Governors’ transpo planks
Well over a month ago now, I critiqued Kay Bailey Hutchison’s transportation policy plank of her gubernatorial platform. I had intended to review the other candidate’s proposals soon thereafter, but alas, got sidetracked. With the primary elections tomorrow, I thought it might be time to finally get to it. 
The candidates’ (major candidates only) policy statements are evaluated in order of their current polling numbers, Republicans first.
Construction suppliers rally for new fed transpo bill
Congress has yet to approve a new, comprehensive surface transportation bill to replace the previous legislation (known as “SAFETEA-LU”) that expired last year, instead opting to keep it on life-support through a series of short-term extensions. The resulting lack of certainty over future funding– as well as limited funding in those extensions– is severely crippling the construction industry, that according to several speakers at a noontime rally outside San Antonio’s convention center yesterday that attracted about 100 people.
Kay’s transportation vision less than 20/20
For the past week or so, I’ve been watching the drama unfold as Kay Bailey Hutchison announced the transportation plank of her platform for governor and the ensuing television ad and Rick Perry’s counter-ad. The use of the DMS signs was clever, but her message shows a both continuing lack of understanding of the core issues on her part as well as a bit of a dichotomy.
Gas taxes Laws and policies Roads Toll roads: CDAs MPO pass-through financing planning Prop 12 funds stimulus funds TURF
by Brian
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TURF: “MPO rams 37 toll projects down San Antonians’ (sic) throats”
During my daily review of transportation news, I came across this the-sky-is-falling press release by staunch toll-opponent Terri Hall and her TURF organization. As usual, TURF shows a continued lack of insight of what’s actually happening and peppers the article with their predictable array of tried-and-true rhetoric, fallacies, and mendacities as they denounce the large number of projects that are listed as possible toll and Comprehensive Development Agreement (CDA) projects in the new 25-year regional transportation plan. Yes, there are a substantial number of toll-option projects in the plan. However, the outright panic by TURF is premature and demonstrates their failure to see and comprehend the bigger picture and actually jeopardizes badly-needed future projects.
The man who gets it
(Note: Sorry about the dearth of posts last week– I was sick most of the week.)
Late last week, state Senator John Carona (R-Dallas), who chairs the Senate’s Transportation and Homeland Security committee, proposed a 10 cent increase in the state’s gas tax to bolster dwindling funding for roads. (Express-News story)
This, my friends, shows real courage and a real understanding of the transportation funding crisis that has lead to the plethora of toll road projects around the state.
Beating a dead horse (toll road genesis Part Deux)
In my last post, I discussed how toll roads came to be the funding option of choice in recent years for big road projects. The question I closed with was whether or not they’re the best solution, and if not, how to fund roadbuilding without them. As I alluded to, it’s really a chicken-and-egg scenario: do toll roads perpetuate the status quo, or does the status quo perpetuate toll roads?
My wife and I have had this conversation several times. She understands the problem, but is of the mind that tolls should be the option of absolute last resort—they need to fix the gas tax problems first. In essence, she thinks that the current toll paradigm is getting the cart before the horse.
The genesis of the toll road problem
One issue that many toll road opponents can’t seem to wrap their heads around is the underlying reason why toll roads are being pushed. It’s not some get-rich scheme by Rick Perry or TxDOT. The problem is the dearth of funding that has plagued transportation for more than a decade now. And it’s not just Texas—many other states, as well as the federal government, are having the same problem.