FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTHERN CONNECTOR ANNOUNCES PLANNED TOLL INCREASE

Greenville, SC - December 19, 2004 - Motorists traveling on the Southern Connector will experience a planned toll increase beginning January 3, 2005. Two-axle vehicles will pay $1.00 at the mainline toll plazas versus the current $0.75 fee, while multi-axle vehicles will pay $0.60 per axle versus the current $0.50 per axle fee.

The increase, which was a part of the road's original financing plan, was approved by the Department of Transportation long before construction of the Southern Connector began. The increase is not due to lack of traffic or revenue.

"To help minimize the cost to customers, it is our hope that motorists will sign up for a Connector Palmetto Pass (Pal Pass) to receive a 25 percent discount on mainline tolls," explained Peter Femia, executive vice president/general manager of the Connector 2000 Association.

Traffic continues to rise on the road, with average daily transactions in October totaling 15,578, a 13 percent increase from October 2003 and monthly transactions totaling 482,914, representing the highest month on record. In addition, the Connector experienced a new record daily high of 22,762 transactions on November 19th.

"Our traffic is steadily increasing and we are operating 11 percent under our operating budget," said Femia. "With over 9,000 Pal Passes in use I truly believe more people are realizing the value and the ease of traveling the Southern Connector."

The 16-mile Southern Connector was opened eight and a half months ahead of schedule and under budget. The road was built with private money through a unique public-private partnership. No tax money was used for construction of the road.

The Southern Connector has been a dream of Upstate South Carolina officials for some 30 years as they sought a way to help relieve congestion on area Interstate highways 85 and 385 and to open up a significant portion of Southern Greenville County to economic development.