TxDot critics call for an audit

The Lt. Guv and House Speakah' are once again calling for a deeper peek into the Texas Department of Transportation's fiscal affairs. Read their letter here.

Comments

[RIck]

It is good that the legislature is finally working to reel in the rogue agency that is TxDOT. And HB792 that put a 2 year moratorium on CDAs from the last legislative session was also a good thing. The recent transportation study from the federal government that recommended raising the gas tax has hopefully opened some eyes in Texas that maybe we should look at how state gas taxes are used here and perhaps closing our eyes since 1991 and hoping all this would fix itself was not such a good idea. Great.

But what does all this do for the bill of goods we were sold for SH121? No one locally had the guts to stand up and say wait a minute. Is this really how we want to do this? No, they could only see the dollar signs and dream of how they were going to spend the billions on their pet projects. So now we are stuck for 50 years. NTTA is weaker for it (seen the bond ratings lately?), residents along it are being doubled taxed to pay for everyone else's roads and the area will receive even fewer dollars from TxDOT as a result. Excellent work.

Gordon, I know you believe toll roads are the way to go, and I agree that in some cases it is the only way to get a road built (George Bush for example) but can we all agree now that taking a road that was planned, designed, ROW purchased and FULLY FUNDED as a free road and turning it into a toll road simply to raise money to build other toll roads was a bad idea? Particularly since the rest of the state has recognized we should take a more indepth look at exactly who is benefitting from all this. My vote is not the citizens of Texas.

[Gordon Dickson]

Here's a statement from Texas Transportation Commission chairwoman Hope Andrade:
"We at TxDOT would welcome a review of our practices by the State Auditor's Office. We remain committed to working with the Legislature to achieve our state's transportation goals. The mobility challenges we face are significant, and effectively addressing these issues will require an open dialogue as we continue to work alongside our transportation partners."

[Gordon Dickson]

Rick: I don't advocate for or against toll roads, but I do believe the gas tax will be a flawed revenue source in the very near future ... because of the evolving ways in which cars, pickups and freight trucks are being manufactured. One way or another in the next two decades, I believe car owners will by necessity be taxed based upon where, when and how far they drive ...

[Garl Boyd Latham]

Gordon,

With all due respect (and I sincerely mean that, too), I believe, "one way or another," we'd better mentally prepare for some serious changes within the next two YEARS or so. After a couple of _decades_ (presuming things don’t foundationally change during those intervening years), we'll be in for a world of hurt.

Our present de facto transportation "policy" is COMPLETELY UNSUSTAINABLE!

Two decades from now, it'll be the year 2028. By then, most "car owners" will be searching for a way out…and, more than likely, there really won’t _be_ one.

I hate to think what an implosion of our transportation network will mean to the blessed U.S. economy; but, even more, I hate to think what the true _human_ cost will be. Nevertheless, it is already to the point where we may not have enough time left to make the substantive changes necessary to stave off such a collapse.

Besides, maybe, just maybe, that's what it will take to wake us up.

A sad state of affairs, you know?

[Gordon]

Can't argue with those points, Garl. You know, I've been covering transportation for nearly six years now, and I'm hard-pressed to remember the transportation projects of substance that have been built during that time in Tarrant County. There's the 3 bridges project that just started on I-30 in Arlington, and that's about it. Meanwhile, the Tarrant County population has grown from about 1.5 million to nearly 1.8 million! Just in one Metroplex county!