Who Does the Better Job of Removing Snow?

The 2009-2010 winter season in the U.S. has produced some huge snowfalls in places that typically don’t get very much snow. Consequently, snow has been a big NEWS STORY in cities like Washington, DC (56 inches), Philadelphia (73 inches), Baltimore (80 inches) and a host of other areas that normally receive relatively lighter snowfall in winter. Indeed, the U.S. government closed federal offices in the Washington, DC area for four consecutive days during a recent sequence of storms that dropped more than two feet of snow in some places.

In last week’s question, we mentioned studies that confirm the thesis that tolled facilities generally have a better safety record than non-tolled facilities. Do tolled facilities also have a better record in their ability to remove snow? Who gets down to the pavement faster? The maintenance crew of a toll agency or the comparable crew of a city or state department of transportation? And, if toll agencies have an advantage, what is the reason for this advantage? Please share your experiences and, if you have it, data.

What Can We Do to Improve Road Safety?

In January, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced new distracted driving restrictions on commercial truck and bus drivers. Every Transportation Secretary puts safety at the top of his or her agenda, and the distracted driving initiative seems to be the latest version of that tendency. Yet, no matter what people say or do, the number of fatalities on American highways stays about the same every year.

Recent studies demonstrate that the toll industry has a better record for safety and fatalities than non-tolled facilities. (See: "Toll vs. Non Toll: Toll Facilities are Safer.") While this may be comforting to some, it is still not sufficient cause for rejoicing when we know that more than 40,000 people die on U.S. highways every year and a comparable number die each year on roads in the European Union.

What can we do to significantly improve safety and reduce fatalities on highways around the world? What strategies and techniques will help us continue to eek out incremental improvements? And what changes (in mindset, psychology, operator behavior, roadway design, vehicle design, communications, etc.) will help us make one giant leap for humankind?

What Improvements Would You Like to See in Access to Capital?

One of the more salient features of the current economic crisis is access to capital. For many toll agencies and concessionaires, access to capital is a huge challenge, punctuated by the dramatic weakening or collapse of some of the largest lenders, insurers, brokers, and related financial institutions in the world. Aggravating the situation in the U.S. is a shift in policy affecting some governmental lending programs, such as the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) and other credit enhancement programs.

Another aggravating factor is the way in which the toll industry may be perceived by capital markets today. Before 2008, many lenders saw the tolling sector as a safe haven because traffic seemed to grow regularly and at a higher rate than GDP. Now, lenders may perceive traffic forecasts as less reliable than before and tolling may appear to be as volatile as other sectors of the economy. Lenders are comparing the tolling business to other sectors, and parameters such as return on investment (ROI) and long-term stability will drive their choices.

What improvements would you like to see in access to capital? What changes should the federal government make to TIFIA and the Build America Bond programs that would help toll agencies have better access to capital? Looking internally, what changes should tolling agencies make to their own business models and practices to become more attractive to lenders? What other changes, external or internal to tolling, would make the capital markets more responsive to toll agencies?

How Are You Coping and Responding to the Economic Crisis?

In the last three weeks of this blog, we have focused on the issues of interoperability of electronic toll collection and vehicle miles traveled charging. This week, we take a broader look at the world economic situation, its effects on individual companies and transportation agencies, and what you have done to respond in the face of crisis.

It has been nearly 18 months since the onset of the global financial crisis. Many businesses have had to dramatically reduce expenses, layoff employees, cut back on plans for major capital improvements or expansion, and abolish whole departments and business lines. Many toll agencies have seen declines in VMT and toll revenues. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“stimulus”) and similar interventions in other countries around the world have brought some measure of relief to individuals and companies hard hit by the global recession. But much remains to be done before large parts of our world experience the hoped-for recovery.

Since the onset of the crisis, what has happened in your organization and your business? How are you coping? What new approaches and strategies have you embraced that seem to be working? What are the lessons learned? What is the silver lining in the dark clouds? What are your hopes and plans for the future?