Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority’s Low Cost Model In the beginning… • Established in 1996 • 5 Board Members • Tasked with helping Ft Bend County solve its mobility issues • Alternative to traditional infrastructure providers (TxDOT / County Road & Bridge / Cities / Developers) Charter granted by the State Backed & Supported by the County

Ft. Bend County Texas Department Commissioner’s Court Of Transportation

Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority In the beginning… • Fundamental concept was to avoid building a new bureaucracy • Use consultants / contractors when possible • Minimize admin & development cost • Get the most road for the dollars spent In the beginning…

• Toll Road Bond Election - $140 million for two projects. • Design & construction period less than 4 years • For two major projects… – Ft. Bend Parkway - $65*million +/- – Westpark Tollway - $100* million +/-

(difference in cost made up by TxDOT contribution to the projects) Currently A Two Road System

• Fort Bend Parkway • Opened 8/31/2005 - Approx 6.5 miles in length • Westpark Tollway • Opened 8/13/2006 - Approx 6.5 miles in length Under Contract…….. • Grand Parkway – Segment “D” • Complete in 2013 – Approx 13 miles in length FBCTRA is NOT the typical government agency

• FBCTRA is run as a non-profit business • Not in the bureaucracy or empire building business • Maintaining a low cost organization is paramount • Focus on the end product & customers • Provide the most bang for the buck FBCTRA – It’s a business! • Watch all of the costs all of the time • Use consultant staff • Look for low cost alternatives • Increase revenues • Optimize revenues (toll rates vs traffic volumes) • Stop losses • Reduce violations / fraud / theft FBCTRA / HCTRA Partnership

• Important to note that our partnership with HCTRA has been, is, and will be extremely important to us.

• Currently Fort Bend contracts with HCTRA for toll collection and back office support.

• FBCTRA contracts with HCTRA vendors whenever possible for lowest cost. FBCTRA System • Budgeted revenues around $17 million • Operational costs around $5 million – ½ of this goes to HCTRA – ½ to maintenance of ROW & Equipment • Debt service of $7 million • Repair / replacement fund 5 million per year • Admin cost around $240 thousand Transactions / Revenues • 22+ million transactions • $17+ million in Revenues • 900 thousand violations

• Approx 97.5% collection rate • Average 2.5% violation *

*(Not including tolls collected by the collection attorney) Controlling Costs • FBCTRA has no – Staff – Office – Vehicles – Unfunded liabilities • We contract for ALL products and services! Key Vendors • Management • Annual Admin Costs • Legal + Management • Accounting + Legal + Accounting • Engineering +(light bill) • Toll Collection = $240,000 annually • Maintenance • Law Enforcement Driving Violations Down 4/20/2011 FBCTRA - System Transaction Reconcilliation Worksheet March 2011 % Remaining Total Lane Event of System Transactions Count Trans Description System Transactions 1,996,552 100.00% 1,996,552 Revenue Transactions 1,832,882 91.8024% 163,670 V-tolls 125,343 6.2780% 38,327 Veterans Tolls 1,500 0.0751% 36,827 HCTRA invoiced violator via letter (esimate) 18,000 0.9016% 18,827 Too dark 19 0.0010% 18,808 Plate Obstructed 4,644 0.2326% 14,164 Dealer Plate 4,039 0.2023% 10,125 No Plate 817 0.0409% 9,308 Partial Plate 11,719 0.5870% -2,411 No Vehicle Attached 5,699 0.2854% -8,110 Reject 106 0.0053% -8,216 Non-US Plate 117 0.0059% -8,338

Total Violation Transactions 100% 18,827

True violation rate 1,996,552 0.9430% 18,827 Driving violations down

• Concerted effort to reduce losses due to violations over the last three years • EZ-Tag only conversion • Increase law enforcement on the roads • Effort to identify and arrest top violators • Convert violators to EZ-Tag customers No one rides for free…

• Except – Marked police vehicles – Fire trucks & ambulances – Military Convoys – Disabled Vets & Medal of Honor recipients*

* (new state law concerning qualifying veterans Disabled Vets, Purple Heart, and Medal of Honor recipients) 1st All Electronic System in Texas

• 7/14/2008 – eliminated all cash • Service complaints dropped 95% immmediately • Lower cost was one of the key factors in decision process Consideration of Future Projects…

To be viable toll road candidates they must: 1. Be needed transportation infrastructure 2. Not likely to be constructed by others 3. Financially feasible to construct, operate, and maintain using toll revenues alone Future of Toll Roads in Fort Bend County • There are NO FREE roads • Must make financial sense • Don’t mix taxes and tolls • Solve mobility / transportation problems • Be responsive to customers Future of Toll Roads in Fort Bend County • Simply an alternative funding source • Allows locals to control the timing and scope of the projects • Don’t toll existing roads • Everyone using a toll road provides a service to those who don’t use the toll roads Questions

FBCTRA.com Mike Stone Direct - 281 / 201-4301 Cell – 713 / 899-6720 [email protected]