Phase two study-I-80 tolling.

WORKING DRAFT

ORIGINAL HOUSE

BILL

NO.
0179

ENROLLED ACT NO. 111, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTIETH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WYOMING
2009 GENERAL SESSION

AN ACT relating to
highway funding; requiring a phase two study of tolling on interstate 80;
and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of
Wyoming
:

Section 1.

(a)

The
Wyoming
department of transportation shall conduct
,
or
contract with
other persons to conduct
,
a study of tolling on
Wyoming
's portion of interstate 80. The study shall be a follow-up to the phase one
tolling
study completed in th
e fall of 2008 and
,
in addition to other pertinent issues, shall consider
the following issues
as they relate to
the implementation of
the
tolling
and improvement
scenarios
listed below:

(i)

Roadway safety enhancements
;

(ii)

Constructing
additional lanes
to be shared by all vehicles;

(iii)

Constructing
additional lanes that would be restricted to certain vehicles.

(b)

The following issues shall be reviewed:

(i)

Refine the roadway concept
.

This task shall provide
a more detailed des
cription of the roadway under
the
specific
improvement
scenario
s

listed
in paragraphs (a)(i) through (iii) of this section.
It shall
enta
il a review of the corridor,
identify areas where the roadway footprint and associated costs could be reduced while m
eeting the
improvement
objectives
and where appropriate, shall
utilize cost estimates from
the

Wyoming
department of transportation
's engineering programs
, including
bridge, pr
oject development, right
-
of
-
way and
utilities
programs.
This task shall

identify and highlight any
safety
improvements that expansion may
provide,
identify
safety enhancements from tolling operations
including
addi
tional patrols and enforcement,
and
provide information on developing
a strategy to
gain federal approval under
applicable federal programs
that require
applications;

(ii
)

Refine the tolling concept
.
In conjunction with paragraph
(
a)
(i)

of this
section
, this task
shall
analyze staging for tolling implementation to assess options for potential precompletion tolling, which
, in addition to financing, may
provide early cash flow for construction. This
task shall
include a review of the number and location of tolling points needed to maximize revenue while minimizing operations costs
and inconvenience to the public
;

(iii)

Fiscal
and other impacts analysis
.
This task shall
asse
ss
the
impacts arising from tolling
, including how t
raffic diversion related
to tolling may
affect local businesses and change regional
and state economic metrics. The
impacts anal
ysis
shall
include analyses of state and f
ederal fuel tax, sales tax and other tax revenue
s
as well as likely impacts to businesses operating along the
I-80
corridor.
The
review
also shall be conducted
on
the
impact
of toll diversion on ann
ual roadway maintenance outlays including
the net effect to wear and tear on I-80 d
ue to reduced truck traffic;

(iv
)

F
ederal funding impacts
.

This task shall
assess concerns
over
loss of interstate maintenance f
unding
and potential impacts to other fede
ral highway funding allocations
for each improvement scenario
. This task shall
clearly document the issues and
provide
potential strategies
for
minimizing the loss of any
funding
. This task shall provide
information needed for discus
sions with the federal highway a
dministration regarding federal toll
ing programs that could meet
goals for I-80;

(
v
)

D
efine financing scenarios
.
In the wake of the recent financia
l market crisis, this task shall
review all financing assumptio
ns, including the ability
and need
of

Wyoming

to provide
additional financial assurance
for
any debt, the
availability of bond insurance
and
the likelihood that investment-grade ratings can
be obtained. This task also
shall
consider
the cost of the debt
plus a projection of operation costs to be used to derive a "breakeven" toll schedule for each improvement scenario
;

(vi
)

Public outreach
.
This task shall require the departmen
t or persons retained by the departm
ent to present tolling concepts,
including informatio
n gathered pursuant to this act,

to the public and to stakeholders through
outr
each
, education and
focus groups. One
(1)
goal of this task
shall be to
gather and understand t
he concerns of all stakeholders
and provide
accurate
information
to stakeholders and the public

so
as

to
avoid reactions based on insufficient or inaccurate information
;

(vii
)

Review of tolling technology
.
A basic electronic toll
c
ollection/cash opera
tion has been modeled in phase one
but other
potential
technology
shall
be evaluated for use on I-80.

Section 2.

The phase two study required by section 1 of this act shall be comple
ted on or before
September
1
, 2009
and a copy of the r
eport shall be provided to the joint transportation, highways
and
m
ilitary
a
ffairs
interim c
ommittee
on or before that date
.

Section 3.

The
Wyoming
department of transportation shall implement the study and report required in section 1 of this act using federal highway planning funds.

Section
4
.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the House.

Chief Clerk

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