Latest news with #tollroads
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sacyr sells Colombian assets for $1.6 billion
(Reuters) -Spanish engineering firm Sacyr has agreed to sell its stake in three toll roads in different regions of Colombia for $1.6 billion, the company said on Tuesday, as it raises cash to expand in the United States. Infrastructure fund Actis will take over the assets in Colombia, Sacyr said in a filing to the stock market regulator. The transaction, which is expected to conclude in the second half of this year, will generate a cash inflow worth $318 million, it added. Sacyr, which focuses on motorway concessions, said earlier this year that it intended to sell assets in Colombia and Chile and was looking for partners to bid for larger and more lucrative highway projects in the U.S. where it competes with bigger construction firms. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Reuters
5 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Sacyr sells Colombian assets for $1.6 billion
June 10 (Reuters) - Spanish engineering firm Sacyr ( opens new tab has agreed to sell its stake in three toll roads in different regions of Colombia for $1.6 billion, the company said on Tuesday, as it raises cash to expand in the United States. Infrastructure fund Actis will take over the assets in Colombia, Sacyr said in a filing to the stock market regulator. The transaction, which is expected to conclude in the second half of this year, will generate a cash inflow worth $318 million, it added. Sacyr, which focuses on motorway concessions, said earlier this year that it intended to sell assets in Colombia and Chile and was looking for partners to bid for larger and more lucrative highway projects in the U.S. where it competes with bigger construction firms.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ken de la Bastide column: Are more toll roads coming to Indiana?
Will Indiana interstate highways become toll roads in the near future? If so, what will be the long-term costs? Gov. Mike Braun is considering seeking federal approval to convert the state's interstate highways into toll roads to pay for future highway maintenance costs. That annual estimated cost to maintain state roads is up to $800 million. Experts believe it costs $1 million to repave a road. The Braun administration has indicated that the state's gasoline tax doesn't raise enough money to maintain the roads in the Hoosier state. An option is to ask future members of the Indiana General Assembly to raise the gas tax or seek another funding mechanism. Another possibility would be to raise registration fees for vehicles. With more and more hybrid vehicles in use, should the state raise the taxes on these vehicles? Currently only the Indiana toll road, along Interstate 80 in the northern part of the state, collects a fee for traveling from the Ohio to Illinois border. That toll is seven cents per mile for passenger cars; trucks are charged by class with a maximum toll of $86.60 and a minimum charge of $14.60. The distance of the remaining interstate highways in Indiana is 932 miles with Interstate 69 the longest at 342 miles. If a request for tolls is approved by the federal government, Madison County residents could be looking at paying to travel down the interstate to Indianapolis. Another question is, what would be the cost to convert the interstate highways into a toll road? At every exit and entrance ramp, there would need to be infrastructure put in place to distribute tickets for motorists entering the highway and another means to collect the tolls when motorists exit the highway. How many of these facilities would need to be built just around Interstate 465, and for the interstates passing through Indianapolis? It would take years to implement tolls on the state's interstate network. Or, would the state install cameras at all the exits to photograph vehicles and send bills to the owners? That would work for Indiana motorists, but not out-of-state travelers. Our neighboring states have few interstate highways with tolls in place. There is the Ohio Turnpike through the northern stretch of the Buckeye State and a network of tolls around Chicago. With Indiana known as the 'Crossroads of America,' will travelers look for alternative routes to avoid passing tolls in the state?
The National
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- The National
Dubai's Salik reports 9% more vehicles on the roads as profits soar
Dubai's roads are getting busier, with the emirate's toll operator on Tuesday reporting more vehicles on its system, increased journeys and surging profits. Salik said the number of registered active vehicles, including motorcycles, increased 9.3 per cent year-on-year to 4.47 million. There was a 7.3 per cent increase in registered drivers for the same period. In its report for the first three months of 2025, the toll operator said it recorded 210.8 million trips, up 35.1 per cent year-on-year. Total revenue was up 33.7 per cent to Dh751.6 million, while net profit increased 33.7 per cent year-on-year to Dh370.6 million. Toll usage fees represented 88.6 per cent of revenue. Salik said new toll prices that came into force in January, the addition of two toll gates last November, and the continued tourism boom in Dubai all contributed. According to the Ministry of Interior, 383,086 new driving licences were issued in 2024 and Dubai's Statistics Centre population clock showed 3.93 million on Tuesday – up from 3.73 million on the same day last year. Road safety experts said the figures were a testimony to the emirate's increasing popularity but it was important to consider how to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads. 'More people means more vehicles which means more traffic which means more congestion,' said Thomas Edelmann, founder and managing director of RoadSafetyUAE. 'Now if even the toll roads are getting more frequency … it is just another testimony to the ever-increasing popularity of the UAE.' Mr Edelmann said solutions could include more working from home, staggering the hours of offices and schools, carpooling and an incentive system for pupils to use buses. Urban planning could also have a role to play. He pointed to Dubai's Jumeirah Lakes Towers as an example of a place where people do not have to drive from office to apartment. He also said the plan to develop car-free parts of Dubai was important. 'The UAE is just popular,' he said. Dr Aseel Takshe, acting dean of the school of environment and health sciences at Canadian University Dubai, said other solutions could include building more park-and-ride facilities near public transport stations, adopting variable speed limits to smooth out traffic flow, and using smartphone apps to inform commuters of delays and alternative routes. 'By combining these strategies – investing in public transport, leveraging technology and encouraging behavioural shifts – cities can effectively tackle rising traffic congestion and improve urban mobility,' said Dr Takshe. The new Salik toll gates were installed at the Business Bay Crossing on Al Khail Road and in Al Safa South, on Sheikh Zayed Road, between Al Meydan Street and Umm Al Sheif Street. They increased the number of Salik toll gates in the emirate to 10. At the end of January, the cost for drivers to pass through the gates rose from Dh4 to Dh6 during peak hours. Salik has also teamed up with Emaar and Parkonic on parking at sites such as Dubai Mall. The toll operator said total revenue from this reached Dh2.8 million. Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of Salik's board of directors, said the 'exceptional' performance reflected a continued focus on 'delivering long-term value to shareholders and our ambition to become a global leader in providing smart and sustainable mobility solutions'. 'Dubai's robust economic growth – driven by the visionary leadership of the emirate, has played a key role in fuelling our positive momentum and creating a strong foundation for long-term sustainable growth,' he said. Ibrahim Al Haddad, chief executive of Salik, said the core tolling business was 'bolstered by the opening of two new toll gates in late 2024'. 'We have also maintained progress in our ancillary revenue streams, with both the Dubai Mall and Parkonic parking partnerships seeing good traction with users in the first quarter,' he said. Salik also announced it is in the process of launching an additional revenue stream, the Customized Tags initiative, allowing corporate customers to personalise their Salik tags with designs and messages.
CBS News
09-05-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Dozens of Colorado drivers take concerns for express lane citations to court
It's dangerous when drivers change in and out of express lanes where they're not supposed to. Cameras used by the Colorado Transportation Investment Office catch it all the time. So a number of drivers in the state are now raising concerns over these citations. CBS John Bowlin was heading to a birthday celebration for his wife last May when he incorrectly merged into an express lane. "I knew that entrance, but I got distracted by my kids enough not to follow the GPS instructions, and I missed the entrance," Bowlin said Bowlin doesn't deny crossing the solid white line to enter the express lane, but receipts show he never missed paying a toll. He received a $75 ticket for a safety violation. "I looked at it, and I looked at the statute and the regulation that they were citing in this notice of civil penalty," Bowlin explained. "And when I looked those up, it said that the CTIO could impose a civil penalty for toll evasions, and then it had a whole definition of toll evasions. It talked all about toll evasions, but it didn't say anything about safety violations." Bowlin is also an attorney. "Look, I may have actually broken another law, and if there was a sheriff's deputy there, he may have been able to pull me over and give me a ticket," Bowlin admitted. "But that's a whole different question. Then, can you send me something in the mail?" Bowlin argues the statute doesn't give CTIO the authority to issue safety violations, and he is challenging the ticket in court for himself and thousands of others likely in the same position. "Very, very few people are going to do that, and even fewer will do that successfully," Bowlin said In March in Douglas County, a county court judge agreed with Bowlin and tossed out the ticket, and, before that, another driver, also an attorney, won his case in Jefferson County using the same argument. We know in the first year of the new camera system CTIO issued roughly $45 million in civil penalties. Losing in court would put all that revenue at risk, and the Colorado Attorney General is appealing both cases. "They have taken the opposite approach at every step of the way, at least in my case," Bowlin said. "They have litigated hard every issue. They have made things difficult at every turn, and so this appears to be their strategy, which tells me that they are mostly after the money." CBS Colorado found CTIO spent nearly $1 million on its internal administrative dispute hearings, and a public records request shows the Colorado Attorney General's office has taken on more than 70 cases and spent roughly 2,300 hours litigating those cases at a rate of no more than $145 dollars an hour, costing taxpayer's approximately $300 so far. With so much at stake, Bowlin says he is willing to take the case to the Colorado Supreme Court. "I think I am right on the law, and I think that it is important for a whole lot of Colorado consumers that the decision be decided at the highest level." Bowlin said. Another step being considered is filing a class action lawsuit. CBS Colorado asked Colorado Department of Transportation for a comment on the different outcomes in these court cases and if there are concerns that this could go to the Colorado Supreme Court. In a statement CDOT said, "For matters such as this where there is pending litigation, our comments are made through formal filings as part of the legal process." The Attorney General's office declined to comment.
