Tolling: It All Comes Back to Finance at IBTTA’s Policy Summit

From low oil prices to connected and autonomous vehicles, from the evolution of public-private partnerships (P3s) to new ways of handling money, all the trends that are shaping and reshaping the world’s toll roads come back to finance.

For Nikolaus Grieshaber, CFO of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and Chief Meeting Organizer for IBTTA’s 2016 Transportation Policy and Finance Summit, that’s all the reason you should need to join your industry colleagues in Washington, D.C., March 13-15, for three intense days of learning and networking.

Everything is Connected

“It’s more than connected vehicles. We’re a connected economy, and this summit is where we share what we know and how to deal with that,” said Grieshaber. “It’s not just about the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the northeastern United States. It’s about how these macro-economic issues affect the way we operate our businesses—and even for those of us from government entities, we still run as businesses.”

Looking back on 16 years at the Pennsylvania Turnpike, eight of them as CFO, Grieshaber sees a common denominator in the waves of change that have swept the economy and the tolling industry.

“You’re always trying to manage your resources, whether they’re physical, human or financial resources,” he says. “That’s the crux of the issue—how we can make the best of what we have and be smart about the way we spend our dollars.”

At IBTTA’s annual policy and finance conference, “You can look for a takeaway, a nugget of information you haven’t heard before, and interact with an expert who can talk in depth about a topic you need to know about.”

Shuster Delivers Keynote Address

In a first for IBTTA, this year’s summit features a keynote address by Bill Shuster (R-PA), Chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Rep. Shuster’s appearance comes just a couple of months after the U.S. Congress passed a long-term highway funding bill, its first in a decade.

“The FAST Act was certainly helpful in giving us a little more certainty about funding at the federal level,” Grieshaber says. “Now we have a speaker who can address our members and talk about the road ahead.”

A Complex, Changing Scene

Grieshaber points to Summit sessions on managed lanes, road user charging, P3s, and connected and autonomous vehicles to underscore the complexity of a tolling scene that always comes back to finance. The point of that diversity is not to find a single solution, but to tap into a wider pool of experience.

“These are universal challenges, and not one suit fits everyone,” he stresses. “We’re all looking at different ways of finding funding, and if you keep an open mind and try to explore the universe of options, you’ll come away from the Summit and think about things in a different way, then bring some ideas back to your own organization to explore further.”

The ultimate takeaway in a challenging economy: “You’re not alone in this world.”

Mid-March is coming up fast! Click here to register for IBTTA’s 2016 Transportation Policy and Finance Summit, March 13-15, 2016 in Washington, DC.