The public agency responsible for operating California’s largest network of toll roads is now looking to federal taxpayers for financial help. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) have asked the US Department of Transportation for a record $1.1b in TIFIA loan support to avoid collapse. TCA’s 51-mile system of roads generated $294m in yearly revenue. Now, motorists hammered by record gasoline prices have decided to save money by avoiding the 73, 133, 241 and 261 toll routes. Still, as late as June, TCA officials insisted that their public-private partnership model protected taxpayers. “The toll roads are designed and built with proceeds from the sale of toll revenue bonds, which are repaid entirely by tolls collected on the completed road,” TCA spokesman Jennifer Seaton wrote in an email to TheNewspaper. “No tax dollars are at stake.” The construction cost of the TCA toll roads was $1.7b. Since 1998, TCA has also levied $420m through developer fees that are passed on to taxpayers. Around 23 percent of the money collected from drivers so far has gone solely to cover the expenses required to run the collection systems, according to a report by the Washington state Department of Transportation (read report). By comparison, collection cost for the state’s eighteen-cent fuel excise tax is just 0.69 percent.
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If these guys get a bailout, it’s time for Americans to openly rebel.
Why don’t they go to f’ing hollywood for this money? Why should I pay for CA roads if CA doesn’t buy cars made by GM?
F*** California
What, only 23%?!?
You guys in California can do better than that. Here in Illinois (don’t forget to pronounce the s at the end) we spend at least 60% of our tolls on running the toll road.
I mean where are all the precinct captains going to get jobs? Can’t be Police or Fireman anymore, so that is why god created tollway authorities.
I find it disturbing that California is only spending 23% collecting the tolls. They need to shape up and recognize all the money they are leaving on the table. Then the Feds will HAVE to give you money. A win-win for everyone.
According to the source article, toll road revenue worldwide is between 10-13% less than some unspecified time in the past, but no numbers were cited for CA. So where does the $1b need come from?
Where is the accountability for this?
And $85mm to run a collection system for toll revenue, a system that should be automated?? Who got the contract for that?
Usual politics in play here. No better than GM or LAUSD.
Please, everyone, do not re-elect incumbent candidates. This is what you get.
Seriously? This is fer-reel? $1B? For what?
From where I’m sitting:
Total construction cost = $1.7B
Taxpayer “donations” = $400M
Driver yearly “donation” = $300M
Toll road annual cost = $75M
Number of years in operation = 9
So, for 2008 the tally should look like this:
$0.4B + ($0.3B – $0.08M) * 9- $1.7B = +$0.68B
By these over-simplified calculations, TCA is up something more than 500 million dollars so far.
What, exactly, is getting bailed out here????
This is why toll roads are a Bad Idea®. We learned the hard way in CT when a bridge fell into the Mianus river and had a few horrific toll plaza crashes. The money collected over the years found its way into the general fund and was pissed away.
Of course enough years have gone by that Hartford has been floating the idea of reinstating the tolls.
Oh yeah, don’t even get me started on privatization, a very expensive lesson on that is being learned right now.
Why should I pay for CA roads if CA doesn’t buy cars made by GM?
I bought two. Does that help?
But seriously, privatization of highways is stupid. So let’s fix it. Take the whole Orange County system by eminent domain and put it in public hands where it belongs.
These are beautiful roads, albeit infested by police. They also are routed for real gains in transit times between key points around OC and to neighboring counties. And still, they are under-used while the I-5/I-405/91 corridors remain congested. TCA hit a price wall with the public from first ribbon-cutting, so we’re seeing that at least in California, people value dollars over their time.
Phil
Mianus? Is that for real? As in, “I am going to launch a canoe in Mianus”
The article is only telling part of the story. I live in Orange County and I drive on the 241 on a daily basis. I also take 133 routinely as work requires. The 241 and 133 have seen a huge up-tick in usage since the gas price increases. The roads, while a toll road, offer a signficantly faster travel time and offer shorter travel distances. The 241 toll road shaves 20 miles and 30 minutes off of my commute.
It’s not 133, 241 or 261 that are the problem, but rather 73. A recent article in the Orange County register noted that the 73 was in financial trouble, not 133, 241 and 261:
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1678840.php
These are beautiful roads, albeit infested by police.
This is only a recent phenomenom. CHP was never seen on the 241 until a year ago. Following that time, I routinely observed 3 to 5 CHP between a 3 to 5 mile stretch of road (Lake Forest to the 133) and another 2 to 4 just a few more miles up the road (Santiago Canyon to the toll plaza near 91). All within 15 minutes of driving.
Recently, however, I have only spotted 1 or 2 along my entire commute, even then it is not a daily occurence as it used to be.
ktm :
October 17th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
It’s not 133, 241 or 261 that are the problem, but rather 73. A recent article in the Orange County register noted that the 73 was in financial trouble, not 133, 241 and 261:
I’m surprised, since the 73 bypass the terrifying 26-lane-wide El Toro Y. A friend of mine worked at the toll collection booth there for a while…a lot of money goes through there. But not enough, I guess.
They just raised the bridge tolls from 3 to 4 dollars in the Philly area and are going up another buck next year. After that, annual increases of a smaller number.
So after long dogging the commuters twice they promise to only wiggle a little.
75% of revenue goes towards salary and benefits of the bridge authority. Large amounts of revenue were spent dredging the river rather than charging the shipping companies (can’t scare away business you know) and also for waterfront development. I guess the development was a bad investment requiring tolls taken from drivers to make it viable.
The bridges are in sad shape, so they tell us the increase is for repairs. they have 35 million in the bank, of course that is called an emergency fund and can’t be spent. Their emergency, not yours.
The people on the board are all connected politicians and lawyers. Surprised?
Phil said, “These are beautiful roads, albeit infested by police.”
Well, there’s the revenue problem right there. On weekends and holidays abolish the speed limit, get rid of the cops and sell franchises to private ambulance services and wrecker haulers. Half of southern California will come to see what their cars can do; the other half will come to watch the carnage.
How’d that privatization/deregulation thing work out for you?
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I never understood WHY tolls here were so cheap. I’ve driven long distance in both mexico & brazil and tolls can be 20x as expensive….