Rhode Island Grilled at Hearing on Truck-Focused Tolls
A lawyer for Rhode Island faced stern questions Tuesday from the First Circuit while defending the state’s system of making only large trucks pay bridge and highway tolls.
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EPA Threatens to Cut California Road Funds Over ‘Chronic’ Smog
Amid a growing dispute over climate change and vehicle emissions standards, the Trump administration on Tuesday threatened to withhold highway funding and other federal grants from California over its “chronic air quality problems.”
Read moreLawmakers Debate Ways to Ease Traffic on US Roads
In 2017, people driving to work in the Washington, D.C., metro area each paid an average of $1,840 in extra costs related to being stuck in traffic, wasted 38 gallons in fuel idling on freeways and spent an extra 102 hours on roadways, for a total of 248 million hours lost to congestion delays.
Read moreAdministration Takes Step to Relax Trucker Drive-Time Rules
The Trump administration has taken a step closer to relaxing federal regulations governing the amount of time truck drivers can spend behind the wheel, a move that was long sought by the trucking industry but opposed by safety advocates who warn it could lead to more highway crashes.
Read moreFederal Lands
The Natural Resources Defense Council claims in a federal complaint that endangered cacti, sensitive shale soils and riparian areas are at risk after the Interior Department lifted a 12-year-old closure of off-highway vehicle travel on 5,400 acres in the Factory Butte area of Utah, without environmental review.
Read moreBlind Salamander
The Save Our Springs Alliance claims in a federal complaint that the Texas Department of Transportation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refused to protect the endangered Austin blind salamander from the Oak Hill Parkway development.
Read moreTurnpike-Toll Class Action Pulls Into Third Circuit
Fuming over tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that rake in 300% of operation costs, a truck company urged the Third Circuit on Tuesday to revive its $6 billion class action.
Read moreWorld Bank Unit Implicated in Latin America Graft Scandal
An investment officer for a World Bank unit has been implicated in a major Latin American corruption scandal, as she is married to an executive of a company that admitted paying a $6.5 million bribe to get a highway contract.
Read moreGermany Highway Tax Ruled Discriminatory by EU Court
Germany discriminates against foreign drivers by making everyone pay a highway toll and then giving a tax rebate only to residents, Europe’s highest court ruled Tuesday.
Read moreJudge Halts Plans to Widen Highway That Runs by Redwoods
Plans to widen a California highway surrounded by gigantic redwoods has been put on hold after a federal judge ruled Friday that officials failed to properly research the environmental effects it may have.
Read moreToll Evader Named Stiff to Pay Up; Had $128K in Tolls, Fines
The worst toll evader in Pennsylvania is being ordered to pay up.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Jarrett Stiff didn’t pay for trips on the Pennsylvania Turnpike 2,264 times from 2012 to 2017, more than anyone else in the state. The 36-year-old from suburban Philadelphia racked up nearly $128,000 in unpaid tolls and subsequent fines.
Discrimination Suit Over German Highway Tax Circles Drain
Recommending the dismissal of an unusual case between EU member states, a magistrate said Wednesday that Austria cannot support discrimination claims over a new highway tax in Germany.
Read moreTribal Challenge to Thruway Put on Chopping Block
A federal magistrate recommended defeat Wednesday for a bid by the Seneca Nation to share in the tolls collected on the New York State Thruway.
Read moreTrucker Saves Dogs Thrown From Vehicle on New York Highway
A pair of beagle mixes are on the mend after authorities say someone threw them out of a moving vehicle on a snowy New York highway. The dogs were rescued by a passing trucker, but one was so badly mangled that a front leg had to be amputated.
Read moreJudge Says US Law Doesn’t Protect Ancient Trees
A judge’s stark warning that natural wonders have no right to exist under federal law unsettled a group of conservationists fighting a proposed highway project through a majestic grove of ancient redwood trees in Northern California.
Read more‘Unruly’ Pig Captured by Maine Police Along Interstate
Maine State Police celebrated the apprehension Wednesday of an “unruly” pig that was found cavorting on the side of the highway.
Read moreHigh Court Tribal Tax Fight Turns on 1855 Treaty
A 163-year-old treaty was the focus of Supreme Court oral arguments on Tuesday as lawyers sparred over attempts to tax a fuel distributor owned by a member of the Yakama Nation.
Read moreDeputies, Police Copter Deployed in Accidental Highway Chase
Two South Florida women claim in court that they were surrounded by sheriff’s deputies, a helicopter and snarling K-9s after a mixup at a local car dealership made them the accidental target of a highway police pursuit.
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Proposed Tunnel at Stonehenge Alarms World Heritage Groups
A plan to build a 1.8-mile-long tunnel next to Stonehenge has fired up archaeologists to protect one of the Earth’s most beloved World Heritage sites. “This would establish a sort of precedent for major construction inside a World Heritage site,” said Dan Hicks, a University of Oxford archaeologist who opposes the project. “If you can do it in Stonehenge, you can do it anywhere.”
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