[PAA-Discuss] Medina Campaign Releases Transportation policy

Sun Feb 14 23:13:54 EST 2010

MEDINA CAMPAIGN RELEASES TRANSPORTATION POLICY 

WHARTON, TX, Wednesday
– Continuing her commitment to lead Texas onto new paths of freedom and
prosperity, Debra Medina released today a sweeping proposal for 
addressing the transportation
needs of Texas. Governor Perry’s Department of Transportation has been 
fraught
with cronyism, abuse and scandal.

Just last week, a concerned and irritated citizen called the Medina
Headquarters.  Her small Texas business, American Security Solutions, 
had
bid on a project to install security cameras for the North Texas Toll
Authority. TxDOT awarded the project to JAI Inc., a global company that 
has
home offices in Denmark and Japan and too many subsidiaries, aliases and
umbrella corporations to follow their multiple rabbit trails. JAI’s 
“Systems
Integrator Partner” is Raytheon and their ties to Gov. Perry smack of 
the
cronyism commonplace in his administration.  Gov. Perry has appointed
Raytheon staff to the Aerospace board while the company holds many 
national and
international Dept. of Defense contracts. 

This is just one more example of what TxDOT has been doing with billions
 of
Texas highway dollars for the past several years. It continues to weave a
tangled web of clandestine global corporate pork projects few of which 
actually
address highway maintenance and, just like the foreign-based Cintra 
contract
for the Trans Texas Corridor, the money is going out of the state. Even 
worse,
it is going out of our country! There is no transparency of funding at 
TxDOT.
There is no accountability for project completion at TxDOT. This has to 
stop!
 Texas transportation needs a major overhaul. 

A Governor Medina Administration will:
Undertake
 an immediate statewide audit and reform of
     TxDOT to insure excellence, transparency and accountability in the 
use of
     Texas’ transportation dollars.Reframe the transportation 
debate by looking beyond the
     biased reports coming from the traffic engineers at TxDOT and TTI 
which
     are limited in scope and want to solve congestion with too little 
concern
     for costs. Look instead to the research of transportation 
economists and
     other students of traffic associated with the top tier universities
 and
     think tanks to balance the nuisance (including the problems created
 by
     endless construction on the major roadways of our state) of 
congestion
     with the high cost of widening and double decking Texas roads. Implement
 steps to improve transportation planning so
     Texans can participate with more information that is provided 
today.
      This would be information that is not collected today or not
     provided for the public planning sessions.  For instance... Improve
 data collection. The private road funding in
      each Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) should be tracked, 
tallied
      and posted so that taxpayers understand that governments are not 
the only
      agents in road system expansion; Place a stronger 
emphasis on incident management, including
      minimizing irregularities in traffic flow that are the major 
irritants to
      road users; Explain to the public that the computer 
models used by
      all planning agencies are based on dozens of subjective decisions 
made by
      the modelers.  Note that congestion is self-limiting.  Texans,
      like motorists everywhere, adjust their use of the road system so 
that
      most get to work in less than half an hour and average little more
 than
      an hour a day on the road. TxDOT does not have a feedback loop in 
its
      computer modeling so it misses this important part of driver 
behavior.
      Congestion causes road users to adjust how they use the road 
system.
      TxDOT and the MPOs overlook this fact; Look further into 
the research of other countries such
      as Canada, which has studied the Mobility Report published by TTI 
and
      discovered that it exaggerates the cost of congestion which TxDOT 
uses to
      justify the Trans Texas Corridor, its multibillion dollar 
expansion
      program, and its plan to convert free roads to toll roads. Key
 to this reform approach will be bringing this
      information to Texans by changing the planning process at the 
local level
      where Texans prepare their periodic regional transportation plans.
 In
      particular, upgrade the information offered by the 25 Metropolitan
      Planning Organizations (http://www.texasmpos.org/.

      The MPOs coordinate local transportation planning in Texas (and 
elsewhere
      in the US).  Incorporate the Congestion is Self Limiting
      approach to traffic in the MPO planning process as an alternative
      interpretation of traffic dynamics. Such an approach would include
      tracking on an annual basis the new roads funded by private firms,
 which
      are responsible for most of the new road miles in Texas. MPOs 
should put
      that information on their websites and in presentations they make 
when
      soliciting input for transportation planning.  Retain
 fuel taxes in Texas and use them for
     transportation funding as Texas decides.  Texas policy makers can
     decide how the funds will be spent without having to tailor 
requests to
     federal grant application requirements. Redirect Texas 
Enterprise Fund dollars (Perry’s slush
     fund) to transportation. Reject Tolls for Texas state 
highways.  Tolls on
     taxpayer funded or bonded roads are an unethical double taxation. Prohibit
 TxDOT’s use of tax dollars for lobbying the
     public or Congress for transportation projects. Champion 
legislation that will reject federal
     interference in Texas transportation policy.  Stop interference in
     transportation by federal agencies such as the EPA and insure that 
Texas
     agencies enforce only state law. Rescind legislation 
making any road project that is
     formerly the Trans Texas Corridor and presently known as the North
     American Super Corridor null and void and insuring that Texas state
     roadways will not be owned or operated by multi-national or foreign
     investors. Rein in mission creep at TxDOT, which seems 
intent on
     expanding its empire. TxDOT has gone far beyond road building and 
ventured
     into every area of transportation in which the federal government 
has
     grant money to offer.  This distracts from core mission and
     contributes to the growth of government.  TxDOT is too big for its
     britches. 

Terri Hall of TURF, an organization
dedicated to truth in Texas transportation, stated, “Rick Perry's
Transportation Commission has agreed to pledge the State's credit 
(basically
untold billions in our gas tax revenues) for two toll projects in north 
Texas
(at the behest of the North Texas Toll Authority, a regional toll way 
authority,
whose credit is so in the toilet it can't finance these deals without 
the
State's backing).”  

This is the same tolling authority that accepted the above bid from JAI 
Inc of
Denmark and Japan. They are planning to build on state credit, on yours 
and mine,
on Texas’ credit, raising the debt in Texas which has nearly tripled 
under
Governor Perry and which is already bumping up against our 
constitutional debt
limit ceiling. 

“With a restoration of private property rights, state sovereignty and 
accountability
and transparency in government, Texas will pave the way for new 
transportation
solutions and enjoy again a well maintained and sustainable road 
infrastructure
capable of supporting a diverse and prosperous economy,” said Debra 
Medina,
Republican candidate for Governor.

-- 
RADICAL: going to the foundation or source of something.

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