Toll Roads & Transportation Mobility

Orange County, CA Model / TCA Experience

Western Region County Engineers Symposium

November 3-5, 2010

Sam Elters, Chief Engineer

22

Presentation Outline

History of Agency + Existing System Planning, Financing & Construction Environmental Program System Operation

System Completion Planning, Financing & Construction Status Update:

– Engineering– Environmental Regulations– Financing– Leglislation SB 375 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Sustainable Communities Strategy

33

Why the TCA’s were created

44

Orange County’s Growing Need

Planned

Pacific

Coast

Freeway

• County population doubled between 1967

and 2000 from 1.4 to 2.8 million

• Regional growth was also expanding rapidly

• 4 miles of new freeway was to be added to

the 132 mile county freeway system.

• A planned route along the coast was dropped

by State planners.

• County planners then developed plans for

three new “transportation corridors”

• San Diego & Orange County are the 2nd and

3rd most populous counties in the State.

• Weekday traffic is projected to increase at

the San Diego/Orange County line by 60% in

next 25 years.

• The regional economy is dependent on the

free flow of traffic and goods.

55

Major employment destinations in central OC (orange) are matched with origins (green) in south county and the Inland Empire

Major ports (L.A., Long

Beach and San Diego)

International border

Regional Job Centers and Residential Communities

66

Transportation Corridor System Map

County developed two

Developer Impact Fee (DIF)

Programs designed to pay for

½ of transportation corridors.

Fee programs based on “Area

of Benefit”

In 1986, the County and Cities

within the AOB created the

Foothill/Eastern Transportation

Corridor Agency and San

Joaquin Hills Transportation

Corridor Agency

Created as Joint Powers

Authorities pursuant to CA

Govt. Code Section 6500

77

Toll Roads or No Roads

Transportation Corridors were not originally

planned to be tolled

State Gas Tax Dollars Dwindle

– More Fuel Efficient Vehicles – Less Gas

Tax Revenue

– Aging Highway System – Higher

Maintenance Costs

– Tax dollars being shifted to other uses

Besides the DIF Program, the Agencies

needed another way to secure the balance of

Corridor financing

In 1987 Agency sought and obtained

legislation (SB 1413) allowing it to collect

tolls.

88

Benefit of Tolling The System

Private investment in public

Infrastructure

TCA issues bonds backed by

future toll revenues and

development impact fees

Taxpayers are not responsible

for repaying the debt if

revenues fall short

The roads are built with

virtually no taxpayer dollars but

are owned and maintained by

Caltrans.

99

Project History – A Unique,

Collaborative Effort

Local Government

Local Developers

State

Federal

First design/build

public toll roads built

in the United States

1010

Agency Membership

San Joaquin Hills

County of Orange (Districts 3 & 5)

Costa Mesa

Dana Point

Irvine

Laguna Hills

Laguna Niguel

Mission Viejo

Newport Beach

San Clemente

San Juan Capistrano

Santa Ana

Foothill/Eastern

County of Orange (Districts 3, 4 & 5)

Anaheim

Dana Point

Lake Forest

Mission Viejo

Orange

Rancho Santa Margarita

San Clemente

San Juan Capistrano

Santa Ana

Tustin

Yorba Linda

Aliso Viejo

Laguna Woods

Irvine

Caltrans, Ex Officio Caltrans, Ex Officio

1111

The System

51 miles -- part of the 140 mile state highway system in Orange County

Toll Roads are 20% of Orange County’s highway miles

Owned and maintained by Caltrans

250,000 Transactions per weekday (nearly 200,000 trips a day)

Patrolled by the CHP

Become freeways when bonds are paid off

2,000 Acres of native habitat set aside and restored in association with road planning

1212

Foothill Corridor

Foothill (12 miles): opened in 1993/1999

– One mainline toll plaza and seven

ramp toll plazas

– Convenient alternative to clogged

surface streets and I-5/I-405

congestion

– Connects planned communities in

south-east Orange County to central

Orange County employment centers

– Planned 16 mile extension (Foothill-

South) will provide a much needed

alternative route to South Orange

County and north San Diego County

beach cities

1313

San Joaquin Hills Corridor

San Joaquin Hills (15 miles):

opened in 1996

– One mainline toll plaza and

five ramp toll plazas

– I-5/I-405 reliever road for

north/south travel

– Commuter road serving

South Orange County

residents working in

Irvine/Costa Mesa/Newport

Beach

1414

Eastern Corridor

Eastern (24 miles): opened in 1998

– Three mainline toll plazas and three

ramp toll plazas

– Principally a commuter road linking

residential Riverside and San

Bernardino Counties (“Inland Empire”)

with job centers in Orange County

– Land use and demographic patterns

suggest significant future traffic growth

– While Inland Empire commuters reflect

lower socioeconomic demographics,

they also face some of the worst traffic

in Southern California on SR91

1515

Ongoing Improvements and

System Enhancements

1616

16

Ongoing Improvements and System Enhancements

1717

SR 73 Environmental Mitigation Program

15 Mile Toll Road in Coastal OC

Environmental Mitigation - $21.9M

– CSS, Wetlands, Oak Woodlands

Coastal NCCP Funding - $3.7M

Wildlife Crossings

– Construction of 6 bridge crossings

Cowbird Trapping

– Monitoring in perpetuity

300 Mitigation Measures – project specific mitigation measures to minimize/reduce significant effects on the environment

Project Design Features (PDFs) – specific design elements incorporated into the project

Standard Conditions and Requirements – compliance with local, State or federal regulations and laws

17

1818

SR 73 - Upper Bonita Creek – 1996 vs 2000

18

1919

SR 241 Environmental Mitigation Program

36 Mile Toll Road in Central OC

Environmental Mitigation – $58.8M

– CSS, Wetlands, Oak Woodlands

Central NCCP Funding - $2.9M

Wildlife Crossings

– Construction of 7 bridge crossings

Cowbird Trapping

– Monitoring in perpetuity

182 Mitigation Measures – project specific mitigation measures to minimize/reduce significant effects on the environment

Project Design Features (PDFs) – specific design elements incorporated into the project

Standard Conditions and Requirements – compliance with local, State or federal regulations and laws

19

2020

The Toll Roads Record of Success

Environmental program - $224.6M

Over 2,000 acres of habitat restored and preserved as open space

Compatible with Orange County NCCP/HCP Habitat Reserves

Reduces region’s GHG

Carbon sequestration

Redundancy in transportation system

20

2121

Operation Basics

Upon opening to traffic, Caltrans accepted highways into their system

Caltrans maintains roadways, bridges, landscaping, etc.

TCA retains permits to collect tolls

TCA maintains and staff toll facilities

21

2222

Closed Barrier System

2323

San Joaquin Hills Tolling Concept

“conventional closed barrier tolling system”

2424

Ability to accept cash or FasTrak

Ability to handle high volumes of traffic

FasTrak patrons continue at high speeds

Minimize toll collection costs

Minimize toll plaza and ramp infrastructure

First in California to introduce FasTrak®

– Statewide standard

– FasTrak is a TCA registered

trademark

Closed Barrier System

2525

Use of New Technologies

In 1993, F/E was the first toll road in the nation to

install a high speed electronic toll collection system

– Automated Vehicle Identification (“AVI”) use

on the TCA roads currently accounts for 66-

87% of all transactions depending on the

road, direction of travel and time of day

FasTrak transponders are part of an interoperable

system with all other California tolling

authorities/agencies (e.g. Orange County

Transportation Authority, Bay Area Toll Authority,

South Bay Expressway, etc.)

FasTrak enables the TCA to continue to develop

and expand its congestion pricing program and

video tolling

– Cash vs. FasTrak

– Peak vs. Non-Peak

TCA is committed to remaining a leader in

implementing technology advancements

2626

Trends in Tolling

Business Models

– Manual Toll Collection

– Electronic Toll Collection

– All Electronic Tolling

Manual and Electronic Toll Collection

Models

Manual: Toll plaza, booths, lane

equipment, booth attendants, cash

processing, back office

Electronic: ETC Lane and

transponder equipment, free-flow

lanes, call center, back office

2727

Transponders

1990’s Radio frequency based transponders

2000’s “Sticker Tags”

2828

28

Distribution of Transponder Technologies

2929

29

All Electronic Toll Collection

Examples

– North Texas Tollway Authority (Dallas)

– 407 ETR (Toronto)

– E-470 Public Highway Authority (Denver)

– Florida Turnpike Enterprise (Florida)

– Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (Florida)

– Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority (Florida)

– Illinois Tollway (Chicago Metro Area)

3030

Emerging Technologies

Transponders

Novel payment methods

License plate tolling (optical character recognition & cameras)

Multiple gantry technologies

Switchable transponders

– RFID Technology

– Application for HOT lanes

– Multi-capability for patrons

5.9GHz DSRC transponders

– Dedicated Short Range Communications band

– Future federal on-road communications network

– Driver safety alerts and conditions, congestion improvement, screening, and tolling

3131

Recent Toll Collection Improvements

Novel Payment Methods

– Pre-Paid Cards

– Cell Phone

Improvements to Cameras

– Faster, higher resolution

– Sensitive to low light conditions

– Higher performance and better image quality

– Expect continued improvement in the future

Improvements to Optical Character Recognition

– Higher accuracy under different conditions

– Learning algorithms and neural networks

– Expect continued improvement in the future

3232

All Electronic Tolling

Why is All Electronic Tolling the future?

– Safety

– Environment

– Speed

– Service

– Savings

Multiple gantry implementations for AET

E-470 Tollway

3333

Successes

TCA financing model allowed Orange County

to create significant infrastructure without

reliance on traditional funding sources

SJHTC was the first design/build

transportation project in California.

Several obstacles overcome including

financial, litigation and Coastal Commission

Concept of highway tolling has been

accepted into the OC’s everyday lifestyle.

TCA highways built in an environmentally

sensitive manner

250,000+ trips per day now use the TCA toll

road system.

3434

Challenges

Traffic forecasting

Weathering recessions

Increasing environmental regulations

Competing with toll-free State Highway

system

3535

Foothill-South

8 Alternatives

3636

Foothill-South

Green Alignment

Relieves traffic on I-5 and arterial

intersections

Avoids sensitive wetlands

Allows for wildlife connectivity

Does not displace homes or businesses

Water treatment system

3737

Foothill-South

Traffic Improvement 2025

No Action Alignment

3838

Foothill-South

EIS & ROD Approval Process

1999 - 2005 – Federal and State Transportation and

Resource Agency Collaborative Process – Evaluated 24

alternatives

2005 -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers conclude that “Green Alignment”

is the Preliminary Least Environmentally Damaging

Alternative

2006 – After 25 years of planning, study and public input,

Foothill/Eastern Board of Directors approves the EIR and

selects Green Alignment

February 2008 – California Coastal Commission objects to

the TCA’s federal Coastal Zone Management Act

consistency certification

February 2008 – TCA appeals Coastal Commission objection to Secretary of Commerce.

April 2008 – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues Endangered Species Act approval

May 2008 – California Department of Fish and Game approves permit for Project

December 2008 – Secretary of Commerce upholds Coastal Commission objection

3939

USMC

CAMP PENDLETON

40

4141

241 Completion Project

January 2009 – TCA public outreach

Avoids/Minimizes Environmental Impacts:

– Maximum 6 lanes

– Avoids wetlands – alignment shifted east

– Avoids crossing ecological reserve area

– Bridges over San Juan and San Mateo Creeks allowing unobstructed water flow, continued wildlife movement

Reduced number of column structures to minimize impacts to high-value habitat areas in the creek

– Avoids Pacific pocket mouse occupied habitat

Environmental Cost to Date - $143.8M

Wildlife Crossings

– Construction of 15 crossings

Arroyo Toad Barrier

– Construction & monitoring in perpetuity

Pacific Pocket Mouse

– Construction & implementation of management plan

Habitat Restoration

– CSS, Wetlands, Oak Woodlands

41

4242

Next Steps for 241 Completion

24 million people live in Southern California today

Population will grow to more than 30 million

Resulting in a 60 percent increase in traffic on Interstate 5 in southern Orange County

Continue coordination & working with Department of Navy, State Parks, public and elected officials to reach an acceptable solution.

42

4343

Legislation

SB 375 – Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction

– Free Flowing Traffic Cuts Emissions

– Part of the Congestion Pricing Solution

– Successful Model

– Capacity to Enhance Transit Service

– Increased Fire Safety

Sustainable Communities Strategy

43

Toll Roads & Transportation Mobility

Orange County, CA Model/TCA Experience

Sam Elters

Chief Engineer

elters@sjhtca.com

(949) 754-3428