Do Your Best Carl Sagan and Say "Texas Cheated Out of Billions and Billions For Roads"

Where does all the gas tax money go? Oh sure, over the years cars and trucks fuel mileage figures have improved somewhat. The big 18 wheelers have improved from the 60's and 70's when they achieved 4 or 5 miles per gallon to 7 to 10 depending on a myriad of factors. But overall, we hear every year that the number of barrels of oil the U. S. uses just keeps growing and growing. The overall amount of fuel tax collected keeps growing, and just think of all of the related taxes you pay just involved in car ownership. You pretty much don't even need to do a "Google" search to know we've got more cars and trucks paying more taxes than ever before. So now we must ask, "Where does all the other transportation related tax money go?
Then you can ask, if Texas puts in a dollar of gas tax to the Feds and only receives back .80 for the previous 40 years until 2002. Where did all those .20s go? By the way those .20s have added up to "billions and billions" of lost road money for Texas. Texas road dollars have gone to states like NY and PA where guess what? Toll roads! Toll bridges! And (gasp) rail! Picture me looking like Redd Foxx as Fred G. Sanford on "Sanford and Son" saying "This is the big one! You hear that, Elizabeth? I'm coming to join ya, honey!"
Anyway, here's a pair of great articles by Ron D. Utt, Ph.D illustrating the shortchanging of Texas as well as other states and shining the light on the beneficiaries.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/SmartGrowth/wm645.cfm
http://www.heritage.org/Research/SmartGrowth/em938.cfm

Solve Congestion? BUNK! It's About REVENUE!

Key quote:
•The state would be limited in building other controlled access highways within 10 miles of the Toll Road.
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/13652383.htm

Toller Near Monopoly Causes Trucks to Pay $30 to Cross a Bridge

Tollers won't admit it, but congestion relief is far from a primary goal. It's about revenue and finding just the right choke points to cash in big time. A prime example is the George Washington Bridge(GWB) which crosses the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan.
As of this writing 5 axle trucks, one of the most common configurations for 18 wheelers,are charged $6 per axle. A whopping $30 to cross a bridge built in1931! It is a one way toll and discounts can be had, but for most over-the-road(OTR) drivers there's no guarantee they'll use the GWB on the way out of Manhattan and discounts add a level of hassle factor and wasted time to take advantage. And by the way, during my time as an OTR driver, plenty of time was spent in congestion trying to get across the infamous GWB.
Where in the world does all that toll money go?
Where are the alternate routes built with all that toll money?
Excerpt: "For instance, it costs $30 cash to cross the George Washington Bridge into New York City, any time of the day."
http://www.heavydutytrucking.com/2005/04/042a0504.asp

$600 Million For Ineffective Rail, But SH130 Must Be A Toll Road!

Last year CAMPO announced that the Feds have $600 million for a new passenger rail system between Austin and San Antonio. The system would be called the Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Commuter Rail District and would only move 4 to 5% the traffic that I-35 moves on a daily basis. The SH 130 project is approximately 80 miles long and using a per lane mile cost of $2 million works out to approximately $640 million for a 4 lane highway. Why don't our Texas representatives at every level insist on the rail money being put to better use by building SH130 as a FREEway. SH130 as a FREEway would finally bring much needed relief to the Austin area, but as a toll road will probably be of little help to Austin. Hmm, there IS money for rail but NOT for roads.
Also, note what the following report says about cost over-runs which could likely put the price tag of the rail system over (say it out loud) $1 BILLION!!
http://www.publicpurpose.com/ut-crinam.pdf

Taxpayers and Bondholders Beware of the Toll Road Bandits!

Excerpts of particular interest:
"New toll roads have been a bonanza for consultants, but not for bondholders."
"But with revenues coming in at 45% less than the forecasts, Osceola County is ultimately on the hook for millions of dollars to cover the shortfall. "No one would have entered this transaction were it not for URS," says C. Ray Maxwell, director of planning and finance for Reedy Creek."
Complete story here: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2001/0903/046_print.html

Taxpayers Pay EXTRA For Toll Road Shortfalls

Some of the latest news coming out of Austin, proposed toll road capital of Texas, is about the Phase 2 Toll Road Independent (Sham) Review. In the fall of 2005, the CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) Board responded to the public's outcry demanding an Independent Review of the Phase 2 toll roads by voting to create an Independent Review Board complete with an outside "objective" consultant. For some time, information about the membership of the review committee, the times, dates and locations of meetings and even the identity of the so-called "objective" consultant seemed to require a "Top Secret" clearance. However, this week on the 18th, the reasons for secrecy became painfully evident. As if one of the Co-Chairman of this panel being a proponent of house bill #3588 was not bad enough, it has now been discovered that the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority has hired an outfit called URS to provide data for the Independent Review. Among URS past debacle involvements are SR 91 in California and The Camino Colombia toll road in Laredo, TX. and just click on to see the taxpayers being desanguinated in Florida: http://www.sptimes.com/News/071600/State/Flawed_figures_leave_.shtml

CAMPO Study Admits 130 Won't Serve Primarily as I-35 Bypass

For months many folks have pointed out that Hwy 130 built as a toll road would seriously reduce its' use as a much needed bypass for Austin. However, I-35 travelers, including many Austinites will still get to enjoy paying gas taxes (some of which will go to help pay for so-called "private" toll roads) whilst sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. To add to the pleasure, Hwy 130 will sit underutilized and 130 users will get to pay tolls and continue paying gas taxes and just wonder where all the money goes!
Even CAMPO admits that the primary users of 130 will be local traffic, and you can bet that 130's users will only be there as a last resort.
Here's the study:
http://img.coxnewsweb.com/C/00/16/84/image_1384160.gif