Topics: Rest Area Commercialization

President Calls on Congress to Produce $1.5 Trillion Infrastructure Bill in State of the Union

President Donald Trump called on Congress to produce a bipartisan $1.5 trillion bill for new infrastructure investment during his first State of the Union address last night, saying it would provide a safe, fast, reliable and modern infrastructure that the U.S. economy needs. More

Trump Administration's Infrastructure Plan Leaked

A draft document leaked to press on Jan. 22 and widely speculated to be the funding principles for the Trump Administration’s long-awaited infrastructure plan called for liberalizing tolling policy and allowing states to commercialize interstate rest areas among its proposals for funding infrastructure, both of which would dramatically undercut businesses that operate at the Interstate exits. More

NATSO, Trade Groups Urge Arizona Lawmakers to Oppose Commercial Rest Areas

A coalition of trade associations representing a broad cross-section of highway-based businesses and local communities urged Arizona's federal lawmakers to oppose efforts to commercialize Interstate rest areas, including Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s recent petition to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to allow the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) to operate commercial rest areas under a pilot program. More

Commercializing Arizona Rest Areas Would Harm Business, Communities, Bowlin Travel Centers Says

Commercializing rest areas in Arizona would bring more harm than good to the state’s local businesses and communities, according to Michael Bowlin, President of Bowlin Travel Centers. Responding to an editorial in the Sierra Vista Herald, Bowlin said that his business and others operating at the interstate exits would suffer a dramatic drop in sales and subsequently a corresponding drop in employees and tax receipts if the state is allowed to commercialize rest areas directly on the Interstate Highway System. More

NATSO Urges DOT to Reject Arizona Request to Commercialize Rest Areas

Arizona Gov. Douglas Ducey petitioned the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to allow the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) to operate commercial rest areas under a pilot program, a move that threatens the truckstop and travel plaza industry as well as other businesses operating near Interstate exits. More

House T&I Committee Chairman Shuster Supports Private Financing of Infrastructure at Hearing

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) strongly advocated for private financing as a means of funding infrastructure projects during a Subcommittee hearing Oct. 11, demonstrating a willingness to support policies that would lead to the commercialization of Interstate rest areas and threaten the truckstop and travel plaza industry. During a House Highways and Transit Subcommittee hearing to explore solutions for boosting infrastructure investment and stabilizing the Highway Trust Fund, Rep. Shuster spoke positively about Connecticut's decision to allow a private company to lease its on-highway travel plazas to finance upgrades to the facilities as well as Australia’s asset recycling program, which funds new infrastructure and revitalizes existing infrastructure through the sale or lease of public assets. More

FHWA Calls for Alternative Fuel Corridor Nominations

The Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is seeking nominations for the second phase of its multi-year plan to establish alternative fuel corridors for alternative fueling stations as mandated under the December 2015 highway bill. More

NATSO Details Ill Effects of Commercial Rest Areas for Independent Journal Review

Businesses have invested heavily in real estate off interstate exits and allowing states to flip highway policy on its head and permit commercial rest areas after more than 50 years of established rules would devastate, truckstops, fuel retailers, convenience stores, hotel and blind vendors, NATSO told the Independent Journal Review in a recent interview. More

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney Urges FHWA to Address New York State’s Commercial Rest Areas

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) on Aug. 8 urged the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to hold New York state accountable for its violation of the federal law prohibiting commercial rest areas. More

NATSO Files Comments with DOT, Urges Agency to Maintain Existing Prohibition on Commercial Rest Areas

Expanding commercial services at rest areas, including liberalizing the definition of "vending machine," threatens consumers, small business and localities by undercutting the highway-based businesses that currently operate near the interstate exit interchanges, NATSO said in comments filed with the Department of Transportation (DOT) July 24. More

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