New stations to be launched in Gulf States

Preparations are underway to expand the al-Esayi Domestic and International Transportation services in all governorates of the republic.
Mr. Nadheer al-Shubi, al-Esayi’s Hodeidah-Branch Director said that the company has been seeking to expand its transportation stations to other Arab countries and that in the near future the al-Esayi Domestic and International Transportation Company is due to inaugurate its transportation stations in the Gulf States.
The Al-Esayi Domestic and International Transportation Company is considered one of the largest investment projects in Yemen and it is owned by Mohammed Ali Abdullah Al-Esayi. It was established on November 30, 2002 according to Investment Law No. 22 for the year 2002. The company has played a leading role in providing quality transportation services in all the governorates of the republic.

Mr. al-Shubi further noted that the company has been seeking to cope with the latest technologies and developed methods in order to enhance transportation services further.
Source :http://yementimes.com

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Transportation board seeks public input

Local governments might be doing something about Northern Virginia's traffic mess, and officials want to know if the people who drive the roads have anything to say about it.

Members of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority have greased the gears of bureaucracy and by next month could be borrowing $100 million to spend on roads and mass transit.

Residents will foot the bill via increased car rental taxes, hotel taxes, a car inspection fee increase or increased car registration fees. The NVTA could even implement a regional and unprecedented tax on vehicle repair services.

An NVTA vote on whether or not to levy seven different fees and taxes is expected July 12.

Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park officials are hosting a town hall meeting on Thursday when residents can offer their input on how to spend the $100 million.

"Part of it is to demonstrate to the public that we're here to do something," Prince William Supervisor Martin E. "Marty" Nohe, R-Coles.

He's helping host Thursday's meeting, where he hopes people will learn more about coming decisions that might ease some traffic jams in Northern Virginia.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Verizon Auditorium at George Mason University, Prince William Campus, 10900 University Blvd. in Manassas.

At 6:30 p.m. attendees can begin to sign up to make comments.

Each of Northern Virginia's nine jurisdictions is expected to vie for a piece of the $100 million.

Nohe said that Prince William County officials would like to spend their share of the money on four projects:

• Widen Prince William Parkway to six lanes in two different phases between Hoadly and Old Bridge, then Old Bridge and Minnieville roads.

• Extend Rollins Ford Road from its current terminus to Vint Hill Road.

• Build a park-and-ride lot just off U.S. 15 near Haymarket to help commuter bus service.

Parrish said building a Va. 28 overpass at the railroad tracks near Wellington Road is a major priority for the city --Virginia Railway Express is seeking some of the $100 million to pay for four to six new commuter train engines. New engines would allow for longer trains, meaning more room for passengers.

Earlier this year, the Virginia General Assembly approved a landmark

transportation bill that gives the NVTA the

authority to raise various fees and taxes to fund regional road projects.

If NVTA members approve the taxing plan next month, the NVTA can borrow money and start paying for road construction.

NVTA members are elected officials from nine Northern Virginia localities.

In the coming weeks NVTA members will be casting votes for or against raising money to pay for the $100 million bonds.

It's an all or nothing deal -- roughly two-thirds of the members must say yes to the taxing plan to initiate implementation. Without the two-thirds vote - which includes votes from jurisdictions representing two-thirds of the region's population - the money for transportation projects won't come.

"It's time to quit talking and start doing," said Hal Parrish, vice mayor of Manassas. He's the city's voting member on the NVTA.

Nohe represents Prince William County on the authority's board.

Both are interested in hearing what people have to say about the funding plan on Thursday. They're also eager to dispel fears that money collected in Northern Virginia could be spent to fund road projects in different parts of the state.

The NVTA would only spend the money in the jurisdiction where it's collected.

"We want to give our citizens the opportunity to learn because that's how rumor is dispelled and fear is dispelled," Parrish said. "What we want is the right information to be disseminated."
Source :http://www.potomacnews.com/

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Renewed lobbying to start for transportation money solution

Nearly every community in Georgia saw some of its road projects punted, from widening roads in the growing southern portion of Richmond County to reconstructing bridges in Chatham County.

And still, there is the concern that the funding shortfalls from last year will continue to grow and jeopardize more projects unless legislators agree on a fix.

Two ideas floated in the General Assembly this year for raising extra money failed to get enough support to go anywhere.

One would allow counties to band together to use money from special purpose local option sales tax program

With both of those bills stalled, legislators plan to meet in Atlanta on Thursday to figure out what to do next.

A joint transportation funding study committee will discuss the Georgia Department of Transportation's money woes and what, if any, legislation to recommend next year when legislators reconvene.

State Transportation Board Chairman Mike Evans is scheduled to talk to the study committee. Evans said he has met with Senate Transportation Chairman Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, a handful of times since the Legislature broke in late April.

"To me, this study committee will be the primary tool that we have for getting out the information surrounding the funding issue in Georgia for the next six or eight months," he said. "We need to do this right."

Evans said he was not surprised an issue of such magnitude needs time to build at the General Assembly, but he warned the shortfall is affecting projects and will have to be addressed soon.

Because of the projected $7.7 billion shortfall, the agency moved 510 road projects on its short-term building plan into the nebulous "long range" category, meaning they could come back onto the schedule later or hang around until enough money becomes available.

"It's impacting us seriously now," DOT Commissioner Harold Linnenkohl said. "These are good projects."

It will not be until later this year that DOT officials will reevaluate where they are with projected revenue for the next six years and decide whether more construction projects will have to be moved into long-range planning in order to balance the books.

Linnenkohl also said the state's maintenance and repaving program is underfunded, meaning that highways and roads needing to be resurfaced are getting put off.

The DOT's goal is to resurface 10 percent of the state's highways and roads every year. In recent years, the amount of repaving has been in the range of 5 to 6 percent. Currently, only about 3 percent are being repaved.

"We're falling behind now," Linnenkohl said. "We have an existing system we're unable to keep up with."

He said that any funding solution will have to have the Legislature's support. Linnenkohl, though vocal this year about the funding issues, has not officially supported any of the ideas that have been pitched.

Public support also might be required for some funding measures, especially in the case of a statewide sales tax increase to replace motor fuel taxes, which would need voter approval before being implemented.

One transportation board member said that proposal is unlikely to return next year.

"We don't think that the Legislature is going to touch the gas tax," said Bill Kuhlke, who represents the 10th Congressional District on the DOT's governing board. "They may put it out for a referendum, but they're not going to do anything."

The regional special purpose local option sales tax proposal might be easier to get through, Kuhlke said, but he added it could cause "tremendous political battles" between counties.
Source :http://new.savannahnow.com

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New transportation law paves road for growth

Gov. Rick Perry recently signed into law a statewide transportation bill which ensures Texas will continue to build needed roads and expands the powers of local transportation authorities to develop toll projects.

“I am proud to sign this legislation because it will help Texas build the roads we need to manage our state’s tremendous population growth,” Perry said. “Under this legislation, every planned road construction project will move forward as scheduled, local leaders will have more authority to build new toll roads and all toll revenue will be used for transportation projects in the area it was raised.”

Key provisions in SB 792 will:

• Ensure that local toll authorities have the first option to build new toll projects and may use state rights of way as needed.

• Require local toll authorities and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to agree to certain business terms, such as toll rates, when a project is first proposed and to perform a Market Valuation Study based on those terms to determine a road’s total value.

• Allow local toll authorities to propose that needed state roads be built as toll roads; currently, only TxDOT can initiate such a proposal.

This provision will allow more needed toll roads to be built sooner.

• Modify comprehensive development agreements (CDAs) by limiting CDAs to 50 years; mandating that the state’s future buyback cost be stipulated in the CDA; clarifying that competing tax roads cannot be built within four miles on either side of a CDA toll road; and requiring CDA revenue be used only for other projects in the region in which it is generated.

• Place a two year moratorium on some CDAs. Virtually all CDAs planned to be executed over the next two years were exempted from the moratorium by their local lawmakers.

• Allows TxDOT to issue $3 billion in bonds to borrow against future gas tax revenue. This provision will allow TxDOT to use these bonds as toll equity for state toll roads.

“What this bill really does is two things,” said Marc Shepherd, public information officer for TxDOT in Beaumont. “It puts a moratorium on private ownership, which will let TxDOT take a look and see if the new road is in the best interest of everyone.

“Secondly, it gives local entities more control and ownership of the toll roads,” he said.

Shepherd said all current projects already under construction will not be affected by the new bill’s moratorium or waiting period, but it will place a two year hold on some new construction.

“Traditionally, you have to wait for funding to be approved before you start construction,” Shepherd said. “But with toll roads, you can borrow funds and begin repaying once the toll road is in use.”

Shepherd recently spoke at a meeting of the Kiwanis Club in Orange. He gave the club members an update on the road systems in Texas.

“Over the next 25 years, the population is anticipated to increase 64 percent in Texas,” Shepherd said. “But our road systems will only increase by 6 percent. Tolling is one issue TxDOT will use to help fund new construction. If you do not have a strong road system, then transportation cannot grow and your economy cannot grow.”

Senate Bill 792 is a compromise bill lawmakers developed after the governor expressed concerns about House Bill 1892, a similar transportation measure Perry later vetoed. The new bill is effective immediately.
Source :http://www.orangeleader.com

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Transportation panel right to slow Geneva road project

To its credit, the Utah Transportation Commission refused this week to skew the state's critical highway-building priorities in favor of a pet project pushed by Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis.

In deciding how to spend the $1 billion that the Utah Legislature appropriated this year for roads, the commission wisely declined to commit $100 million to build a roadway across the former Geneva Steel property in Utah County. Not that the Vineyard Connector between I-15 and Utah Lake is necessarily a bad idea. It will, when completed, serve as an alternative to I-15 congestion and as an alternate route when the interstate is eventually reconstructed.
It's just that fully funding a road when work on a federally mandated environmental impact statement hasn't even begun is incautious and unnecessary. Instead, the commission set aside $30 million to pay for the impact statement and land for the highway corridor, which will cut across an 1,800-acre parcel of real estate where Anderson Development plans to build a mixed-use project. Anderson had hoped to see the highway fully funded this year so definitive plans for its project could be completed and presented to local elected officials as a certainty.
Curtis was involved in the back-room effort to fast-track the roadway ahead of projects that already had been thoroughly evaluated by the Utah Department of Transportation and ranked by priority.

Curtis has listed Anderson Development on his legislative conflict-of-interest form. But, in the just-trust-me world of the Utah Legislature, that doesn't mean lawmakers can't go right ahead and act in their own self-interest or that of a well-heeled client, public perception and good public policy be damned.
We are not prepared to pass judgment on the relative merits of all of the Transportation Commission's decisions regarding the $1 billion Critical Highway Needs Fund passed by the Legislature with virtually no public debate. But in the case of the Vineyard Connector, the commission essentially stood up to the bully-boy blandishments of the House speaker and a few of his cohorts and did the right thing.
Source :http://www.sltrib.com

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Pennsylvania House plans offer alternatives for transportation funding

A plan unveiled this week in Pennsylvania would add tolls on all the state’s major interstates. Truckers would be called on to provide the bulk of revenues.

A separate plan would rely on taxes, fees and tolling one major route in the state.


Two House Republicans have called for placing tolls on Interstates 78, 79, 80, 81 and 95 during the next several years to eventually generate $800 million annually. The revenue would be earmarked for road and bridge work and mass transit systems.

Reps. Scott Petri of New Hope and Doug Reichley of Emmaus said their plan would help eat into the state’s $1.7 billion a year transportation shortfall without raising taxes or leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a private group, The Patriot News reported.

Petri said he is hopeful the tolls could be structured to force trucks and other travelers to foot most of the bill.

Gov. Ed Rendell has called for leasing the 530-mile turnpike to private investors and imposing a tax on oil company operations to help pay for transportation projects. The Democratic governor said a lease deal could net the state $965 million a year for roads and bridges. The tax on oil company profits could add $760 million annually for mass transit.

That plan has won few supporters among lawmakers, including many House Democrats who released their alternative this week. Their plan includes raising fees and fuel taxes, adding tolls on I-80, as well as borrowing against future toll increases on the turnpike.

Democrats say their plan could raise $1.8 billion by 2012.

House lawmakers are expected to vote on a compromise version of the plans as early as Monday, June 25.

Source : http://www.landlinemag.com

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Transportation department assures that drivers from Mexico meet requirements

I'd like to take a moment to weigh in on Jessie William's column summarizing online comment boards -- specifically with regard to a comment on the U.S. Department of Transportation's cross-border trucking demonstration program, "Readers weigh in on ICE office" on May 5.

Under the program, Mexican carriers and drivers are held to the same safety standards as U.S. carriers and drivers.

We have U.S. inspections teams in Mexico verifying that every participating carrier meets the same requirements that apply to U.S. truckers, including: driver training, verification of a U.S. insurance policy, full compliance with hours-of-service regulations, vehicle maintenance, the ability to communicate in English, and drug and alcohol testing. Every inspected carrier has sent its drivers to U.S. labs to collect samples and conduct these tests.

The inspectors also conduct a full, 38-point, front-to-back inspection on every vehicle that the carrier intends to use in the United States.

So far, 27 carriers have passed this inspection, accounting for approximately 150 vehicles. This program will be capped at 100 carriers. As such, it's difficult to imagine a scenario with "more than 5,000 Mexican trucks."

This program will allow U.S. carriers to expand their businesses into Mexico for the first time ever, beginning at the same time that Mexican trucks are allowed to operate beyond the U.S. border areas. These opportunities put the program on track to lower costs for U.S. consumers and make our economy more competitive.

John H. Hill is administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Both of my children gained valuable educations at Aims Community College

According to the Tribune's May 18 editorial, "Aims Community College will be more 'on course' if it offers more vocational degrees and certificates, and fewer transfer degrees." As a parent of two Aims graduates, I fail to understand the logic of the editorial.

My daughter is just completing an Associate of Applied Science in graphic design. She learned up-to-the-minute software and will soon start an internship in her field. My son, on the other hand, earned an Associate of Science Degree and transferred to Colorado State University where he earned a bachelor's degree in computer science. He's now a software developer at Raytheon. He never complained about his Aims education. Quite the contrary. The courses he took there in calculus, physics and C++ gave him a firm foundation for his upper-division coursework at CSU in artificial intelligence and genetic algorithms.

For some reason, Aims' well-documented ability to prepare engineering and computer science students so that they compete favorably at CSU, the University of Colorado and the Colorado School of Mines is a secret in this community.

I'm proud of both my children and very happy with the education they both received. According to the editorial, what my daughter did at Aims was more "on course" than what my son did. As a parent, I cannot understand why on earth one is better than the other.

Source : http://www.greeleytrib.com

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