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Follow TURFSouth Bay Expressway meeting revenues, but why?
A little history lesson is instructive here. This toll road went bankrupt in less than 3 years after opening. Traffic forecasts were off by nearly 40,000 cars a day! The public private partnership's bankruptcy forced the federal taxpayer to write down nearly $80 million of the federal TIFIA loan that subsidized the privatized tollway. So it's not hard to put this tollway in the black when it's starting with a much lower debt load thanks to taxpayers. So before they praise the private company, perhaps they should start telling the truth about why.
Toll Road’s Financial Strategy Working, Sandag Reports
San Diego Business Journal
Friday, July 5, 2013
The San Diego Association of Governments, the regional transportation planning agency, said reducing tolls on the state Route 125 toll road from Lemon Grove to the international border is working.
After one year of Sandag ownership, the road is seeing increased usage and meeting revenue targets established when Sandag acquired the 10-mile road.
Total trips on SR 125 for the fiscal year that ended June 30 were 11.65 million, up 22 percent from the forecasted number under the old toll rate scenario, Sandag said.
Local trips from Birch Road and East H Street in Chula Vista were up more than 50 percent in the past year. Also, Fastrak electronic toll-collection accounts now total more than 31,000, up nearly 16 percent from the prior fiscal year, the agency said.
With toll revenue exceeding $21 million in the past fiscal year, Sandag said it’s meeting its requirements for covering operating costs, funding its reserves and making scheduled debt service payments.
Tolls now range from 50 cents to $2.75 for customers with Fastrak electronic accounts, and from $2 to $3.50 for cash and credit card users.
Sandag acquired the lease to operate the toll road, also called the South Bay Expressway, in December 2011 after the private group of investors that built the project went into bankruptcy.
— SDBJ Staff Report