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Texans Highway-Builders Think Big; Deploy Market Forces
Texans have a real attitude when it comes to transportation. Ric Williamson, the chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, told a delegation of Utah legislators and other leaders that Texas wants to beat California and Florida in competition for jobs and economic development, and that will require improved mobility and transportation infrastructure. So Texas is embarking on one of the biggest highway-building programs in the country, if not the world.
I attended a briefing and quick tour of some major transportation projects in Texas with the Utah delegation Sept. 9-10. The main purpose was to learn about the Texas approach to innovative highway financing and public-private partnerships that are allowing Texas to build highways faster and at less cost to taxpayers. Gov. Jon Huntsman and Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert are convening a Transportation Summit on Oct. 14 and innovative financing will be a topic of discussion.
Texas is bringing the private sector into highways in a big way. The first phase of the massive Trans-Texas Corridor is being financed by a private consortium that will spend over $6 billion constructing the highway and will also pay Texas DOT more than $1 billion for the privilege of doing so. In return, the private firms get to collect tolls for 50 years.
Williamson said Texas expects within 10 years to have $50 billion invested by the private sector in Texas highways. Texans accept paying tolls because tollways are only being built parallel to free roads, so everyone has a choice. Every driver who takes the tolled highway frees up space for those who drive on the free roads. And by using the latest transponder technology, no one has to stop at toll booths, so toll roads are fast and convenient.
In a day when people are paying $3.50 for a cup of coffee and $2.50 for a bottle of water, citizens are also willing to pay toll fees to avoid congestion and get around faster. “We’re selling time and quality of life, a higher level of service, with our toll roads,” said one Texas official.
A state legislator, Rep. Mike Krusee, has become a champion of public-private partnerships and innovative highway financing. Krusee had been a conservative crusader for education reform and then found himself chair of the House Transportation Committee. To his surprise, he soon found he could crusade for reform even in the stuffy and staid arena of transportation.
Krusee said with traditional state and federal highway financing, states and local governments construct and maintain what roads can be built with tax dollars and they don’t build any more, no matter what the demand is or how bad congestion gets. Highway construction is always far behind demand and it’s only going to get worse as federal funds dry up and the gasoline tax continues to lose purchasing power. High demand exists for mobility, but government can’t keep up with it using tax dollars alone.
Krusee said building highways is about the only place in society where the laws of supply and demand don’t work. Highway congestion is like the old bread lines in the Soviet Union, Krusee said. “We just provide what we have available and no more, and there’s no market incentive to build more.” He decided to bring the power of the marketplace, the free enterprise system, into highways. He said with other basic utilities like electrical power and telephone service, the utilities build infrastructure and expand service because they know the demand is there and people will pay for it. There is a revenue stream. The same thing can work for highways, he said, with users paying for the convenience of additional capacity supplied by the private sector. “Texas is going to have an economic advantage over other states and countries,” Krusee said. “We’re going to move people and goods.”
The rallying cry for Texas highway builders is this: “Do you want your highway in 5 years, or 25 years?” If you want it in 5 years, users have to pay. Otherwise, wait 25 years for tax dollars.
Utah isn’t Texas. But Utah can learn a lot from the Texas experience.
Blog Watch
Bramble Blogs About Congress
Is state Sen. Curt Bramble running for Congress against his old friend Rep. Chris Cannon? Read his answer (he will make a final decision some time between Thanksgiving and the end of the year) in the Utah Senate Site blog. In addition to Bramble’s post, Sen. Carlene Walker writes about her GOP Women’s PAC, and Senate President John Valentine writes about his trip to China. Valentine makes some interesting observations about China’s political and economic situation.
Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Jeff Alexander starts blogging again and writes about the Legacy Parkway agreement and rebuilding the Gulf Coast. . . . Rep. John Dougall posts on reckless federal spending and the “Legacy Lovefest.”
School Reform Producing Results
University of Utah researchers conducted a study of the federal Comprehensive School Reform program and generally found good results in Utah. The report of the research effort is contained in the latest Policy Perspectives newsletter from the Center for Public Policy & Administration at the University of Utah.
Muni Broadband is Big in Europe
Sweden and the Netherlands are ahead of the rest of the world in municipal broadband deployment, according to an article in Light Reading. UTOPIA’s open network business model is patterned after Swedish and Dutch cities where broadband infrastructure is considered to be as important as highways and airports.
Washington Watch
DC FAIR Act: Utah Gets Another Seat
Jack Kemp opines in Human Events Online that Rep. Chris Cannon and other House Republicans are creating new energy behind the effort giving Washingtonians representation in Congress. Under the DC FAIR Act, Utah would get another House member.
Cannon Staffer Upsets Protestors
Townhall.com reports that one of Rep. Chris Cannon’s staffers, Ryan Ponder, upset the throngs of antiwar protesters marching in Washington last weekend when he marched 50 yards ahead of the demonstrators, holding up a sign that read "Freedom is Not Free". Ponder is a former Army sergeant, 4th Infantry Division, who fought in Iraq.
Committee Approves $91M Request
Sen. Bob Bennett announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee approved his requests for $91 million to support Utah’s defense installations, universities and defense industry as part of next year’s Department of Defense budget. $30 million is earmarked for Hill Air Force Base programs.
Hatch Chides Demos in Senate Speech
Yesterday’s UPD missed a story in the Morning News, written by Jerry Spangler, saying Sen. Orrin Hatch chided some Democrats for succumbing to special interest pressure to oppose the Judge John Roberts’ Supreme Court nomination.
Speaking of Hatch, on Wednesday he introduced legislation to help “open the way further for construction of American oil refineries”.
James Taranto's Newspulper Headlines
- In New York, We Call It 'the Sun': "Mysterious 'Ball of Fire' Seen in Fla. Skies" —WKMG-TV Web site (Orlando)
- You Don't Say: "Federal Generosity Comes With Price Tag" —St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times
- What Would We Do Without Toilet Experts?: "Fresh Approach Urged by Toilet Experts" —London Guardian
- Shameless Profiteering on Hurricane Souvenirs: "Disaster Price Tag for Katrina Balloons" —Associated Press
- The Sky-High Prices Are Falling! The Sky-High Prices Are Falling!: "Sky-High Gas Prices to Fall Soon: Official" —Agence France-Presse
- Help Wanted: "S.L. Police Seeking Armed Home Invaders" —Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
- Who Says Public Schools Aren't Innovative?: "Classrooms Can Become a Teaching Tool" —Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, N.Y.)
- Fill It Up, Man: "Grass Hailed as Potential Source of Clean Energy" —Reuters
(Source: The Federalist Patriot)
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