Mobility 2025 - 2004 Update

[psukhu]

http://www.nctcog.org/trans/mtp/current/Mob2025_2004Upd_Summary_Presentation.ppt


(PowerPoint is about 4.8 megs)

[saxman66]

Interesting post. There's going to be quite a bit of growth DFW area in the next 20 years.

[mikedsjr]

I saw that the Texas Department of Transportation gave them authority to make decisions instead of being an advisory board for road construction.

Shouldn't we be writing the NCTCOG to plead for rail being forced upon the cities of the metroplex?

[psukhu]

Shouldn't we be writing the NCTCOG to plead for rail being forced upon the cities of the metroplex?

I think they are one step ahead of you:


http://www.dallasnews.com/images/gbl_logo.gif

North Texas officials OK rail plan
Half-percent sales tax increase suggested to fund regional network


10:25 PM CDT on Friday, August 13, 2004

By TONY HARTZEL / The Dallas Morning News



IRVING – For the first time in its history, North Texas has a formal plan to build a six-county regional rail network that will stretch from Denton to Waxahachie and McKinney to Cleburne.

Now comes the difficult part of selling it to state lawmakers and ultimately to voters.

Dozens of local leaders formally agreed Friday to a $3.5 billion, 260-mile commuter rail blueprint that will require an increase in the sales tax by half a percentage point. Their unanimous approval during a meeting at the seventh annual Texas Transportation Summit comes just one year after many of the same leaders gathered and signed a pledge to work on solving some of the region's transit problems.

"It's been a short year," said former state Sen. David Cain, whose job will be to persuade the Legislature and Gov. Rick Perry to allow North Texans to vote to expand their sales tax cap by half a percentage point for mass transit. "Our work has really just begun."

The rail effort kicked into high gear last year when the editorial pages of The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first encouraged local leaders to come up with a plan for expanding mass transit into rapidly growing suburban areas not served by a transit agency.

With one goal reached, "one of our jobs from this point it so make sure transit stays as a top-of-mind issue," said Paul Harral, Star-Telegram editorial page editor. "As far as I'm concerned, it's an absolute win."

Policymakers considered many options for funding a rail network, including a regional gas tax increase or expanding the motor vehicle sales tax. But none of the other measures proved to be as efficient as a sales tax increase.

"The recommendation to the Legislature is that we need their help, and the best way to implement a regional rail system is to raise the sales tax cap," said Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

The emphasis on the sales tax has drawn some concern because of the uncertainties over public school finance. Lawmakers could increase the sales tax by a half a percentage point for public schools, which would make it difficult to also raise the sales tax for transit. Many cities in North Texas already charge an 8.25 percent sales tax. Adding a new transit sales tax and a school sales tax would put many cities at or above what many consider an acceptable threshold for sales tax rates.

"We have to solve school finance, or it's my humble opinion that we won't have to worry about traffic congestion," said Collin County Judge Ron Harris. "Nobody will be coming to Texas."

The Dallas Morning News editorial page will continue to focus attention on regional rail plans, said Keven Ann Willey, vice president and editorial page editor.

"We will also help explain to Austin that education and transit are not conflicting priorities," she said.

In reviewing the funding scenarios, local leaders decided to emphasize only the sales tax to show how serious they were about that option. State officials have taken some notice of the region's unified stance, but they will not yet guarantee endorsement of a new sales tax for transit.

Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson said Mr. Perry soon will "reassess" his stance against a sales tax increase and other major state issues, something he does as a matter of routine.

"It doesn't mean he's going to change his position," said Mr. Williamson, who hinted that the governor would have some of his own proposals for regional rail networks this fall.

Many questions still remain about a regional rail network. Mesquite leaders voiced concerns about not having any new commuter rail lines to eastern Dallas County, Rockwall County or Kaufman County. Ellis County leaders are concerned about the regional rail's lack of benefits for residents in the southern half of that county. And leaders still must decide whether to hold a single, five- or six-county election that could be carried by Dallas and Fort Worth or have each county vote independently and risk creation of a fractured network.

One person spoke against the rail efforts. John Dewey of Flower Mound argued that the existing Trinity Railway Express commuter line from Dallas to Fort Worth carries roughly 2 percent of the traffic on nearby highways.

"You've got to ask yourself what impact does that have on pollution and congestion. It doesn't have any," he said. "It's going to be a boondoggle."

The day's accomplishments illustrate how far North Texas has come since the first transportation summit seven years ago, said U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas. That summit was called in part to get Fort Worth and Dallas leaders in the same room during their fevered battle over the future of D/FW International Airport.

"I knew the only way to plan a good transportation system was to have them together again," Ms. Johnson said. "I'm delighted we have come to this point. We will never be separated again."

E-mail thartzel@dallasnews.com



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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/081404dnmettransit.376f5.html

[RobertB]

Many questions still remain about a regional rail network. Mesquite leaders voiced concerns about not having any new commuter rail lines to eastern Dallas County, Rockwall County or Kaufman County. Ellis County leaders are concerned about the regional rail's lack of benefits for residents in the southern half of that county. And leaders still must decide whether to hold a single, five- or six-county election that could be carried by Dallas and Fort Worth or have each county vote independently and risk creation of a fractured network.Obviously, this situation has nothing to do with the fact that the buggers never bothered to join DART.



One person spoke against the rail efforts. John Dewey of Flower Mound argued that the existing Trinity Railway Express commuter line from Dallas to Fort Worth carries roughly 2 percent of the traffic on nearby highways.

"You've got to ask yourself what impact does that have on pollution and congestion. It doesn't have any," he said. "It's going to be a boondoggle."Because obviously, Flower Mound hasn't benefitted from any such boondoggle, since they're paying for expansion of all those farm-to-market roads to 6-lane streets with proceeds from the city's annual Build-A-Road Bake Sale.

Oops, did I forget to enclose that in [SARCASM] tags? My bad.

[bloodandpopcorn]

I agree with the guy from Mesquite. He will be paying just like the people in McKinney and Frisco that will be getting commuter rail. I understand getting the most heavily trafficed roots built first, but 20 years from now they should be able to have some kind of rail to Mesquite.

[3rd time the charm]

there is now a 2030 plan

http://www.nctcog.org/trans/mtp/2030/MTPRecommendations.pdf