Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency Approves Plan to Refund Bonds for Significant Savings

The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (F/ETCA) Board of Directors approved plans to reduce debt service and save millions by refunding some of the Agency’s outstanding bonds.

The refunding is estimated to save the F/ETCA in excess of $100 million without expending cash or extending bond maturity dates. The refunding would also enhance the Agency’s cash position, which is key given the uncertainties of COVID-19, but also allows the Agency flexibility to pay down other bonds early – something the Board has expressed interest in – or invest the savings in key capital projects.

Over the last five years, the F/ETCA has repeatedly taken actions to save nearly $500 million in interest without extending bond maturity dates. TCA’s debt is structured to follow conservatively projected revenues to ensure the Agencies can meet financial obligations while aggressively attracting traffic from congested highways and local streets.

TCA’s management strengths and long-term financial model have been recognized repeatedly by credit rating agencies including Standard & Poor’s, Fitch and Moody’s, which have rated all of TCA’s bonds as investment grade.

TCA Customer Service Achieves High Marks

The F/ETCA and San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency (SJHTCA) Boards of Directors received a quarterly report on customer service feedback and contractor performance. With over 2 million customers and accountholders, TCA continually works to improve customer service by collecting data across several performance indicators. In addition to accountholders, included in the survey are One-Time-Tollers as well as violators.

In the first quarter of 2020, TCA received 458,445 calls seeking assistance. 40 percent of the calls were handled by a Customer Service Representative with an average wait time under 2 minutes and 60 percent were handled with Interactive Voice Response technology. The report also concluded that 60 percent of TCA accountholders manage their accounts using the website. Enhanced surveying by TCA indicated that overall satisfaction of customer interactions was 4.5 out of 5. Going forward, TCA will work to increase the number of customer surveys collected to assure high customer satisfaction is maintained.

TCA Formally Joins Countywide Emergency Response Effort

Both the F/ETCA and SJHTCA Boards of Directors approved entering into Orange County’s Operational Area Agreement that organizes the county and political subdivisions for the purposes of emergency management coordination.

TCA has been a part the OC Operational Area since the creation of the Agencies and has actively participated in many incidents, including the recent Silverado and Bond Fires. The agreement will allow TCA to continue to collaborate with partner agencies during area-wide emergencies and will assist with assuring timely and accurate information on the status of The Toll Roads’ accessibility to the public and media during and after an incident.