Pulling a fast one: TxDOT does end run around lawmakers with 'rule change'

Link to article here.

Dirty trick? TxDOT bypasses legislature to enact law through rule change
By Terri Hall
July 9, 2013
Examiner.com

How do you know when a public agency is out of control? It tries to bypass the legitimate branch of government charged with enacting law, in this case the Texas legislature, to make laws unto themselves using schemes like making an administrative ‘rule change’ instead. At a recent meeting of the Texas Transportation Commission (the body that governs the Texas Department of Transportation or TxDOT), it proposed a rule change that would, in effect, give the agency a blank check to enter into unlimited numbers of controversial public private partnerships (known as P3s, called Comprehensive Development Agreements or CDAs in Texas).

Indeed, they’d do it using the so-called ‘availability payment’ model, which they initially tried but failed to get passed as legislation, House Bill 3650, during the 83rd regular session of the legislature that ended Memorial Day. So it appears TxDOT is attempting to do through a rule change what they couldn't get done legitimately through the legislative process.

NAFTA superhighways underway in Texas

Link to article here.

NAFTA Superhighway underway in South Texas
By Terri Hall
July 8, 2013
Examiner.com

While there’s been much political angling and wrangling over whether or not the famed legacy project of Texas Governor Rick Perry, the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC), is dead or alive, the evidence points to it being alive and well and underway throughout Texas. The Trans Texas Corridor is the Texas portion of the NAFTA superhighways, often called high priority corridors, approved by Congress since the nineties. Two such corridors in Texas, I-69 and Ports to Plains, are advancing.

At its May meeting, the Texas Transportation Commission approved $11.2 million in funds to expand US 87 in Dawson County from the city of Lamesa south to the border of Martin County. Just a few months prior to this allocation, the Commission approved another $17 million widening project on Texas 349 between Lamesa and Midland. These projects are part of the Ports to Plains TTC corridor headed south into Texas from Colorado, mostly as incremental upgrades to existing highways.

CA Treasurer: Toll roads floundering, numbers don't add up

Link to article here.

This is why it's PARAMOUNT that ELECTED officials are making these multi-billion dollar tax decisions. Toll road and transportation bureaucrats will choose tolling every time and make horrible decisions in-debting generations of taxpayers to keep their bad decisions at bay. Bottom line is most of these projects make NO fiscal sense and aren't EVER going to be financially viable. So they shouldn't be built as toll roads. There simply aren't enough drivers with that kind of discretionary income, period. Now CA taxpayers will have to pay more for an extra 13 years!

California Treasurer Reports On Floundering Toll Road Finances
Failing California toll road needs to restructure by collecting money from motorists for thirteen extra years.
July 8, 2013
TheNewspaper.com

Toll roads remain in vogue among the transportation bureaucracy, but existing projects around the country continue to struggle financially. California's Foothill-Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, which runs the 241, 261 and 133 toll roads in Orange County, are so depressed that a report released Wednesday by the office of California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer suggests would deliver a blow to the state economy.

"A default on the agency's bonds could have a negative effect on the outlook of investors on the creditworthiness of California in general, potentially making it more difficult and costly for other California issuers to raise funds in the capital markets," the report explained.

Local taxpayers pick-up the slack for lawmakers' refusal to fund roads

Link to article here.

It appears this is the plan by federal and state lawmakers -- by their lack of fiscal discipline to properly fund roads, they're forcing local tax hikes to pick-up the slack. State law now allows local property and sales tax to fund toll roads. No matter who's shirking their duty to fund this core function of government and spending our road taxes on non-road purposes, the taxpayers are the ones paying dearly for this smoke and mirrors shell game and habitual raid of road dollars. We MUST insist on getting ALL road taxes allocated to roads before we're all taxed off our roads altogether!

Local groups plan for transportation funding gap
by Shawn Arrajj
July 5, 2013
Community Impact News

The end of the 2013 regular legislative session in Texas left the Texas Department of Transportation well short of the additional $4 billion it said it needed to maintain current traffic congestion levels across the state. As legislators continue to discuss transportation funding in the second special session, which began July 1, TxDOT is waiting to see if it will receive an increase in funding beyond the additional $400 million set aside for the 2014–15 biennium so far.

Government offices that handle road maintenance and construction in Harris and Montgomery counties have partnered with TxDOT on funding transportation projects in the past, but many have become more self-sufficient over time.

South Bay Expressway meeting revenues, but why?

Link to article here.

A little history lesson is instructive here. This toll road went bankrupt in less than 3 years after opening. Traffic forecasts were off by nearly 40,000 cars a day! The public private partnership's bankruptcy forced the federal taxpayer to write down nearly $80 million of the federal TIFIA loan that subsidized the privatized tollway. So it's not hard to put this tollway in the black when it's starting with a much lower debt load thanks to taxpayers. So before they praise the private company, perhaps they should start telling the truth about why.

Toll Road’s Financial Strategy Working, Sandag Reports
San Diego Business Journal
Friday, July 5, 2013

The San Diego Association of Governments, the regional transportation planning agency, said reducing tolls on the state Route 125 toll road from Lemon Grove to the international border is working.

After one year of Sandag ownership, the road is seeing increased usage and meeting revenue targets established when Sandag acquired the 10-mile road.

NJ spends most on highways, how does Texas rank?

Link to article here.

It serves as good reminder that the federal data shows Texas has the highest road debt in the country. So if this is causing New Jersey's road building cost to through the roof, it stands to reasons so is the cost to Texas taxpayers.

Does anyone in authority have a clue how much Texas is spending to build and maintain its roadways? We'd like to see a cost comparison from 1990-2000 to 2000-2010 for starters. The cost per mile has likely shot sky-high under Gov. Rick Perry's innovative financing schemes encouraged by Goldman Sachs and the like - debt, design-build, and public private partnerships.

N.J. highways cost most, study says
By Paul Nussbaum, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: July 05, 2013

New Jersey's roads may not be paved with gold, but they certainly are expensive.

The state ranks highest in the nation in the cost of maintaining its roads, spending almost twice as much per mile as the number-two state, California, according to a new national study.

New Jersey spent $1.2 million per mile a year to maintain and build its roads and bridges, compared to a national average of $145,000 per mile, the study said. The lowest spending was by South Carolina, which spent $31,379 per mile.

DFW: Automatic toll increases here to stay

Link to article here.

This is what happens when un-elected boards get control of tax rates - they get pegged to go up AUTOMATICALLY FOREVER unless elected officials stop them. Taxation without representation at its worst!

North Texas Tollway Authority's automatic toll increases appear to be here to stay
Officials on the Regional Transportation Council had urged the NTTA for years to adopt higher toll rates.
By TOM BENNING, Staff Writer
Dallas Morning News
Published: 30 June 2013
 
The North Texas Tollway Authority’s policy of automatically raising tolls every two years is likely to remain in place, even as several new faces have joined NTTA’s board since the policy was adopted in 2009.

On Monday, toll rates go up 5.9 percent, to 16.2 cents per mile. NTTA says the scheduled hikes provide a dedicated revenue stream, allowing the agency to reassure its creditors.

The automatic hikes will continue every two years unless the board votes to stop them.

North Carolina adopts transportation funding model without new taxes

Link to article here.

Refreshing to see bold leadership on transportation that's still fiscally conservative and prudent for taxpayers. Texas should take note! There's a way to properly fund roads without new taxes in Texas, too, but the spend thrift Texas legislative leadership REFUSES to use all existing road taxes fro roads. Instead they choose to spend $4 billion/yr in road taxes for general government. Lawmakers need to dedicate vehicle sales tax to ROADS and END all gas tax diversions!

North Carolina adopts transportation funding model without new taxes
By Keith Goble, Land Line state legislative editor
July 3, 2013

A new law in North Carolina overhauls the state’s transportation funding model. The new model avoids raising or imposing new taxes.

 Gov. Pat McCrory’s 10-year, $16 billion funding model calls for putting available resources to the state’s greatest transportation priorities.

Specifically, HB817 sets up three tiers of projects for spreading state and federal transportation dollars.

North Carolina law previously required all available funding to be divided evenly between the state’s 14 Department of Transportation divisions.



Editorial: Lawmakers stubborn refusal to pay for roads

Link to article here.

It's more accurate to say the leadership of the Texas legislature refuses to fund roads or end gas tax diversions. At the end of the first special session, a key amendment offered by Rep. Linda Harper-Brown to dedicate the vehicle sales tax we already pay to roads passed by an overwhelming margin. This would have properly funded TxDOT with the money it needs to return to pay-as-you-go, but the LEADERSHIP in the Texas Senate, in particular Senate Finance Committee Chairman Tommy Williams, REFUSED to accept the bill with the amendment, so it was almost immediately removed.

Why the Texas House would so easily crater to the few in the Senate is beyond comprehension. No wonder they call it the 'upper' chamber when the House suffers from such an inferiority complex.

Editorial: Texas lawmakers’ stubborn refusal to pay for roads
July 2, 2013
Dallas Morning News

Longtime North Texans can regale you with the back-in-the-day wonder of tossing a quarter into a basket in Dallas for the privilege of driving a clean, modern, no-stop-light road all the way to Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington Stadium or even Fort Worth.

Those, indeed, were the days. And they are gone.

Transportation funding gets one more shot in TX legislature

Link to article here.

Wear: Transportation funding to get another chance at Legislature's spotlight
By Ben Wear
Jun 30, 2013 (Austin American-Statesman - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX)

What the heck, I didn't have any big plans in July anyway.

The Legislature, quick to capitalize on its boffo ratings as a summertime reality show, comes back to the Capitol on Monday afternoon for "Special Session, the Sequel."

The issue covered by this column, transportation, of course will dominate the 30-day session as lawmakers once again try to find more money for the state's highways. Senate Joint Resolution 1, the proposed constitutional amendment to send oil and gas revenue to the Texas Department of Transportation, sponsored by state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, is all the rage on social media now.

OK, who am I kidding?

Updated Edition of Documentary Being Finalized

The Truth be Tolled: 281 Special Edition documentary is being finalized as we end June 2013. Look for further announcements on special viewing opportunities. Take a look at the trailer below.

Driving declines effect toll roads

Link to article here.

They can run but they can't hide. Toll advocates cannot deny the decline in driving as gas prices remain high. That means fewer people have the money to keep gas in their tanks much less handle the added expense of paying tolls on a daily basis. Toll roads will continue to be risky propositions that are an unsustainable, foolish way to address road funding shortfalls. They don't work!

Driving declines could challenge toll roads
By Robert Grattan
Austin Chronicle
Jun 21, 2013, 9:26am CDT

Americans are driving less, and that means less revenue for toll road operators such as SH130 Concession Co., according to a study by Fitch Ratings.

The conclusion could mean trouble for toll routes — including Central Texas' State Highway 130 — which was built by Spanish company SH130 Concession and its parent company Cintra. The road reportedly cost $1.3 billion, and the company will maintain and operate it for the next 50 years to recoup the cost.

TX company lied about safety of concrete

Link to article here.

Texas company lied about strength of precast concrete
By Charlie Morasch, Land Line contributing writer
Landline Magazine
June 17, 2013

An Irving, Texas-based company that manufactures precast concrete commonly used to complete road and bridge projects has admitted to lying about the strength and placement of rebar in its products.

 The fine comes at a time of renewed focus in the U.S. on infrastructure following bridge collapses in Minnesota in August 2007 and as recently as May 23 on Interstate 5 in Washington.



According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Hanson Pipe & Precast LLC, a subsidiary of Lehigh Hanson Inc., has agreed to pay the United States government $500,000 to settle claims that its concrete end walls and catch basins didn’t meet federal specifications.

PA Auditor blasts toll road law

Link to article here.

Pennsylvania Auditor Blasts Toll Road Law
Audit report shows Pennsylvania law that uses toll revenue to build mass transit projects has caused unsustainable debt.
The Newspaper.com
June 21, 2013

The Pennsylvania Turnpike's debt is unsustainable thanks to the state law that allowed the road to implement massive toll hikes, state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale concluded. DePasquale released his findings Tuesday during testimony before the state House Transportation Committee.

"We developed this special report to call attention to the unforeseen impact that Act 44 of 2007 is having not only on the Turnpike, but on motorists and businesses across the state," DePasquale said. "As auditor general, I wanted to know what happens to the Turnpike toll rates motorists pay and what happens to the Turnpike debt if we do nothing to fix Act 44."

NAFTA superhighways slowly become reality

Link to article here.

NAFTA Superhighway Takes a Small Step Toward Reality
June 3, 2013
Trucking Info.com

The Texas Transportation Commission has added more than 100 miles of highway in southern and northeastern part of the Lone Star state to the Interstate 69 system.

A group of made up of Texas local governments and other groups, the Alliance for I-69 Texas, says the approval follows the Federal Highway Administration signing off on the plan.

Texas has renamed interstate-standard segments of U.S. 77 , U.S. 83 and U.S. 281. Interstate signs should being appearing in the next month or two.

Aussie firm dumps one VA toll road, new one struggles, too

Link to article here.

Virginia: Transurban Ditches Old Toll Road, New One Struggles
Australian toll road company dumps an old toll road in Virginia as a newly opened route struggles.
The Newspaper.com
June 25, 2013

Virginia's transportation policy has been dominated by tolling. Both Governor Bob McDonnell (R) and his predecessor Tim Kaine (D) saw the use of public-private partnerships as a means of raising revenue for the state while claiming not to have raised taxes. The tolling push continues with the construction of tolling infrastructure on existing lanes of Interstate 95, even though similar projects in the state are struggling to stay afloat.

On June 14, the tolling firm Transurban announced it had given up on running Virginia's Pocahontas Parkway and would be surrendering the toll road to lenders by October. The Australian company wrote off the entire road as a $138 million loss last June.

Public feedback sought as US 281 toll project advances to next step

Link to article here.

Officials seek public feedback on flawed toll plan for US 281
By Terri Hall
Examiner.com
June 23, 2013

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (RMA) are soliciting public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Highway 281 expansion project. They held a public hearing Thursday, June 20, at the San Antonio Shrine Auditorium and nearly 250 people attended despite it being held on the same night as the final game of the Spurs World Championship play-offs. Over 90% of the public feedback opposed tolls on Hwy 281.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) currently has two HOV/transit toll lanes planned from Loop 1604 to Stone Oak Pkwy., and tolls on all six main lanes (including the 4 currently toll-free lanes) north of Stone Oak Pkwy. to the county line.

Miami toll board opines cut in toll rate INCREASE

Link to article here.

Of course, big government threatens to cut needed road improvements if it cuts the planned INCREASE in toll rates that are already sky high and inhibiting freedom to travel. They say they'll collect less money, when the toll rate increase hasn't even been enacted yet. They basically spent the money before they ever collected the higher tax. Typical when you put unelected toll bureaucrats in charge of tax rates!

MDX may lower tolls on State Road 836, but other improvements may suffer
By Alfonso Chardy
Miami Herald
June 2, 2013

The Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) is organizing public presentations in coming weeks to advise drivers about the impact of a possible toll rate on State Road 836.

The agency board had proposed a higher toll rate on March 19, but reversed itself before voting on the measure and decided on a lower toll rate at its April 30 board meeting.

MDX board members initially voted to set a rate of 70 cents per collection point – in essence, a toll increase, because full-fledged electronic collection will be activated on 836 and cash no longer will be accepted.

Private toll operator in VA hands failing road to creditor

Link to article here.

Toll road giant tasked with major VA projects hands one off to creditors
By Kathryn Watson
Watchdog.org
June 14, 2013

ALEXANDRIA—Something really is waiting ‘just around the river bend’ for the Pocahontas Parkway [2] in the Richmond region — creditors.

European banks are taking over the financially foundering enterprise owned by the state but operated and tolled by Australian-based toll road giant Transurban, which isn’t generating enough toll revenue to cover the multi-million-dollar project’s debt bills.  The Virginia Department of Transportation will have to seek out a new operator for the road that connects Henrico and Chesterfield counties over the James River.

Toll board member conflicts of interest being investigated

Link to article here.

This is no small matter if the FBI is investigating a toll authority board member.

Transportation authority member’s investments at issue in concerns about possible conflicts
By Kevin Krause
Dallas Morning News
June 15, 2013

When toll roads or any type of highways are built, those who own land in their path stand to make a hefty profit when development inevitably follows.

Such is the case with toll roads built by the North Texas Tollway Authority. This Sunday, we explore the case of one NTTA board member, David Denison, who’s private business interests have been tied closely to the construction of toll roads in the area.

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