Honkin' Mad

Brace for new Texas laws: booster seats, cellphones

New laws take effect Tuesday (Sept. 1), so read this and maybe avoid a ticket.

Pic: Grand Rapids Press

'It is better to travel well than to arrive'

It is better to travel well than to arrive.

Buddha

Pic: Arizonabuzznews.com

Texas may have leftover stimulus dollars for roads

Who says leftovers aren't delicious?

Pic: myrecipes.com

No Trinity Railway Express trains on Labor Day

If you like to ride the buses and trains in Dallas-Fort Worth, here's a quick heads-up about Labor Day service ... 10 days of advance warning, if you will:

The Trinity Railway Express will not operate on Labor Day, which is Monday, Sept. 7.

T buses in Tarrant County will operate on a reduced, Sunday-style schedule. For details, check here.

For info on Dallas-area DART buses and light rail, visit this site.

Got a gripe (or a "well done")? The T's customer service line -- 817-215-8600 -- will be open 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the holiday.

Tollway authority still wants to build Southwest Parkway

The Texas Department of Transportation is putting together a backup plan in case the North Texas Tollway Authority decides it can't build the Southwest Parkway toll road in Fort Worth.

Will High Speed Rail Work in Texas?

Efforts to bring high speed rail to Texas are chugging along. The Texas Department of Transportation this week formally applied for $1.8 billion in stimulus funding to improve existing passenger rail service in Fort Worth and other areas, and begin planning a world class system – in which cities may someday be linked by 185 mph trains. Historically, Texans have cast a skeptic eye toward passenger rail – at least during the automobile and aviation eras. In the 1990s, state officials rejected a proposal to build a bullet train-style system between big cities such as Dallas and Houston. This time, the key to success will be including smaller cities such as Temple in the early planning process, members of the advocacy group Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corporation testified Thursday during a Texas Transportation Commission meeting in Austin.  Grass roots support is crucial if state leaders want to avoid a repeat of the Trans Texas Corridor, a sweeping plan to build toll roads and utility lines across the state that became widely opposed by Texans who feared that too much private land would be seized, and projects would be built with too much foreign involvement. The seven-year-old Trans Texas Corridor plan was shelved earlier this year.

“One of the lessens we’ve learned is, we really need to start there at the community level,” transportation commissioner Bill Meadows of Fort Worth said of the rail plan.  “When we start talking about alignment, it has the potential to do great, but it also has the potential for impact. We really do want to start communicating, and more than anything else listening.”

If rural interests can be brought aboard, the proposed Texas T-Bone high speed rail line connecting Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio has the potential to revolutionize how people live and work, supporters said. Cities such as Waco and Bryan-College Station would suddenly be just a short hop from the state’s major metro areas. For now, the plan is to hire a rail director within the transportation department by next month, and take the necessary bureaucratic steps to begin governing the process, transportation department executive director Amadeo Saenz said. One option is to create a corporation within the transportation department that would be equipped to juggle public and private interests. The state hopes to get either its $1.8 billion stimulus request, or a comparable Federal Railroad Administration grant, he said. The transportation commission also renewed its agreement with Oklahoma to subsidize the Amtrak Heartland Flyer, which offers daily trains from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City. The states split the cost of covering Amtrak’s operating losses, and for Texas it will amount to $1.95 million for the next year. Kansas officials are pushing for the Heartland Flyer to be extended to Kansas City. Fort Worth also is served daily by the Texas Eagle, which connects San Antonio to Chicago.

Arlington man tabbed to lead new Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

Victor Vandergriff of Arlington will serve as the first chairman of a new Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, state officials disclosed Wednesday.

Vandergriff, a businessman, will be the point man in a statewide effort to create the new agency beginning in November.

State lawmakers earlier this year voted to create a new DMV, to relieve some of the administrative duties  -- such as issuing car registration stickers and transferring vehicle titles -- historically performed by the Texas Department of Transportation.

Lawmakers have been highly critical of the transportation department, making frequent allegations that highway funds have been mismanaged and the state's growing congestion problems have not been properly addressed. The thinking was that, if administrative functions were turned over to a new DMV, the transportation department would then have more time to focus on building roads and such.

Bureaucratic alphabet soup:

However, unlike motor vehicle departments in other states, Texas' DMV will not be responsible for issuing driver licenses. That responsiblity will remain with the Texas Department of Public Safety, a statewide law enforcement agency.

Bio:

Vandergriff is also vice chairman of the North Texas Tollway Authority, a Plano-based state agency that is planning the Southwest Parkway toll road in Fort Worth. He is vice president of V.T. Inc. and Automotive Investment Group, the largest private retail automotive group in the U.S. He also oversees the Vandergriff dealerships in Tarrant County. He's also a lawyer specializing in business development, with a long history of civic involvement in Arlington and the surrounding area.

Check back for more later ...

-- Gordon.

Dreaming of a cross-country chug ...

Terrific story from former Star-Telegram writer Josh Shaffer about the obsolescence of cabooses.

Fort Worth bridge to downtown, museums closing

Detours will be available while the West Lancaster Avenue bridge is out of service.

Residents express frustration at Airport Freeway hearing

Just about everyone agrees the project is needed to relieve tremendous traffic congestion, but at what price for those who live near the freeway?