“I don't think we are going to be a gas tax-based Department of Transportation in the future.”
Toll roads steer transportation debates
March 5, 2006
Tony Hartzel
Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006
Toll roads are getting top billing among in transportation discussions these days, and for good reason.
Texans will soon know have a better idea of where the Trans-Texas Corridor might run.
Private companies are expected to compete to operate several new state toll projects: on State Highway 121 in Denton County and Collin County; State Highway 161 in southwest Dallas County; and LBJ Freeway in North Dallas.
In addition, regional policy makers could tackle several other toll-related issues: what how much to charge motorists for driving on new, privately operated toll roads; and whether to charge higher increase tolls during during peak commuting times.
Charging a premium to drive during peak hours makes sense to traffic planners, who constantly search for ways to accommodate growing demand on a fixed road network, much like cellphone companies try to manage demand during business hours.
“Cellphone companies do not charge the same rate every minute of every day of every week,” said Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the regional planning agency. “And if a plane is empty, you're going to pay less. If the plane is fully, prices are going to go up.”
The first variable-rate tolls project could begin on Interstate 30 between Dallas and Fort Worth, he said.
The toll lane, which is being added in the center of the rebuilt highway, is scheduled to open in 2007. Variable tolls could come later. Higher peak-period tolls could force more people to make choices, including commuting at different times, car-pooling or taking public transit.
But that idea poses some difficulty, with dispersed commuting patterns and the lack of mass transit in many suburbs. charging higher tolls also could prompt commuters to take other routes, which could crowd city streets.
“I don't know where we're going with all this yet. Before we do anything, we likely will pose that question to our existing customers,” said the North Texas Tollway Authority's executive director, Allan Rutter.
Regional leaders also will be asked this spring to consider setting a rate policy for the new, privately operated toll roads. Tolls hover around 10 to 12 cents per mile on tollway authority roads run by the authority, which recently set its own toll rate policy.
Politicians and most Texans do not support a statewide gas tax increase, state transportation officials say. Therefore, tolls must play a larger role in creating revenue for new road projects, said Ric Williamson, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission.
Mr. Williamson predicts that Without tolls, the state would have to charge 75 cents per gallon in taxes for about 10 years to build many needed projects needed by 2030, Mr. Williamson said. After a decade, the tax rate then could be lowered to about 35 cents per gallon. That's still which is nearly double higher than the current 20 cents per gallon.
“We judge that to be absolutely impossible,” he said.
Another member of the transportation commission, Ted Houghton, said: “I don't think we are going to be a gas tax-based Department of Transportation in the future.”
Local leaders must strike a balance, said Mr. Morris, the regional planner.
“We can't let the revenue tail wag the transportation dog,” he said.
At a Statewide level, Look for the Texas Department of Transportation says it will to unveil a narrowed study area for the a proposed Trans-Texas Corridor in two to five weeks. The state could narrow the focus of the project to a 10-mile-wide swath from the Red River to the Rio Grande.
As envisioned, right now, the corridor could combine toll roads, truck lanes and rail lines in one 1,200-foot-wide leg. Proposals so far call mostly for toll roads, with a possible rail line relocation project near Austin.
North Texas leaders have pushed for a corridor route close to the metropolitan area, possibly including some interim links that could take traffic through the heart of North Texas until the entire corridor is built.
Tony Hartzel can be reached at thartzel@dallasnews.com and at P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas TX 75265.
© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co www.dallasnews.com
March 5, 2006
Tony Hartzel
Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006
Toll roads are getting top billing among in transportation discussions these days, and for good reason.
Texans will soon know have a better idea of where the Trans-Texas Corridor might run.
Private companies are expected to compete to operate several new state toll projects: on State Highway 121 in Denton County and Collin County; State Highway 161 in southwest Dallas County; and LBJ Freeway in North Dallas.
In addition, regional policy makers could tackle several other toll-related issues: what how much to charge motorists for driving on new, privately operated toll roads; and whether to charge higher increase tolls during during peak commuting times.
Charging a premium to drive during peak hours makes sense to traffic planners, who constantly search for ways to accommodate growing demand on a fixed road network, much like cellphone companies try to manage demand during business hours.
“Cellphone companies do not charge the same rate every minute of every day of every week,” said Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the regional planning agency. “And if a plane is empty, you're going to pay less. If the plane is fully, prices are going to go up.”
The first variable-rate tolls project could begin on Interstate 30 between Dallas and Fort Worth, he said.
The toll lane, which is being added in the center of the rebuilt highway, is scheduled to open in 2007. Variable tolls could come later. Higher peak-period tolls could force more people to make choices, including commuting at different times, car-pooling or taking public transit.
But that idea poses some difficulty, with dispersed commuting patterns and the lack of mass transit in many suburbs. charging higher tolls also could prompt commuters to take other routes, which could crowd city streets.
“I don't know where we're going with all this yet. Before we do anything, we likely will pose that question to our existing customers,” said the North Texas Tollway Authority's executive director, Allan Rutter.
Regional leaders also will be asked this spring to consider setting a rate policy for the new, privately operated toll roads. Tolls hover around 10 to 12 cents per mile on tollway authority roads run by the authority, which recently set its own toll rate policy.
Politicians and most Texans do not support a statewide gas tax increase, state transportation officials say. Therefore, tolls must play a larger role in creating revenue for new road projects, said Ric Williamson, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission.
Mr. Williamson predicts that Without tolls, the state would have to charge 75 cents per gallon in taxes for about 10 years to build many needed projects needed by 2030, Mr. Williamson said. After a decade, the tax rate then could be lowered to about 35 cents per gallon. That's still which is nearly double higher than the current 20 cents per gallon.
“We judge that to be absolutely impossible,” he said.
Another member of the transportation commission, Ted Houghton, said: “I don't think we are going to be a gas tax-based Department of Transportation in the future.”
Local leaders must strike a balance, said Mr. Morris, the regional planner.
“We can't let the revenue tail wag the transportation dog,” he said.
At a Statewide level, Look for the Texas Department of Transportation says it will to unveil a narrowed study area for the a proposed Trans-Texas Corridor in two to five weeks. The state could narrow the focus of the project to a 10-mile-wide swath from the Red River to the Rio Grande.
As envisioned, right now, the corridor could combine toll roads, truck lanes and rail lines in one 1,200-foot-wide leg. Proposals so far call mostly for toll roads, with a possible rail line relocation project near Austin.
North Texas leaders have pushed for a corridor route close to the metropolitan area, possibly including some interim links that could take traffic through the heart of North Texas until the entire corridor is built.
Tony Hartzel can be reached at thartzel@dallasnews.com and at P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas TX 75265.
© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Sunday, March 05, 2006
<< Home