TxDOT approves $97 million for El Paso street car

Link to article here.

When TxDOT wastes our road money on silliness like street cars that don't solve (and actually cause) traffic problems, they're never going to win back the public trust or get their cooperation to give them more money. Street cars were removed for safety concerns and the fixed track became obsolete and replaced by more nimble and flexible buses. It's lunacy to install them again and waste taxpayer money on such nonsense when this same agency is whining for more money & claiming we can't get our roads widened without paying expensive tolls.

Funding approved for Downtown streetcar line
Work could begin on $97M project this summer
By Robert Gray
El Paso Inc.
June 29, 2014

A $97-million project to restore streetcar service to Downtown El Paso has received state funding and construction could start as soon as August.

Sometimes called trolleys, the streetcars were a part of life and work in El Paso until the early 1970s.

Returning streetcar service to Downtown has been a dream of many for a long time, but the project had been stymied for years because there had been no funding.

Cintra grabs I-77 public private partnership in NC

Link to article here.

I-77 tolls could be $9 to $11, study says
By the Charlotte Observer
Monday, June 23, 2014

A Mooresville-to-Charlotte round trip on planned Interstate 77 toll lanes is projected to cost $9 during the morning rush hour and at least $11 in the afternoon, according to state documents obtained by a Lake Norman area citizens group.

Widen I-77, which opposes tolls on N.C. interstates, obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The documents predict that Mooresville-to-Charlotte tolls will jump to at least $20 one way by 2035, according to the group.

Local leaders question toll plans on US 75

Link to article here.

State, county leaders question proposed toll lanes along U.S. 75
By JULIETA CHIQUILLO
Dallas Morning News
July 2, 2014

RICHARDSON — Several Collin County and state officials voiced concerns Tuesday about TxDOT’s plans to turn HOV lanes into toll lanes along a section of U.S. Highway 75.

The elected officials were among more than 120 people at the Richardson Civic Center for a public meeting about the proposal.

Under a plan unveiled last month, single-occupancy vehicles would be allowed to use the managed HOV lanes by paying a toll. Car poolers would have to register to use the lanes for free. The plan involves a stretch of U.S. 75 beginning near LBJ Freeway and ending in Allen.

Obama highway plan called 'crazy'

Link to article here.

OBAMA: My Highway Plan Is 'Not Crazy, It's Not Socialism, It's Not The Imperial Presidency'
By Brett LoGiurato
Business Insider
July 1, 2014

A rather exasperated President Barack Obama pressed Congress to find a solution to the looming Highway Trust Fund crisis, arguing "it's not socialism" to want to build new highways and bridges in the country.

"It's not crazy. It's not socialism. It's not the imperial presidency," Obama said Tuesday afternoon during a speech in front of the Georgetown waterfront with the Key Bridge in the background. "We're just building roads and bridges, like we have for the past 50 years."

Toll Roads, State Gas Tax Hike Discussed by Legislature

Link to article here.

It's important to note that Donna Campbell campaigned on an anti-toll platform. Now she's calling for toll roads to be part of the mix in conflict with her own party's gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott who promises to fix Texas roads without raising taxes, fees, or tolls.

Toll Roads, State Gas Tax Hike Discussed by Legislature
By Jim Forsyth
June 24, 2014

Lawmakers now say it will take between $4 billion and $5 billion a year to simply maintain the state’s crumbling road system, and state lawmakers are considering the possibility of a hike in the gas tax, 1200 WOAI’s Chris Fox reports.

Calls to reform federal transportation spending before tax hikes

Link to article here.

Here’s a Crazy Idea: What About Reforming Transportation Spending Instead of Hiking Taxes?
By Emily Goff, Heritage Foundation
June 26, 2014
Daily Signal

Americans know the drill. When Congress faces a gap between its spending wants and available money, it is quick to ask for more money, instead of fixing the spending side of the budget ledger.
This time it’s Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who has proposed a rag tag group of revenue provisions, including hiking taxes on heavy vehicle use, aimed at filling a hole in Washington’s Highway Trust Fund (HTF). Federal gas and diesel taxes deposited in to the HTF go to pay for road, bridge, transit, and other surface transportation projects in the states.
Yup, you got it: Wyden’s focusing on new ways to collect money – without even mentioning spending reforms.

Conservatives on the committee rightly grumbled at its total lack of spending cuts, and now the committee is going back to the drawing board to try and find more palatable reforms all around.
Wyden isn’t alone: Others in Congress have called for gas tax hikes or bailing out the fund with postal reform revenue. But few have proposed reforming spending out of the HTF. In other words, lawmakers by and large aren’t interested in, changing which programs are eligible for the federal gas and diesel taxes deposited into the HTF.

Lawmakers on collision course with taxpayers on transportation

Link to article here.

Lawmakers on collision course with taxpayers on transportation
By Terri Hall
Examiner.com

It’s been quite a week for transportation in Texas. Senate Transportation Committee Chair Robert Nichols held two interim hearings on highway funding. The first was a lovefest over public private partnerships (P3s) that hand public roads to private corporations who extract extremely high toll rates. The committee, which barely gained a quorum, heard invited testimony from the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) and three toll authorities about various P3 projects that are advancing. You would think P3s are the greatest thing since cars were invented. The second was a hearing on the state of transportation funding in Texas, the same song as the House Transportation Committee hearing a few weeks ago about the fiscal cliff coming in 2015.

Cintra teetering on edge of bankruptcy on SH 130

Link to article here.

Cintra teetering on edge of bankruptcy on SH 130
By Terri Hall
Examiner.com

It’s hard to resist the temptation to say I told you so. Moody’s reports SH 130 private toll operator Cintra is scrambling to avoid default on the first public private partnership (P3) in the state of Texas. The Spain-based company in partnership with Zachry American Infrastructure is seeking to restructure its over $1 billion in debt and delay its June payment or face default. In less than two years in operation, the southern 41-mile stretch which opened in October 2012 with much fanfare and boasting by Governor Rick Perry now faces bankruptcy.

Abbott has signed off on contracts for big campaign donor

Link to DMN story here.

Wendy Davis is under investigation by the FBI for conflicts of interest with her private law firm representing the North Texas Tollway Authority while also a member of the Transportation Committee that oversees NTTA legislation,  so this appears to be written from a press release by the Davis campaign to deflect her own troubles to try to make Greg Abbott appear to be involved in shady dealings approving a NTTA contract that benefited a campaign donor.

However, by law the AG has to review and sign-off on such contracts, and it’s important to note his office does not determine who gets the contracts, the state agencies who submit them to his office choose the contractors. So there’s no way those campaign contributions could have influenced Abbott’s office. State agencies put out the contracts to bid and select the contractors, so they serve as a third party buffer between the AG and the contractor in this case. We’re no fans of Linebarger and its corrupt practices of trying to buy influence, but in this case, the story seems like an attempt to smear when there’s no real money trail of undue influence to the AG here.

Abbott has signed off on contracts for big campaign
By CHRISTY HOPPE
Austin Bureau
Dallas Morning News
June 16, 2014

AUSTIN — The attorney general’s office under Greg Abbott has approved more than $3 million in state contracts for a law firm that has been a generous political contributor — providing $200,000 to Abbott’s campaigns in the past 12 years.

SHOCK: Houston toll agency surrenders control to TxDOT

Link to article here.

Houston toll agency surrenders control to TxDOT
By Terri Hall
Examiner.com
June 17, 2014

The US 290 project in Houston used to be held up as an example of local-state cooperation on how transportation projects could be accelerated back in 2012. But that was then and this is now. Last week, the Harris County Commissioners Court approved a deal that cedes control of several Houston-area toll projects to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), a state agency infamous for its penchant to impose tolls on Texans.

The Houston Chronicle suggested that the deal could mean more free lanes on the U.S. 290 project, but don’t hold your breath. TxDOT has discovered how to self-fund its agency with unlimited taxation through tolls. The Commissioners approved a deal that would hand over not only the U.S. 290 toll lanes, but also cede the managed toll lanes on I-10 to TxDOT as well. The county would still receive one-third of the I-10 toll revenues, but the state would gobble-up the rest. The rub that caused the rift on U.S. 290 was over entrance/exit ramps from the inner toll lanes. Local taxpayers will still be subsidizing the toll lanes and will be charged again to actually use the lanes.

Deal with Cintra in N. Carolina for I-77 will soak commuters

Link to article here.

It's outrageous that any state DOT would hand over a major interstate based on a single bid! Even worse that they'd donate the right-of-way purchased with taxpayer money and taken with eminent domain to a private corporation! Private toll roads are the MOST expensive way to expand roads and are a threat to property rights. Commuters will be fleeced with $20/day tolls by this private foreign corporation whom they cannot hold accountable in any way. Losing control of our public roads is criminal malfeasance.

NCDOT Toll Lanes Deal with Cintra Would Slam Commuters
June 10, 2014
by Kurt Naas
Watchdog Wire

In early April the NCDOT announced they had selected Cintra, a Spanish company, as the contractor for the I-77 toll lane project. As it turns out, the Cintra bid was the only one received. Under the terms of the contract, NCDOT will donate the remaining public right-of-way  and grant Cintra an exclusive concession to design, build and operate toll lanes along the Lake Norman stretch of I-77 for the next 50 years. The NCDOT noted Cintra’s proposal had been subject to an extensive review of over 300 pass/fail criteria, and the Cintra package met all of them.

Dallas to charge solo drivers to use HOV lanes

Link to article here.

Officials even admit the HOV lanes on LBJ are 'underused.' In other words they're admitting the failure of government social engineering. So what;s their solution? More social engineering, higher taxation, and manipulation. The whole impetus for this plan is due to a private, foreign toll corporation, Cintra, who operates the new toll lanes on I-635. TxDOT wants every HOV lane that potentially feeds into the privately-run toll lanes to allow single occupancy drivers like Cintra's lanes in order to encourage more drivers to pay them tolls.

It's key to note TxDOT will be operating and profiting off these HOV lanes (that taxpayers have already built and paid for), not the North Texas Tollway Authority. So TxDOT will be able to make money off this scheme without accountability to local taxpayers. Rather than restrict the use of these lanes to those who can afford tolls or who have the ability to carpool (which aren't many based on their own admission), they should be opening them up to ALL motorists. It's yet another way to extort money from taxpayers by an unelected commission.

Plan will admit solo drivers to HOV lanes... for a price
by DAVID SCHECHTER
WFAA.com
June 9, 2014

DALLAS — In North Texas, every square foot of pavement is precious real estate to help keep us moving. That’s why underused HOV lanes on LBJ Freeway are getting a closer look from the Texas Department of Transportation.

By early 2016, on drivers in "single occupancy vehicles" (SOVs) on LBJ between Interstate 30 and North Central Expressway will be able to pay a still-undetermined amount to drive in the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) carpool lane. The concept is called "managed lanes."

Poll: New Yorkers don't want tolls

Link to article here.

There ya have it, voters instinctively know the best deal, and that’s raise the gas tax rather than pay tolls to build and maintain our road and bridges. Tolls are prohibitively expensive compared to a gas tax system and particularly detested when imposing tolls on something that is already traveled for free now. No tolls on existing free infrastructure.

Quinnipiac: Voters say no to East River tolls
By Celeste Katz
New York Daily News
June 16, 2014

New Yorkers think slapping a toll on the East River bridges is an incredibly bad idea, a poll released Monday finds -- unless the cost of crossing other interborough spans falls at the same time.

By a margin of 71% to 23%, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll, city voters slam on the brakes when asked if the currently free bridges should be taxed.

Voters buck the idea 49% to 41% if bridges outside Manhattan were to be tolled at a lower rate at the same time.

Opposition to the idea stretches across all five boroughs and extends to both drivers and mass-transit users, Quinnipiac found.

Whether they use their cars or ride the rails, voters overwhelmingly agree traffic is a serious city problem.

When it comes to how to pay for maintaining roads, bridge, and public transportation, 26% prefer hiking the state gas tax, 23% suggest adding tolls to bridges into Manhattan, and 18% think an increase in the city sales tax would be best.

Quinnipiac polled 1,033 city voters from June 5-9. The survey has an error margin of 3.1 percentage points.

House bans license plate readers: The road to toll collection threatens liberty

Link to article here.

House bans license plate readers: The road to toll collection threatens liberty
By Terri Hall
Examiner.com
June 16, 2014

The U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment barring any federal funds from being used to buy equipment or store data collected from license plate readers. Congress had previously banned any federal funding of red light cameras, but Rep. John Fleming (R - Louisiana) decided to expand the ban to include automatic license plate reader cameras, too.

He cited the threat to personal liberties, especially in light of the National Security Agency’s collection of phone data on innocent Americans. License plate readers can collect data that tracks personal movements, and they can record intimate details such as where one worships or receives counseling, etc. Fleming and the majority of his colleagues agreed, 255 to 172, that the risks to personal privacy and freedom do not outweigh any benefits.

Blacklands private toll road exploits repealed law

Link to article here.

This project sends up so many red flags it's hard to note them all. The big one is the fact that a private corporation has the right to use eminent domain for its own private toll profits. This should NEVER happen in the cradle of liberty. The legislature and voters of Texas approved a Constitutional Amendment in 2011 that is supposed to protect Texans from eminent domain for private use. This supposed turnpike corporation thinks it skirted Texas law by forming ONE DAY before the law allowing such corporations was repealed. We'll see what Texas landowners can do to challenge it using the Texas Constitution in court.

Private Toll Road Considered to Counter Population Boom
By Aman Batheja
New York Times
June 12, 2014

Facing traffic congestion that is only expected to get worse, officials in North Texas are weighing a proposal to build a toll road for commuters into Dallas. The Texas Turnpike Corporation of Dallas has proposed a private toll road, the only of its kind in the state, connecting Greenville and Wylie, and local transportation officials say they are keeping an open mind.

“This would be a private-sector company that would 100 percent finance the project,” said Tom Shelton, a senior program manager with the North Central Texas Council of Governments, which coordinates the region’s transportation planning. “As a result, they would take 100 percent of the risk, and they would take 100 percent of the benefits.”

County, TxDOT may part ways on 290 plan

Link to article here.

County, TxDOT may part ways on 290 plan
County likely to revise partnership with state; move could lead to more free lanes
By Dug Begley and Kiah Collier
June 9, 2014
Houston Chronicle

Drivers head northwestbound in the HOV lane on U.S. 290 Tuesday, May 14, 2013, in Houston. Starting Monday, solo drivers will be able to pay between $1 and $5 for using the lanes while eligible carpoolers can still use them for free.

The honeymoon is likely over between Harris County and state transportation officials who joined together to speed construction of U.S. 290, and the split could mean more free lanes for motorists on the expanded freeway.

The Harris County Toll Road Authority and the Texas Department of Transportation would still remain partners in some way along two major toll corridors.

"I certainly wouldn't say we're getting a divorce," Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said, explaining a revised plan for the $1.8 billion freeway widening. "We are still contributing to 290, but this lets everybody get back to where they are more comfortable."

If county commissioners approve a revised plan Wednesday, the 2012 agreement that made the county and state partners on the freeway widening would change significantly, and include ceding control of toll lanes along Interstate 10 to the state.

For drivers, it could mean more free lanes along U.S. 290 than earlier proposed, but minus the reversible lanes meant to handle peak commuting inbound and outbound.

County and state engineers have been at odds for the past three months regarding some aspects of the design used to widen U.S. 290. Crews are already working to widen the freeway between Mueschke Road and Loop 610.

When county and state officials lauded their partnership in 2012, the plan was to widen the freeway to four general use lanes in each direction, with three reversible managed lanes in the middle. How those carpool/toll lanes fit into the overall freeway project - such as the location of entrance and exit ramps - was the focus of recent county-state discussions.

"There were just complications that were occurring, and there were problems," said Harris County Commissioner Jack Cagle, whose Precinct 4 encompasses most of the U.S. 290 work.

Because discussions are still ongoing, TxDOT spokeswoman Raquelle Lewis said it would premature for the agency to comment until county officials make a decision.

Under terms proposed by Harris County Infrastructure Director Art Storey, the county's role diminishes greatly, freeing the Texas Department of Transportation to build the project as they like.

Storey is asking county commissioners on Wednesday to amend an agreement between the county and TxDOT to remove the reversible toll lanes from the U.S. 290 project that were going to be developed by the Harris County Toll Road Authority and waive control of toll projects along U.S. 290, Interstate 10 and the Hempstead Road corridor to TxDOT.

In return, to honor the spirit of the agreement the county and TxDOT announced in October 2012, Harris County will pay TxDOT $200 million - half what it initially offered - and give the state the Katy Managed Lanes along Interstate 10.

"We could have all gone merrily along, and in the end it would've worked," Emmett said. "But I think it is better this way."

If approved, the Katy Managed Lanes would convert to TxDOT property by the end of the year.
TxDOT would then keep two-thirds of the revenue along I-10, Emmett said, and the county would get one-third. A similar deal could be reached along U.S. 290, though that was still unclear based on the agreement proposed Wednesday.

In the short term, drivers would likely not notice the change. State and county toll roads accept toll tags issued by a number of agencies. Agreements between local police and constable offices govern who patrols the respective sections of toll lanes.

A maintenance change also does not worry officials, they said.

"I always see the immediate improvement of our local control," Cagle said. "But … I don't think you're going to have any safety concerns or maintenance control concerns."

Along U.S. 290, the deal could mean more free lanes, because TxDOT could choose to use the right of way to build 10 general use lanes, rather than eight.

Additional general use lanes might be the preferred choice for many commuters and local elected officials along U.S. 290.

"If the freeway is going to be the same width, from a commuter perspective I would rather have the free lanes," said Jersey Village Mayor Rod Erskine.

Commuters, business owners and residents along the route have closely watched the construction, Erkskine said, and likely will monitor changes in the arrangement to ensure the project meets their expectations in terms of noise abatement and providing access to local streets.

The shift, however, could have dramatic long-term effects for commuters, potentially well outside the two freeway corridors being discussed. Emmett said drivers could benefit from county toll officials refocusing on other routes. Harris County, for example, has plans to extend the Hardy Toll Road into downtown Houston, widen southeast sections of the Sam Houston Tollway and complete work on a tollway along Texas 249.

It's a slight reversal from the teamwork officials celebrated less then two years ago, but Emmett said he is confident that ultimately drivers get a better road system.

"The more we looked at this the more I realized maybe HCTRA ought to focus on HCTRA," Emmett said. "We build our roads and handle them, and they take care of theirs."

Ploy to End Saturday Postal Delivery to Bailout the Highway Trust Fund

Boehner’s Ploy to End Saturday Postal Delivery to Bailout the Highway Trust Fund
By Gary Hoitsma l June 10, 2014
Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research News & Analysis

The nation’s transportation funding debate just gets curiouser and curiouser. In a surprise move , House Republican leaders let it be known they have decided to back a short-term General Fund transfer into the Highway Trust Fund to extend current programs for about eight months to May 2015. The transfer would be paid for through a controversial postal reform initiative that has already raised protests of opposition from key Senate Democrats. Meanwhile, the plan all but kills any small chance there may have been to find agreement on a longer-term multi-year transportation bill before the election. The news appears to have caught even some House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee members by surprise.

How to pay for a simple one-year bailout of the Highway Trust Fund at a cost hovering near $15 billion? That has been the question of the moment for House Republican leaders intent on avoiding a fiscal train wreck this summer that could force highway and transit programs to come to a grinding halt.

Read more here.

Judge approves spy cameras in taxis

Link to article here.

DC: Federal Judge Approves Spying On Taxis
Federal court says District of Columbia may install tracking devices to record movements of cab drivers and passengers.
The Newspaper.com
6/12/14

Spying on taxi drivers and their passengers is fine with a federal judge. In a memorandum opinion last week, the US District Court for the District of Columbia rejected a lawsuit that claimed the use of "smart" metering systems violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

DC cabbies filed suit last year after the DC Taxicab Commission mandated the use of "smart" devices that record the identity of the driver, the time and mileage of each trip along with GPS coordinates, the amount of a fare charged and real-time location of the cab. Passengers would also be tracked through credit card transactions and the data shared with DC police.

The equipment was paid for by imposing a 25-cent tax on each passenger. If a cabbie failed to pay the tax, the Taxicab Commission gave itself authority to withdraw money directly from the driver's account. The court rejected the claim that this arrangement discriminated against cabbies, because the District government imposes no similar requirement on any other business in the city.

"The regulations at issue are 'facially neutral' and there is no suggestion that they have been discriminatorily applied," US District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle. "The complaint arguably alleges a racially disparate impact (by alleging that the requirements are unique to the taxicab industry and that the drivers are a 'suspect class' because they are all either foreign born or African-American), but it fails to allege any basis upon which to infer a plausible inference of discriminatory intent could be drawn. The sole allegation pertaining to intent is that the regulation 'intentionally targets' licensed taxicab drivers. But the same could presumably be alleged as to every regulation enacted by the Taxicab Commission."

The court was even less sympathetic to the privacy argument, citing a January case from New York, El-Nahal v. Yassky, and the 1983 US Supreme Court decision, US v. Knotts. The court said the government is free to track all such movements.

"Here there has been no trespass and no infringement of a reasonable expectation of privacy," Judge Huvelle wrote. "Neither the taxicab drivers nor passengers have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the pick-up and drop-off data collected by the GPS tracking aspect of the modern taximeter system... Applying Knotts, other courts have held, and this Court agrees, that requiring a taxicab driver to install a GPS tracking device that records the start and end of each trip does not infringe on any reasonable expectation of privacy."

The court ordered the lawsuit dismissed. A copy of the ruling is available in a 50k PDF file a the source link below.

Source: Azam v. DC Taxicab Commission (US District Court, District of Columbia, 6/2/2014)

Austin City Council discusses road project options to add to November rail bond

Link to article here.

Austin City Council discusses road project options to add to November rail bond
by Amy Denney
Impact News
June 11, 2014

Austin City Council is discussing $480 million in road projects, including several on I-35, that could be added to a potential $700 million urban rail bond package that would go before voters Nov. 4.

City staff presented a menu of options totaling $1.185 billion, well beyond the city’s maximum amount of bonds it could sell at $965 million. This 2014 strategic mobility plan is based on a shared solution approach to invest in both roads and high-capacity transit, such as urban rail, Transportation Department Director Rob Spillar said. The city had previous strategic mobility plans in 2010 and 2012.

Mayor Lee Leffingwell said council has a tough decision of how to whittle the list of options into a package the city can afford. The city also will only sell bonds if it receives federal funding for the urban rail project, he said. Typically, the Federal Transit Administration will fund about 50 percent of a project.

“We believe that a package that looks like that has a great deal of appeal and has a good chance of succeeding,” he said during the June 10 council work session. “If we can put together a package that has broad appeal, there’s a good chance we can go ahead with our strategic mobility plan.”

Road projects listed in the options are of regional significance, including portions of I-35, Spillar said. The city worked with the Texas Department of Transportation in creating the list because several I-35 projects are keystone projects, meaning they have to occur first before TxDOT can add the Future Transportation Corridor—a set of lanes, one in each direction—on I-35, he said.

“That reflects the fact that [the city] invested previously in our bonds to get ready for I-35,” Spillar said. “We think there is a good set of potential projects there on I-35 that advance the potential for future transit investments.”

Not included in the options are the corridors that the city has already studied for infrastructure needs, including Airport Boulevard, East Riverside Drive, Burnet Road, North Lamar Boulevard and FM969/Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Councilman Chris Riley said he would have liked to see more investment of these roads because they are mentioned in the Imagine Austin comprehensive plan for walkable environments.

Leffingwell said I-35 is the biggest concern for most people in the region and critical for the city to address. He added that city bonds in 2010 and 2012 also devoted money to those corridors.

“This menu has been developed with respect to what people in this city have been clamoring for and been developed to have appeal to voters,” he said. “The objective is to have a strategic mobility plan that actually makes a difference in moving traffic in the shortest time frame possible.”

Road and rail options for Nov. 4 bond package:
    •    $700 million: 9.5 mile urban rail route
    •    $130 million: North I-35/US 183 interchange
    •    $120 million: I-35 downtown access roadway/Riverside interchange
    •    $90 million: South I-35 interchanges (Oltorf, Stassney, William Cannon)
    •    $80 million: SH 71/Austin-Bergstrom International Airport direct access
    •    $34 million: US 183/Riverside interchange
    •    $16 million: Regional multimodal corridor development strategies (Loop 360, RM 620, RM 2222, FM 734)
    •    $10 million: I-35 regional Traffic Management Center to facilitate I-35 construction
    •    $5 million for the Project Connect Next Central Corridor to consider where to expand rail
Upcoming meeting schedule and significant dates
    •    June 13: The Central Corridor Advisory Group makes its recommendation of the locally preferred alternative, or LPA, for urban rail to mayor Lee Leffingwell
    •    June 17: City Council and the Capital Metro board of directors review the proposed urban rail plan
    •    June 20: City staff forwards the recommended 2014 strategic mobility plan to City Council
    •    June 24: Capital Metro board considers the urban rail LPA
    •    June 26: City Council considers the 2014 strategic mobility plan, including the urban rail LPA
    •    Aug. 7: City Council considers calling a bond election for Nov. 4
    •    Nov. 4: Voters could consider a bond package that would include both urban rail and road projects

Abbott pledges to fix Texas roads without tolls

Link to article here.

Abbott promises to fix Texas roads without tolls
By Terri Hall
Examiner.com
June 8, 2014

Gubernatorial candidate and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott addressed transportation, among other policy initiatives, in his speech to an enthusiastic crowd at the Republican State Convention Friday. The state’s gridlock woes were even the subject of a joke when he quipped “I can wheel faster in my wheelchair than some of us can drive on our Texas roads.”

That about sums up both the political and literal reality for Texans in most metropolitan areas of the state. Neither Congress nor the Texas legislature have addressed the structural road funding shortfall for the last decade, both turning to toll roads and massive debt financing to kick the can down the road. But Texas is now facing a fiscal cliff - it leads the country in road debt and its maxed out its proverbial credit card. The Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) says it needs $4 billion more per year just to keep pace with congestion. Even worse, its $10 billion annual budget will experience an additional gaping $2-3 billion hole in 2015 as the borrowing that’s been propping up its budget disappears.

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