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The Looming Transportation Crisis

T he L ooming T ransportation C risis. The Looming Transportation Crisis. May 2008. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS. Our transportation infrastructure is Undersized to serve existing and future traffic volumes Deteriorating due to age and rising portion of heavy truck usage

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The Looming Transportation Crisis

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  1. The Looming Transportation Crisis The Looming Transportation Crisis May 2008

  2. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Our transportation infrastructure is • Undersized to serve existing and future traffic volumes • Deteriorating due to age and rising portion of heavy truck usage • Under-funded

  3. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS America’s roads & bridges • 36% of major urban highways are congested • 34% of major roads are in poor or mediocre condition • 590,750 bridges -- 27% structurally deficient or functionally obsolete • 1,500 bridges have collapsed since 1966

  4. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Regional congestion levels • North Texans waste an average of 58 hours per year while stuck in traffic – the 3rd highest rate of annual delay per traveler in the U.S. Source: Texas Transportation Institute; 2005 data

  5. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Regional congestion levels: 2007

  6. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Regional congestion levels: 2030

  7. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS How did we get into this situation? • Historical under-investment • No political will to raise gas tax rate • Diversion of transportation revenue and funding • Reduced purchasing power of transportation funding • The highway system is aging beyond its design life • NAFTA and trade growth

  8. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Historical under-investment • U.S. level capital investment in highways, transit and rail 40 to 50 percent of need • Tax in U.S. = 15% of motor fuel price • Tax in GB, Europe & Japan = 75% of motor fuel price

  9. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS No political will to raise rate • 20-cent state tax rate set in 1991 • 18.4-cent federal tax rate set in 1993

  10. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Diversion of revenue and funding • Texas gets back about 75% of the gas tax money it sends to Washington • The Texas Legislature diverts more than $1.5 billion of transportation funding biennially • The Texas Legislature increased diversions by an additional quarter of billion dollars last session • The large metro districts heavily subsidize the rest of Texas: $1.65 billion to Austin and $3.16 billion to the other 25 districts from Fort Worth ($1.59B), Dallas ($1.44B), Houston ($1.06B) and San Antonio ($.72B) over the last 8 years.

  11. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS 59% of the 38.4 cent gas tax funds transportation in Texas

  12. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS The purchasing power of transportation funding • Motor fuel tax is largest revenue source of transportation funding • Excise tax -- x cents/gal -- doesn’t grow with economy • Infrastructure construction & maintenance a function of commodity prices

  13. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Loss of transportation funding purchasing power • 3-year 33% price increase in steel, concrete, asphalt & construction machinery • 18.4-cent federal gas tax -- 1993 to 2015 -- 30% purchasing power • Federal highway funding must increase to restore the purchasing power of the program • Highway Program - $43 billion 2009 to $73 billion in 2015 • Transit Program - $10.3 billion in 2009 to $17.3 billion in 2015

  14. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS The highway system is aging beyond its design life • The 46,000 mile interstate system is a half century old • Concrete has a finite life -- about 50 years depending upon conditions

  15. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Trade is a growing sector of the economy • 13% of GDP in 1990; 26% in 2000; ~35% in 2020 • More trade = increased transport of goods = more heavy truck traffic • Commercial truck travel doubled over the past two decades • Heavy trucks consume pavement life much quicker than lighter vehicles -- trucks consume 40% of the FHWA program costs but account for less than 10% of VMT

  16. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Under-funding indicators • Federal Highway Trust Fund going broke -- $3.2 billion negative in 2009 • Federal rescissions in Texas: - $666 million in last 18 months - $285 million just announced • Ten cent tax increase needed to maintain program -- 3 cents now and 7 cents in 2010 • TxDOT needs to increase its preservation investment $6.3 billion by 2012 • North Texas needs to invest $130 billion over the next 20 years and is $59 billion short

  17. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Under-funding implications • Without new revenue, obligation authority will be cut 4 times HTF revenue negative • Rising cost of system preservation consuming a larger share of the budget – in Texas almost all tax funding goes for maintenance and rehab, leaving almost none for adding new roadway capacity • Many more toll roads -- toll revenue is practically the only source of new capacity funding

  18. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS North Texas Population Growth • 4th largest region in the country--only New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are larger • Growing more than any other region--162,250 new residents in 2006-07 year • We add 1 million population every 6-to-7 years • Our 6.1 million population will exceed 10 million in less than 25 years • We must invest more in transportation and handle a larger of the traffic with transit to serve this growth

  19. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Why should we care? • Quality of Life • Global Competitiveness and Economic Growth

  20. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Quality of life issues • Spending more time sitting in traffic going nowhere • Time is our most precious commodity • Congestion adds to air pollution • Air pollution contributes to health problems

  21. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Quality of life indicators • Americans spend 3.7 billion hours a year stuck in traffic • Increasing per driver delay from North Texas congestion --13 hours in 1982 -- 58 hours in 2005 • Without new resources, a 20-minute trip in 2005 will take 52 minutes in 2025 in North Texas • Idling engines in traffic congestion pump thousands of tons of pollutants in the air every day • Poorly maintained roads contribute to a third of all highway fatalities -- more than 13,000 deaths every year

  22. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Under-investment in infrastructure has adverse economic consequences • Congestion costs the nation’s drivers $63 billion a year in wasted time and fuel costs • Poorly maintained roads cost motorists $54 billion in repairs and operating costs -- $275 per motorist • Our economy requires efficient delivery of goods; the nation's truckers lost 243 million hours due to congestion in 2004 • Relative low level of U.S. investment in infrastructure does not bode well for us in the intense competition in the global economy

  23. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Benefits of increased investment • Savings in travel time • Reduced operating costs • Reduced accident costs • Reduced emissions / pollution • Sustain economy / compete effectively in the global economy

  24. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Is this the future that we want?

  25. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS We have a plan: Metropolitan Mobility Plan 2030 • Adds 3,444 miles of new freeway and tollway lanes • Adds 626 miles of managed lanes • Adds 250 miles of rail service

  26. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS There is a plan: Freeways / Tollways

  27. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS There is a plan: HOV / Managed Lanes

  28. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS There is a plan: Rail

  29. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS Rail North Texas

  30. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS The problem is: we can’t afford it • We need $130 billion over the next 20 years to maintain and expand our transportation infrastructure • We’re currently $59 billion short

  31. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS 1 $3.4 billion obtained through Regional Transit Initiative 2 Includes Freeway-to-Freeway Interchanges Revised: February 28, 2007

  32. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS What can we do about it? • Become informed • Advocate for increased investment

  33. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS What can we do about it? • Call or write your elected representatives • Tell them that… • transportation is important to us • we need to invest more in transportation • we are willing to pay a little more to sustain mobility

  34. THE LOOMING TRANSPORTATION CRISIS The Texas Legislature should • Stop diverting transportation revenue and funding • Index the motor fuels tax to track inflation • Capitalize the Rail Relocation and Improvement fund • Recapitalize the Texas Mobility Fund • Authorize metropolitan area counties to levy local option transportation taxes and fees • This presentation is available at www.ntc-dfw.org

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