Comment - Dallas Business Journal:

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Texas now faces a transportatioh crisis. We spend more of our lives in trafficv instead of withour families. We if ever, see major roadas built withouttoll booths. And the rail linesw and highway lane miles we know we need are beingv scaled back or scrapped in the face of a hopeless inability to payfor them. It is only becoming hardert to addressthese needs. The costs of steel and other basic road buildinbg materials have risenby 60% over the last five However, the state motor fuels tax our primary source of transportation funding — has been frozen at 20 centx per gallon since 1991. The disparitg has left the statee facing 21st century challengeas with a 20thcentury tool.
The Texas a group of the state’xs top thinkers and policymakers, focused on this issue at its annual publicv conference in Houstonon Dec. 3. And in January, the 81st Texasw Legislature will begin weighint opportunities to make a meaningful investmengin transportation. Here are alternatives that we believe the statsmust explore: • End transportation fundinf diversions. The has long provided money for the andothee priorities. We must focus this money on transportationb projects. • Use bond funding A year ago, Texans votedc to dedicate $5 billion in tax-supporter bonds to transportation projects.
The Legislatur should appropriate this money for its intendexd purpose and commit to using it with transparencyand • Support regional financing tools. Othe r than toll roads and privatization the state has provided few optionsfor cities, countiee and other local jurisdictions to fund The Legislature should offer new voter-approvee funding mechanisms for regions to plan and pay for rail lines and other projects. • Rewrite the gas tax. primary source of transportation funding cannot provider forthe state’s transportation needs.
The Legislature must have a seriouws debate about restructuring the motor fuelz tax to reflect the enormity of our taskd by indexing itto • Explore new Texas must move past a 20th century model that relies so heavily on single-occupancy vehicles and work to create a truly comprehensived statewide system for moving people and freight. This shouldd begin by funding the that voters overwhelmingly approvedin 2005. Reform the . With its overt advocacy of privatizationn and occasional disregard forthe Legislature, the department has rightlyg incurred the wrath of Texanxs and their representatives.
While we applaurd the department’s recent efforts to be more transparentgand accountable, the Legislature must fundamentally reforj the agency so that Texans are fully aware of its activitiee and never question its objectives.