Trans Texas Corridors Assumptions
A new study throws cold water on a long-cherished claim of toll road advocates, surprising some of them, and could redefine a debate over if and how Texas should toll its highways.
If anyone would report on it. So far, I’ve only seen references by the San Antonio Express News and the East Texas Review.
The report, done for the Governor’s Business Council, differs from TxDOT’s assumptions in three key areas, said Michael Stevens, a Houston developer who’s a member of both the Business Council and the transportation study commission.TxDOT failed to account for how much tax revenues would go up over the 25 years from increased driving, he said, and overestimated unfunded needs for state roads by $8 billion.
And, when calculating the funding gap, TxDOT added an estimated $22 billion for local streets in the eight largest cities, though the state has no responsibility for such roads.
The study concluded that a bloated $86 billion in unfunded needs espoused by TxDOT is actually just $56 billion.
“These numbers are pretty tight,” Stevens said. “We study it like we study our businesses. Before we published it, because we knew it was so different, we did a large amount of due diligence on it.”
And what fringe, politically radical group is responsible for this attempt to undermine the conventional wisdom of the Texas Transportation Department? The Governor’s Business Council (GBC).
The GBC actively supports Governor Perry’s economic development initiatives with task forces for public and higher education, transportation, and economic development.
Except for when it doesn’t. Given that Perry had some knowledge of this report before the November elections,
That included meeting with TxDOT and the governor’s office after a draft quietly came out in September, he said.
one might wonder exactly what does this mean? The Board’s Charmain, Charles E. McMahen, contributed $10,000 to Perry’s campaign. Board member Louis Beecherl contributed another $25,000 to Perry. Does this mean that there were enough big time Perry campaign contributors who wanted this report to come out regardless of Perry’s public position?
Technorati Tags: Trans Texas Corridor, Toll Roads, Rick Perry, Governor’s Business Council, Michael Stevens, Rick Perry, Charles McMahen, Louis Beecherl, TxDOT, Texas
Filed under: Charles McMahen, Governor's Business Council, Micael Stevens, Rick Perry, Toll Roads, Trans-Texas Corridor, TxDOT, texas, texas politics
