Texas has generated $17.6 Million in revenue from speciality license plates.
Trend: High Speed Rail Prohibited from Using Eminent Domain
Squeaking by in a 5-4 vote, Senate Transportation Committee passed SB 1601 by Kolkhorst. the bill removes eminent domain authority for high speed rail.
The High Speed Rail proponents say federal law, alone, doesn’t provide the tools that will help them to build their rail. 1190 Talk Radio Dallas
Trend: Transportation Funding Panels
Recommending a funding solution for transportation works best when the people recommending the solution aren’t elected officials.
Look at Georgia, they had a special committee recommend suggestions and now a new transportation solution is sittin gon the Governor’s Desk. Washington Times
Connecticut follows suit with Governor Malloy appointing a 10 member Council to create a “coordinated, cohesive strategy” for transportation needs. Governor Malloy supports a funding mix including:
- tax surcharges
- fees
- public-private partnerships
- traditional bonding
- new, complex financing arrangements that would attract investments from pension managers or sovereign wealth funds.
- He’ll consider the controversial option of new highway tolls (as a partial solution)
5 Point Transportation Funding Plan from a California Republican Legislator
- Before adding new fees and taxes, look at how the current funding is used. Too much is used to build and not enough to maintain existing infrastructure.
- Any new funding has to be protected so it can only be used for roads, bridges and highways
- Reduce the nearly $60 billion in deferred transportation maintenance
- Look at California’s revenue surplus and a rainy day reserve fund; some of which should be dedicated to our transportation system.
- No new or increased charges until all previous transportation funding is actually directed to our roads.
State Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, represents the 12th District. A civil engineer, he is vice chairman of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.
Toll Battle Wages Across the U.S. All Eyes Look to Texas.
Highlighting a Texas Turf Anti-Toll protest, Bloomberg looks at the battles waging against toll roads.
- Kentucky: Toll Fees to replace an ailing bridge to Ohio were blocked by Tea Party legislators
- Congress: FedEx Corp. and McDonald’s Corp are working to keep barriers to toll roads on Interstate highways in tact
- Connecticut: Republicans blocked new toll legislation
Bloomberg also siezes on a Texas A&M Transportation Institute statistic to support toll roads : “$121 billion in wasted time and fuel in 2011, or $818 per commuter.”
Rep. Scott Sanford is also quoted as saying, ” “If a core function of government is transportation — building and maintaining roadways — that means whatever a citizen pays for that core government function is a tax. What we end up with is taxation without representation.”
14,088 Uber Drivers & 13,587 Taxi Drivers in Same City.
New York City has more Uber drivers than cab drivers.
Truckers v. Conductors: A Transportation Cage Fight
More and more big trucks are on the roads, hauling goods to and fro. Good for the economy. Bad for public safety according to troopers who the New York times labels as unwittingly lobbying for an increase in rail.
Naturally the rail industry wants more rail and the trucking industry wants more and bigger trucks on the road. The rail industry is ginning up support from troopers through a non-profit.
4 Ways to Make Transportation Assets Earn Funds for the State
Transportation agencies throughout the US have tapped creative earning strategies to enable their assets to generate more transportation funding:
- Open rest areas and welcome/visitor centers on highways to contract vendors to sell food, goods and services
- Bring Food Trucks to RestStops
- Corporate-branding sponsorships.
- Sponsors to offer roadside assistance.
- Virginia has a 3 year contract with GEICO Insurance for sponsorship of rest areas and welcome centers that generated close to $6 million last year.
- Naming agreements.
- Advertising in high-traffic locations such as bridges and rest areas.
- AT&T agreed to pay more than $5M to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority over five years to rename Philadelphia’s Pattison Station as the AT&T Station.
- Selling Transportation Data
- Sell anonymous traffic data to private mapping or traffic-information companies or as a platform for marketing opportunities.
- Lease, Sell or Develop Underused Lands
- California earns approximately $6 million a year by leasing sites for mobile communications towers.
Bill Filing: Rainy Day Fund to Pay for Shale Roads
House Bill 3825 by Rep. Landgraf would transfer $50 million per year from the Rainy Day Fund to Texas counties to help offset the impact of oil and gas drilling operations.
Chairman Darby has issued a statement in support.
7 Things to Know about TPPF Proposed Transportation Reform
This week, TPPF released, the Road Forward, a transportation reform proposal.
- No need for more transportation funding: Prop 1 filled the funding gap
- End diversions
- Reform Transportation procurement (Pg. 19 has 11 recommendations)
- Remove Restrictions on Innovation in the Transportation Code
- Stop accepting federal funds for urban rail
- TXDOT overestimates growth
- Toll Roads help solve transportation problems.