Island:

- Newport Bridge between Newport and Jamestown, formally the Claiborne Pell Bridge

- Mt Hope Bridge between Bristol and Portsmouth, a bridge financed and operated by the private Mount Hope Bridge Company under state charter 1929 to 1955 when it fell into state hands and was de-tolled

The T in RITBA isn't yet justified. The authority doesn't yet operate any Turnpike. And it only operates the one toll bridge.

RITBA collected $12.1m in tolls on about 27k trips/day over the Newport Bridge. It uses the surplus from the tolled bridge to pay for the upkeep of the now untolled Mt Hope Bridge.

Toll rates at $1/axle on the Newport Bridge have remained frozen since the bridge opened in 1969. A dollar in 1969 buys just 17c today due to inflation in the last 38 years.

Since 1999 commuters and other frequent users have been able to get a discounted toll on the Newport Bridge by buying rolls of tokens sold in rolls of 11 or 60. 78% of the traffic now pays with tokens. With electronic tolling the tokens will be discontinued and the discounts built into tolling with a transponder account.

PB report

A recent Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) report on financial options says RITBA needs to do over $223m of rehabilitation spending that is not supported by present net toll revenues. The report looks at various measures that would close the financial gap the most significant of which are:

- reinstituting tolls on the Mount Hope Bridge $91m

- five yearly toll increases $149m

- higher seasonal tolls $212m

The report didn't look at cashless all-electronic tolling, or concessioning the bridges.

The Newport Bridge at 38 years old needs major deck work and anti-corrosion cleaning and repainting. PB recommends over 20 years $260m spent on the Newport Bridge and $85m on the Mt Hope Bridge, or $345m total.

PB's analysts used both trend analysis, exponential smoothing, and no-growth to give alternative traffic forecasts. The trend gives 2027 daily traffic of 44.7k, and exponential smoothing only 33.7k compared to 28.2k now - 59% growth and 20% growth.

Rhode Island's population and tourism have stagnated in the past several years (high taxes?) and the trend projection is therefore rejected. A conservative baseline chosen is no-growth with the exponential smoothing forecast as a possible high forecast.

No growth has its costs - the capital costs have to be spread over a smaller number of motorists and the financial gap is 5% larger than with the smoothed exponential growth.

Statewide funding study commission

Buddy Croft exec-director of RITBA says the PB report and financial options for the authority will be considered in the course of this year by a broader statewide DOT-led commission studying the future of all transport funding in Rhode Island.

Hopefully RITBA will given the go-ahead for some real tolls, and be assigned a turnpike or two so it can live up to its title.

http://www.ritba.org/

TOLLROADSnews 2008-05-19