(Source: TOLLROADSnews.com)

Japanese tollroads have put into effect discounted tolls under a huge subsidy program from the central government. The discounts came into effect on bridges March 22 and on most expressways March 28. The discounted tolls were a centerpiece of an economic ‘stimulus package’ prime minister Taro Aso announced last October.

The traffic stimulus measure is touted as helping revive highway travel which is down about 4%, and to revive associated spending on gasoline and diesel fuels, car service, hotels, new cars and electronics. However it is also obviously influenced by lobbying and PM Aso’s desire for public acclaim. 

The measure announced as lasting two years and Y500b ($5b) has been set aside in a supplementary Japanese Government budget, but the subsidy program may end up costing a whole lot more. Meanwhile airline and rail interests complain the measure will take customers away from them.

The most spectacular discounts come on the interurban ticket or trip-based toll system run by the three regional expressway companies. Here a maximum toll of Y1000 ($10) is now in effect weekends and holidays for vehicles equipped with a transponder. This greatly encourages long trips by car.

Shinkansen or ‘bullet train’ bookings are expected to drop away.

Tokyo to northern Honshu, for example, a distance of over 400 miles (700km) normally costs about Y14k ($140) for a car but will be tolled the new maximum Y1000 toll or $10 at weekends. There are also major savings on a popular interurban run between Tokyo and Nagoya of 325km (200 miles) on the Tomei Expressway. It usually costs Y7100 ($71) in tolls so there’s a saving of Y6100 ($61) or 86%.

On many urban expressways with a single barrier toll on entry the toll is being reduced from Y700 ($7) or Y800 ($8) to Y500 ($5). Under the crude toll-on-entry ramp the toll paid is already a flat rate regardless of distance traveled. 

The government’s aim in paying for the toll discounts is apparently to generate more travel when roads are relatively uncongested. 

The discounts range in size. Some Tokyo metro area tolls are only discounted at night 10pm to 6am, some Sundays and holidays.

On Sundays and holidays, the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway will charge Y500 ($5) on several Tokyo routes, down from the current Y700 ($7). The toll on its Kanagawa ‘lines’ will be cut to Y400 ($4) from Y600 ($6), while on the Saitama line will be reduced to Y300 ($3) from Y400 ($4).

Tolls on the Hanshin Expressway in the Osaka region will be discounted on full weekends and national holidays. Hanshin’s east lines will be Y500 ($5) from the current Y700 ($7), and the west and south lines will be Y350 ($3.50) from Y500 ($5).

In April there will be more discounts in the form of credits for tolls paid on other systems for long journeys through multiple toll companies roads. 

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source:  Howard Wial, The Brookings Institution)

(Source: USDOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics)

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 – Surface transportation trade between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 27.2 percent lower in January 2009 than in January 2008, dropping to $47.5 billion, the biggest year-to-year percentage decline on record, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Table 1).  The $47.5 billion in U.S.-NAFTA trade in January 2009 was the lowest monthly amount since January 2004. 

 The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico fell 10.3 percent in January from December (Table 2).  Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors.

Surface transportation consists largely of freight movements by truck, rail and pipeline.  About 88 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moves on land.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in January was up 3.9 percent in the five-year period compared to January 2004, and up 31.6 percent over the 10-year period compared to January 1999 (Table 3).  Imports in January were up 26.4 percent compared to January 1999, while exports were up 38.1 percent. 

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $29.0 billion in January, down 31.1 percent compared to January 2008 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 31.3 percent lower in January 2009 compared to January 2008, while the value of exports carried by truck was 27.2 percent lower.

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S.–Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $18.5 billion in January, down 20.0 percent compared to January 2008 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 20.5 percent lower in January 2009 than January 2008 while the value of exports carried by truck was 10.7 percent lower.        

Click here to read the entire report in HTML or click here to download the report in PDF.  A read-only version of the PDF file is provided here:

(Source: Autoblog & GM)

General Motors has announced a new incentive program that it hopes will encourage people to enter the car buying market again. Called GM Total Confidence, the program has four prongs that includes Payment Protection if you lose your job, equity assistance if you trade in your vehicle later for another one from GM, one year of OnStar and the automaker’s 5-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. We’re already familiar with the last two components of GM’s Total Confidence program, so let’s focus on the first two. 

GM’s payment protection program is much like Hyundai’s Assurance Program in that the automaker will cover your payments in the event that you lose your job. GM’s program covers you for 24 months and will make up to nine payments valued at up to $500/month. According to GM, if you qualify for state unemployment benefits, you’ll qualify for the payment protection to kick in. 

The last element of GM’s Total Confidence incentive program is equity assistance, or what GM calls Vehicle Value Protection. This part of the program will cover the difference between what you owe on your vehicle and its NADA Clean Retail Value when you trade it in for another GM vehicle. The idea is to wipe out any negative equity caused by vehicle depreciation when you move on to your next car. 

The following is an exceprt from GM’s Press Release:

 
• Protects your Paycheck: ‘Payment Protection*’ provides up to nine months of payments on vehicle loans or leases ($500 max/month) if you lose your job for economic reasons. When looking for a job, you need a vehicle more than ever. ‘Payment Protection’ helps you get back on your feet.
• Protects your Investment: Once you are halfway through your finance contract, the customer qualifies for ‘Vehicle Value Protection.*’ This helps protect customers against uncertainty in the future used car market. For example, on a 60-month contract, you become eligible after the 30^th month. Much as we’ve seen home prices decline in this tough market – and homeowners may owe more than the current resale value of their house – ‘Vehicle Value Protection’ provides peace-of-mind for customers when they want to go purchase another GM vehicle.
• Protects your Vehicle: GM’s 5 year/100,000 mile transferable powertrain limited warranty (whichever comes first) plus roadside assistance and courtesy transportation. GM protects your vehicle with the best coverage in the business – so you don’t have to worry. With the high quality of GM vehicles today, offering the best coverage only makes sense. See your dealer for warranty details.
• Protects your Family: One Year OnStar ‘Safety and Security’ Package. Knowing that OnStar is there if you should ever need them really makes a difference. With Automatic Crash Response, OnStar’s cutting-edge technology that protects your family when they travel. Visit onstar.com for more details.

The “GM Total Confidence” plan is available for vehicles purchased April 1 through April 30, 2009. For more information, please visit gmconfidence.com.

(Source: U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works)

On March 25, 2009, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing to examine transportation investment prior to authorizing the next highway, transit, and highway safety legislation that will replace the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users.  Witnesses’ testimonies and video of the hearing are now available online.  Committee hearings in two streaming video formats — RealPlayer and Flash.  Please click on one of the links below to start the live video stream.  Choose Your Format:  RealPlayer or Flash.

NOTE: To view streaming video, you will need to have RealPlayer or Flash installed on your computer. To download the free RealPlayer or Flash applications, click on the buttons below.

Majority Statements

Barbara Boxer

 Minority Statements

James M. Inhofe

Witnesses

 Opening Remarks

 Panel 1

The Honorable Ray LaHood

Secretary

U.S. Department of Transportation

 Panel 2

The Honorable Edward G. Rendell

Governor of Pennsylvania

The Honorable Kathleen M. Novak

President, National League of Cities

Mayor of Northglenn, Colorado

REDMOND, Washington — Should a bridge that would connect two campuses at Microsoft’s headquarters be funded with $11 million from the federal stimulus package?

Supporters argue the bridge is an ideal public-private partnership that will benefit an entire community while fulfilling the stimulus package’s goal of getting people back to work.

An artist's rendering shows how the proposed bridge would be constructed over a busy highway.

“It’s going create just under 400 jobs for 18 months constructing the bridge,” says Redmond Mayor John Marchione. “It’s also connecting our technical sector with our retail and commercial sectors so people can cross the freeway to shop and help traffic flow.”

Marchione applied for federal stimulus money after costs jumped on the project from $25 million to $36 million. Marchione says the increase in costs were due to a rise in construction prices and because the bridge will be built on a diagonal in order to connect Microsoft’s original East campus with a newer West campus that are split by a public highway.

Microsoft is hardly getting the bridge for free. The company is contributing $17.5 million or a little less than half the tab of the $36 million bridge, which would be open for public use.

And even though the bridge goes from a parking lot behind Microsoft’s West campus across a highway to an entrance of Microsoft’s East campus, Marchione says, people other than Microsoft employees would use the overpass.

“We’re not a one-company town,” Marchione says. “Our traffic studies show that Microsoft traffic would be about 42 percent of the bridge, yet Microsoft is paying for about 50 percent of the bridge, so we think we are getting fair value.

“The United States taxpayer is leveraging their dollars, and I think everyone is getting a fair deal.”  But a watchdog group monitoring how stimulus money is being spent says the taxpayer in this case is getting ripped off.  Click here to read the entire CNN article.

Another article on Softpedia.com offers the view point from Microsoft’s General counsel, Brad Smith, and Washington’s Governor Chris Gregoire. 

“In recent days, some have questioned whether this project should have been a recipient of federal stimulus funding. We think this is a very positive example of a public-private partnership, and we are pleased to be contributing roughly 50 percent of the funding to help build this public project that will benefit the entire community. The federal stimulus dollars combine with additional state, local and existing federal dollars to fund the remainder,” revealed Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel. 

Smith underlined that not only was Microsoft participating in the project with half the funding, but that the company had already spent in excess of $50 million to help local authorities build infrastructure projects. At the same time, the overpass will not benefit Microsoft exclusively. Employees from Honeywell, Siemens, Nintendo and Sears will also get to use the bridge and will contribute to reducing the congestion affecting 148th Avenue NE and 156th Avenue NE. 

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire explained that the overpass was not about Microsoft but “about multiple employers. It’s about thousands of employees and residents. It’s about taking people off the congestion we have in that interchange on [State Route] 520 now, where we literally have a problem in that people have to go 2 miles rather than two-tenths of a mile which that bridge would produce…. Almost 50 percent of that project is privately funded. That’s leveraging dollars. That’s what we’re trying to do, is to use private sector dollars with stimulus dollars and get a bigger bang for the buck.”  Here is a video of Gov. Gregoire discussing the issue (courtesy of Softpedia.com)

 (Source: New York Times – Wheels)

(Source: Autoblog; Photo: Benjamin Davidson@ Flickr)

Not surprisingly, officials from the Canadian and Ontario governments have followed the U.S. government’s leadby officially rejecting the restructuring plans of General Motors and Chrysler. The Canadian officials said the automakers’ current plans do not go far enough and will not be certified as they are. In fact, they’re basically copying and pasting the new deal for automakers announced by the U.S. government today, saying that GM has 60 days to redo its plan while receiving a portion of the C$3 billion it requested and Chrysler has 30 days to finalize its partnership with Fiat while receiving C$250 million of the C$1 billion it requested.  Click here read more.

Mr. & Mrs. Wagoner- R.I.P (Relaxing in Propsperity)

(Source: ABC News)

(Relaxing in Prosperity)R.I.P Rick Wagoner – Gets $20Mil for losing tens of billions of dollars and tanking stock price from $60 (June 2000) to $1.27 (March 2009)

Rick Wagoner will leave his post as CEO of bailed-out General Motors with a $20 million retirement package, the company’s financial filings show.

Although the Treasury Department has barred GM from paying severance toWagoner or any other senior executive, Wagoner is eligible to collect millions in retirement benefits from his former employer, according to the documents reviewed by ABC News.

The Obama administration asked for Wagoner to resign Sunday, as part of its restructuring of the auto industry. President Obama said this morning that forcing Wagoner out indicated it was a time for new leadership. 

Under Wagoner’s leadership, GM lost tens of billions of dollars, took billions in taxpayer-financed aid, and announced plans to cut 47,000 employees by the end of 2009.

Click here to read the entire article.  For those interested in reading Wagoner’s farewell e-mail, please visit The Truth About Cars.  

For those who care to know, here is what GM’s Executive Officer Severance Policy  looks like (Thanks, an0nymous poster @EVcast): 

General Motors executive officers are generally at-will employees who serve at the discretion of the Board. In early 2005, GM adopted a policy applicable to executive officers requiring stockholder approval of any severance benefits if: 
• The executive’s employment was terminated prior to retirement; and 
• The present value of the proposed severance benefits would exceed 2.99 times the sum of the executive’s annual base salary and target annual incentive. 

Note: TransportGooru wonders if this culture of execessively compensating under-performing, over-paid must-be-retired executives will ever come to an end?   If Mr. Wagoner has any iota of ethics that his alma mater (Harvard Business School) tries to inculcate in its wards, he must politely decline and walk away without taking a penny from this $20mil payout.

(Source: Autoblog; Image: Doug Mills @ New York Times)

 

President Obama has just finished his press conference on the government’s determination of the viability of General Motors and Chrysler, and the gist is that both automakers have failed to convince the feds that their business plans deserve further investment. Obama and his task force will give GM enough working capital to survive another 60 days and prove its viability, though no dollar amount was given. Chrysler, meanwhile, is being given another 30 days and working capital up to $6 billion to finalize a partnership deal with Fiat. If a deal can’t be made and another partner is not found, Chrysler will get no more federal aid. Also, Fiat won’t be allowed to take a majority stake in Chrysler until the automaker repays all the money it has borrowed from the government so far. 

Perhaps the biggest news from the press conference is that the U.S. government will now fully back the warranties on vehicles sold by General Motors and Chrysler in the hopes that buyers will continue to consider their products amidst these tumultuous restructuring efforts. Also, the President has pledged to work with Congress to find funds to pay for a U.S.-version of the Cash for Clunkers program that has been so successful in Germany. 

BREAKING NEWS Report from WSJ: The Obama administration’s leading plan to fix General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC would use bankruptcy filings to purge the ailing companies of their biggest problems, including bondholder debt and retiree health-care costs, according to people familiar with the matter.

Click here to read the entire article.  Also, shown below is the PDF version of Restructuring Fact Sheet  compiled by The Truth About Cars.