Now that's a toll!

[jestep]

http://txdot.gov/inside-txdot/media-room/news/statewide/051-2013-violators.html

[Robb in Austin]

Funny that they are all from around here.

Anybody recognize anyone on the list?

[sifuentes31]

$236,000 !!!!! WHAT THE HECK WAS HE DOING???? DRIVING IN CIRCLES TO GET HIS PICTURE TAKEN???

[mFrame]

Yeah, this story and the toll policies are deceptive. They don't distinguish between the toll and the penalties tacked on. I know a guy who ran up $800 in tolls without a toll tag. He's facing a $13k bill now including all penalties and fees. That's not to say that he doesn't owe the tolls, just that this is like an HOA gone wild. I hate to see any more toll roads go up here in Austin, but that's the only likely solution being offered to the traffic issues.

[jestep]

Granted it does say more than 14,000 transactions.

We coincidentally found out we had about $100 in unpaid tolls last Friday. Have a textag on every car and everything. Yeah, they do get a road built quickly but I think it's one of the worst things a municipality can possibly privatize.

[victoly]

Yeah, this story and the toll policies are deceptive. They don't distinguish between the toll and the penalties tacked on. I know a guy who ran up $800 in tolls without a toll tag. He's facing a $13k bill now including all penalties and fees. That's not to say that he doesn't owe the tolls, just that this is like an HOA gone wild. I hate to see any more toll roads go up here in Austin, but that's the only likely solution being offered to the traffic issues.

The good news is, we paid for it to be built and THEN we pay to use it. Pretty sweet deal !

[sifuentes31]

Yup real crappy... I had a toll that was 50 cents and i didn't get a letter till 4 months later. Looked at it and it turned out to be $60 bucks..... MSB sucks and they wont let you pay all your tolls because you need the letter they sent you.....crappy!!!

[+brian.srock]

It would be one thing if the money went to Texas but this company is located in Spain.

I do think there's deceptive advertising practices going on since the sign clearly states $1.00 by mail if I am at a 0 balance but everytime I get the bill it's $2.

[Euphoric Eulogy]

At that point, I would consider moving away.

[Makena95GT]

Less people that like the tolls and stay away from them, more space for me and the 'racecar' on the toll

Edited October 18, 2013 by Makena95GT

[mFrame]

Anyone see this?

A bond rating agency is downgrading the private Texas 130 toll road, saying they're not making enough money.

Moody's Investments says traffic on Texas 130 is about
half of what was projected when the project was built. For the second
time, they've lowered the rating for the 1 point 18 billion dollars of
debt owed by Concession Company. Moody's says the project is in danger
of defaulting next year with it's cash reserves quickly becoming
depleted. Concessions currently has a 50 year lease from the state,
getting 95 percent of the toll revenue to recoup the 1.4 billion dollar
cost of building the road. If the 49 mile roadway falls into default,
Tex-Dot would have the opportunity to buy the road back, but the Statesman
reports it's not clear what those terms would be or how much they would
have to pay for the road. The roadway changed the speed limit to 85
miles per hour, making it the fastest in the country, but that did not
seem to draw enough drivers to boost traffic all that much.

[JamesL]

I personally love the 130/45 toll roads, but mainly due to the lack of traffic on them (ok, and the fast speeds ). I did notice the other day coming back from Elgin to Buda there were a lot more cars on 130/45 than I normally see. But as stated above, I am sure that is way below what was projected.

[Sascha D.]

Anyone see this?

A bond rating agency is downgrading the private Texas 130 toll road, saying they're not making enough money.

Moody's Investments says traffic on Texas 130 is about

half of what was projected when the project was built. For the second

time, they've lowered the rating for the 1 point 18 billion dollars of

debt owed by Concession Company. Moody's says the project is in danger

of defaulting next year with it's cash reserves quickly becoming

depleted. Concessions currently has a 50 year lease from the state,

getting 95 percent of the toll revenue to recoup the 1.4 billion dollar

cost of building the road. If the 49 mile roadway falls into default,

Tex-Dot would have the opportunity to buy the road back, but the Statesman

reports it's not clear what those terms would be or how much they would

have to pay for the road. The roadway changed the speed limit to 85

miles per hour, making it the fastest in the country, but that did not

seem to draw enough drivers to boost traffic all that much.

It's a revenue bond though. The bond distrobutions should be paid by the tolls collected. Moody's lowered their rating because the risk of defaulting is higher, but to default on the bonds would mean chapter 13. Since the company has other successful tolls, I doubt it would go under.

[jestep]

It's a revenue bond though. The bond distrobutions should be paid by the tolls collected. Moody's lowered their rating because the risk of defaulting is higher, but to default on the bonds would mean chapter 13. Since the company has other successful tolls, I doubt it would go under.

I'm assuming the investors could force a sale if the performance isn't up to some level though. I would imagine the city has at the very least a right of refusal in the event of a sale if not a guarantee they would purchase it.

[bige]

I drove on 130 a year ago. Still no bill. If I call they say I have no bill. But then get a bill for $140. They won't work anything out said its my fault. Even though I called every month and its noted that I called. This is just a way to get more money. Oh and when I call they say they don't see that I owe any money. And won't take a payment. Maybe that's why they are going under.

[Sascha D.]

It's a revenue bond though. The bond distrobutions should be paid by the tolls collected. Moody's lowered their rating because the risk of defaulting is higher, but to default on the bonds would mean chapter 13. Since the company has other successful tolls, I doubt it would go under.

I'm assuming the investors could force a sale if the performance isn't up to some level though. I would imagine the city has at the very least a right of refusal in the event of a sale if not a guarantee they would purchase it.

Debt investors don't get voting privileges because they don't own a share of the company. I don't know enough about the contract that they signed with the city/county/state/etc, but it's not uncommon for the investment company that paid for the road to sell it at a discount to free up capital. Essentially, a toll road is an annuity and the people that front the money expect to get a steady amount of income in the future for money they spent to build it today.

I'm interested to see what happens. Technically, they could go after the people that charged up the tolls but legal fees are expensive. They could also prevent the person for renewing their vehicle registration until they pay, but if they bought a new car then that would go out of the window.