Funding the Diverse Transportation Needs of a Vast and Rapidly Growing State Transportation Advocates of Texas is a statewide coalition that brings together established local and regional organizations and business interests to support additional funding to address the challenging transportation demands facing the state. We support funding solutions for infrastructure improvements that reduce congestion, enhance safety, move commerce, create jobs and improve the quality of life in Texas.
TxDOT will conduct a public hearing on the proposed Texas Rural Transportation Plan (TRTP) at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 21 at 200 East Riverside Drive, Room 1A-2, in Austin. The proposed plan is the rural component of the Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plan 2035 and includes a needs assessment for all modes of the state's rural transportation system, including highways, rail, water ports, airports, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, pipelines and intelligent transportation systems. The Texas Transportation Commission will consider adoption of the plan in coming months.
There is a good deal of talk about the Texas highway transportation crisis this election year and sometimes those talking have not mastered the basic facts. The facts are that we have explosive demand growth, aging and battered infrastructure, a set of static fuel tax rates, and increasing vehicle fuel efficiency. Transportation Advocates of Texas is trying to help make the public aware of a few simple facts that are at the core of the challenge facing Texans. We are distributing thousands of Transportation Crisis information cards through our member organizations and to candidates across the state.
$2 Billion Not Part of a Sustainable Solution
TxDOT has identified $2 billion in additional funding that can be used to move new capacity projects forward. It is one-time funding and in no way addresses the sustainable, long-term funding sources that Texas must have to deal with population growth and aging highway replacement. [Read More]
Advocates Recognize New TxDOT Leaders
Ted Houghton, new chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, and Phil Wilson, TxDOT’s new executive director, were honored by the Transportation Advocates of Texas at an overflow reception February 15th. TAoT Board Chairman Jim Reed extended them a warm welcome on behalf of the Advocates and all Texans concerned about transportation. The reception was held in San Antonio in coordination with the extremely successful 7th Annual Texas Transportation Forum. [Read More]
States Talking About Gas Tax Hikes
Texas is not alone is having lagging fuel tax revenues. Lawmakers in several states have started out the new year by stepping up to talk about the need to raise gasoline taxes in their state to address major shortfalls for highway construction and maintenance. Texas needs to look at fuel taxes as part of an overall solution to providing new, robust, predictable and sustainable funding for Lone Star State highways. It is essential that we get traffic moving, improve safety and strengthen interregional connectivity -- all vital to commerce and our daily lives. [Read More]
Senate Will Look at Debt Issue During Interim
The Texas Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee will be at work on interim charges including taking a hard look at transportation project debt the state has been racking up. The committee will make recommendations on the methods of financing for building new capacity in the highway system. They are to consider the long-term impact of the accumulation of debt for transportation projects as well as the total cost of vehicle ownership as a result of varying levels of congestion and road maintenance. [Read More]
Funding Shortfall on Legislative Agenda for Interim
The Texas House Transportation Committee has its assignment for the next 12 months. They are charged with taking a hard look at transportation funding reforms and developing long-term state funding recommendations. That is the key charge put before the committee by Texas House Speaker Joe Straus in his list of interim charges to all House committees. [Read More]
Transportation Priorities Advanced by Legislature
Important incremental gains in financing improvements to our state's transportation infrastructure were achieved during the 82nd Session of the Texas Legislature. With help from key legislators we successfully advanced the priorities of the Transportation Advocates of Texas and the communities we represent across the state. Important among these was the authorization to sell $3 billion in Proposition 12 bonds approved by the voters in 2007. TxDOT is moving rapidly to put those funds to work on major projects throughout the state. [Read More]
I-69 is 1st New Interstate Section Since 1992
Elected officials and community representatives from all along the Interstate 69 route in Texas gathered recently to unveil highway signs marking designation of the first section of the new interstate in Texas. The 6.2-mile section of Interstate 69 runs from I-37 in Corpus Christi south to SH 44 in Robstown and is concurrent with US 77. It is the first Texas addition to the Interstate Highway System since the last section of I-27 in the Panhandle was completed in 1992. The 70-mile section of the US 59 freeway from Rosenberg through Houston to near Cleveland is expected to clear all the hurdles for designation as I-69 by mid-2012. Other I-69 projects are in the works but completing the whole route will take billions of dollars that must come from what is at present a shrinking funding stream. [Read More]
Transportation Advocates Honor Lawmakers
The Transportation Advocates of Texas held an awards luncheon to honor eight members of the Legislature who provided exceptional leadership on transportation issues during the 2011 Legislative Session. They are Senators Steve Ogden, Tommy Williams, Robert Nichols and Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, and Representatives Drew Darby, Joe Pickett, Linda Harper-Brown and Larry Phillips. [Read More]