Posted on 08/21/2008 7:45:43 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
(KCPW News) Utah lawmakers took tips on highway funding from a Texas legislator this morning. Texas Republican Representative Mike Krusee joined them on Capitol Hill. He told the Revenue and Taxation Interim Committee that with federal money drying up, the only way to pay for new highways is to make them toll roads.
"Guess how many roads pay for themselves in taxes? Zero. Not a one. Most of them are less than 50 percent," said Krusee. "Imagine if you're a grocery a store owner, and you decide, I'm gonna sell sirloin at a buck a pound, and I'm gonna sell milk at a dime a gallon. That's basically what's happening with transportation. We're letting people use our roads for three cents a mile, when it costs us 20 to 30 cents a mile."
Krusee noted that both the state and federal government will collect less and less money from gas tax revenues as residents buy more fuel efficient cars or drive less.
The lawmaker, who chairs the Texas House Committee on Transportation, also urged lawmakers to consider congestion pricing. It's a method of collecting tolls during peak traffic times so that fewer cars use the road.
"If the road gets really congested, you just raise the price until some people decide to use alternatives, and that road is free-flow," said Krusee. "When you can tell people and you can tell businesses that they have a certainty in traveling from A to B at all times, I think that's really valuable for your economy, and I think it's also good for your quality of life."
Krusee's remarks to the Utah legislature came as the state decides whether to make the planned Mountain View Corridor a toll road. Several west side cities have urged the legislature not to do so, though UDOT says it will face a $16.5 billion shortfall in the next two decades with the current revenue streams.
IIRC, the state of Texas only uses approx. 50% of the fuel taxes actually on the roads. Some of the other 50% I believe goes to education, you know, the chilrun. Don’t know what the other goes for and do not know how much of our federal fuel tax monies are stolem from us, but I read sometime back that a significant percentage is probably used once again for the chilrun.
Guess how many roads pay for themselves in taxes? Zero. Not a one. Most of them are less than 50 percent," said Krusee. That's basically what's happening with transportation. We're letting people use our roads for three cents a mile, when it costs us 20 to 30 cents a mile."
Maybe we should change the amendment to the Texas Constitution permitting 25% of fuel taxes to be siphoned off for education and "special projects". Oh- you're "letting" us use our roadways for 3 cents per mile, and it costs you....since when is this an us vs. them issue?
Krusee noted that both the state and federal government will collect less and less money from gas tax revenues as residents buy more fuel efficient cars or drive less.
Cry me a river, Krusee. You weren't crying that loud when everyone was driving an SUV at warp speed, sucking huge amounts of fuel. Learn to budget or get out and open the position to somepne who can.
It seems to me the state of Texas did a better job maintaining, cleaning and designing our roadways before they started subbing the work out to private contractors. (Yes, I know what I’m saying might not be popular)
I mean, we don’t even get roadkill removed anymore.
Let’s have an audit of federal and state gas tax revenues and the relevant trust funds.
Is this money being used exclusively for road maintenance and construction?
I have no problem paying excise taxes on gasoline, but I do not think that it is reasonable to be spending ~$100/month on tolls just for the privilege of commuting to work in a reasonable amount of time.
See post #23 and this one.
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/19/1933.asp
We Texans don’t think spending $100 is reasonable either.
This is a part of the expansion of I-10 westward out of Houston. The tollway is the middle lanes [four I think, two each way] in the middle of I-10. This will be managed by the Harris County Toll Road Authority. I don’t know how they could add any more lights than basically exist along the existing freeder roads. This expansion includes both toll and free lanes.
I traveled the I-10 untolled portion yesterday. It is nice in comparison to what it was prior to the expansion project. This was an expensive project as the widening included buying up of some commercial property along the roadway.
I mean, we don’t even get roadkill removed anymore.
I thought that is what the buzzards did... lol.
Don’t know what the other goes for and do not know how much of our federal fuel tax monies are stolem from us,
I don’t think all states get all their federal gasoline tax money back either. Isn’t it allocated on some other basis besides amount paid in?
Maybe it was just the speed limits they were messing with; don't recall for sure. It was mentioned in another thread here, maybe a month ago.
Simply because our tolls will be 30 cents or more per mile. Check out what Cintra is charging for their road in Canada.
And by the way, the article is simply LYING when they say it costs 20 to 30 cents per vehicle to operate a highway. Try closer to 2 or 3 cents...although I will admit it becomes more expensive when you have to have an army of people (and/or very expensive equipment) collecting tolls. It also costs more per mile when you toll the highways and push off people to other roads (i.e., highway costs are mostly fixed, so the per mile cost goes up in that case).
Here in Houston, tolling is roughly 10 cents per mile (we haven’t privatized our roads yet), and still our toll road authority has money left over to spend on Harris County side streets.
the sumbiches tolled me 3.00 for driving 1 mile on Texas 121, a highway that was free since the days of Sam Rayburn.
Understand...the politicians look at toll roads as “revenue generators”, and they can be. If they price the tolls at cost, then 3 to 5 cents per mile. If they price them to generate max revenue, then you’re looking at 10 times that price. The roads are worth WAY MORE than they cost...what makes them valuable is the right-of-way that they open up.
That’s why I hate tolling...the cost for the road is very low, but the temptation to seize huge amounts of money often cannot be resisted.
If I recall correctly, the park mentioned in the article is actually being built over the Woodall Rogers Freeway. That’s not specified in the article.
Thanks for the link. I’m pretty outraged at what our TX state government is doing.
Thank God people are starting to wake up.
While you are talking about whatever irrelevant issue you are talking about, yesterday, Perry, Dewhurst, and Craddick reached an an agreement on some very relevant issues.
Then you have to dodge the buzzards. Saw several dead ones on our vacation. Fat and Slow!
That’s correct. I guess it *coooools* the roadway below.
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