personnel

Rick Nelson a 23 year veteran of operations at Florida's Turnpike has been suddenly laid off. Last week he got words to the effect "Your services are no longer needed, effective immediately." Nelson was not given any reason for the dismissal. He tells us he doesn't know and doesn't think it useful to speculate, or even to dwell privately on why he might have been put off.

New Jersey Turnpike operations veteran and implementer of several electronic toll systems Fran O'Connor has left ETCC for Atkins where his job description is principal project director, national tolls sector. He'll continue to be based in Edison NJ.

RS&H (Reynolds Smith & Hills) have appointed two new vice-presidents to their tolls practice. The new hires are Kevin Hoeflich and Jerry Ramos both from Atkins/PBS&J. They join the company soon after it lost well known toll figure Max Crumit.

Longtime PBS&J consultant Max Crumit is an interim executive director (ED). Crumit will run the tumultuous Orlando toll agency for about six months while a search is made for a permanent ED - if OOCEA (Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority) survives as an independent entity. There are strong moves for Florida Turnpike Enterprise to take over the Orlando tollroads along with Tampa's.

The Ohio Turnpike has a new chief executive. Richard Hodges, 48 currently a lobbyist for the state workers compensation bureau was approved for the position of executive director in a four to zero vote of the state Turnpike Commission at a special meeting today. Like George Distel his predecessor Hodges is a former politician who had seven years in the state House. But unlike Distel a Democrat, Hodges is a Republican.

HTS Ltd (Hi-Tech Solutions) of Rishon, Israel, a major player worldwide in optical character recognition (OCR) recently opened a wholly owned subsidiary in New York -  HTS Americas. From  there they plan to support their growing business in north, central and south America.

Jorge Figueredo a well known figure in the toll industry is now Atkins' tolls business sector manager responsible for the company’s "transportation, tolling and user-financed initiatives" in North America. He was chosen for the job after what the company calls an international search.

Stacia ('Stacey') Ritter, a semior state house staffer for several years is the new director of government affairs at the Pennsylvania Turnpike, her appointment being announced today. She moves into a position made vacant by Craig Shuey, when he was promoted to chief operating officer of the Turnpike early this year.

Former US secretary of  transportation Rodney Slater has been appointed to the board of directors of WS Atkins plc, the international engineering firm. They call him a 'non-executive director' apparently meaning he has no line responsibilities but is available for advice and gets to vote on matters brought to the board.

Although only 40, Joe Orlando seems to have been at the New Jersey Turnpike forever. Now he has joined the "marketing/communications" firm Winning Strategies in Newark as a VP.