TPPF: Building A Safer, Less Congested Future

TPPF suggests we look to technology for the answer for better and safer roads. By prioritizing transportation technology over concrete and roads we end up with better and safer transportation system. Ideas to achieve these goals are:

  •  “Texas should ‘cooperate in the development and use of consistent road striping, sign, signal, and similar standards that can be read by autonomous vehicles.”
  • “Additionally, the Texas Department of Transportation should turn road design and building over to the private sector and focus on directing state transportation funds toward this future.”

[TPPF]

TPPF: Houston Ride Share Regulations Move the City in the Wrong Direction

TPPF doesn’t like Houston’s new regulations on ride sharing. Why? Here’s the list of reasons why:

  • expensive for the average consumer
  • create additional costs for local taxpayers
  •  additional background checks and vehicle inspections over and above those already demanded by The Transportation Network Companies [Read: Uber, Lyft et.al.]
  • $600,000 cost to taxpayers fro the City to administer the regulations.

[TPPF]

Paying For Pavement

Paying for roads is getting more costly according to the Comptroller. Relying on the Texas 2030 report,  Texas 2030 Committee estimated  in the next 25 years,Texas  needs $170 billion more to maintain road quality and traffic congestion at 2010 levels.

 The cost of pavement is broken down like this:

41% State Highway Fund

39% Federal Funds

15% Bonds

3% Texas Mobility Fund

2% General Revenue [Comptroller Office: The Roads More Traveled]

 

 

 

 

 

Ride Share legal in DC, What about data from ride sharing?

DC passed new legislation for ride sharing services. It will require:

(1) registering with the DC Taxicab Commission

(2) covering drivers with $1 million in primary  insurance

(3) criminal background checks for drivers , and

(4) their cars annual inspections.  

Washington Post points out that local regulations on ride share continuously forego obtianing access to ride share data to strengthen their own transportation systems and provide an understadning of how many jobs ride share is creating. [Washington Post]

 

 

 

 

 

Rep. Leach: How to Fund Transportation

TribTalk offers perspectives. Today’s perspective is from State Representative Jeff Leach. The highlights of his persceptive on transportation funding:

  • Prop. 1 is good.
  • Tollroads are bad.
  • Long term TXDOT debt is bad. 
  • Transportation funding must be “aggressively addressed”
  • Must “reprioritize transportation funding”
  • End budget diversions.
  • Dedicate to transportation funding some existing revenue accounts, like the motor vehicle sales tax & auto parts sales tax.

[TribTalks]

Texas High Speed Rail First Public Meetings

Texas is moving ahead with privately built high speed rail. The first public meetings began this week to discuss the proposed Dallas-Houston leg. Federal Railroad Administration and TXDOT jointly held the meetings. At issue were:

  • Where to locate main stops in Dallas and Houston
  • How will any plan impact private land owners
  • How to properly plan high speed rail so it can expand 

For the list of public meetings: Go here.  [TX Tribune]