Texas Toll Roads - an examination of tolling and alternate measures
Nothing that has occurred in the last several years in Texas has been quite as controversial as the new and increased usage of toll roads for new road construction. We have heard many statements that the toll roads are being built as a money-making system for the state (and the Department of Transportation). Statements have also been made to the effect that the state is "selling" the state, one length of roadway at a time; that the current roads could be maintained by the state, with current state funding levels. The main complaint is that the roads of Texas have always been free, and should continue to be free. But are these arguments correct?
Texas Roads have always been free, and should continue to be free.
If we are going to be honest, the roadways for the state have NEVER been free. We have paid both state and federal gas tax for decades, now, and we also pay various taxes and licensing fees on our cars and our right to drive which go directly to the highway department in order to maintain the roads. Unfortunately, as we will soon see, the monies raised in this way cannot keep up with the state transportation departments needs, for a variety of reasons.
The current roads could be maintained with current state funding.
This is simply a false assumption, and it is so for a variety of reasons.
The Texas Department of Transportation has, for Fiscal Year 2006, a budget of $7,732,365,130.00.1 This sounds like a substantial sum, seeing as how the previous year’s budget was almost $2 billion dollars less. It is not a substantial sum, however; or, at least, not substantial enough.
First, this would assume that the state’s costs are not incre...
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...h contractors willing to invest in Texas’ infrastructure and build toll roads for us, or we are quietly sinking into a pit where our roads will be falling apart because we will not have the funding to repair and maintain them.
References
1. Texas Contractor Austin Bureau (2006, January 2). [title of article]. Retrieved from http://www.acppubs.com/article/ca6294091.html, on October 4, 2007.
2. Hendricks, David (2007). Toll roads will help local economy. San Antonio Express News, retrieved from http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/stories/MYSA092607.01E.Hendricks.2a01b15.html September 30, 2007.
3. Retrieved from http://www.thetolltruth.com/gas-tax-toll-road.html on September 30, 2007.
4. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain , on October 4, 2007.
5. Retrieved from http://www.thetolltruth.com/faq-toll-road.html, on October 4, 2007.
Recorded during 1980 a total of 87.2% of American homes owned at least one vehicle, while 51.5% of Americans owned more than one vehicle.[2] The increasing amount of sales resulted in an increase in the amount of cars that were on the road. The large amount of cars made the time of traveling from one destination to another longer than it was when not as many vehicles were on the road. Reducing the amount of time it took to travel lead to the idea of the highway system in 1938.[4] The extensive process of figuring out where the highways should lay and how they should be created did not allow the building process to begin until 1956.[4] Besides reducing the amount of time that it took to travel to each destination the highway system will
...ve their advantage and disadvantage in regards their tax system; however, we can see that the state of Texas needs to find a better system to growth its tax revenue, they need to move to a progressive system, where there is a charge for income tax, but by putting a margin were only certain brackets pay the tax, and live exempt the people who makes $30,000.00 or less. This will improve the amount of income for the state, to help suicide certain causes, such as The Education system, Medicaid, and also help the Department of Transportation to pay old debts due to the construction and maintenance of new roads. This will help to stop the plan of considering bringing international companies to build new roads with the commitment of paying toll during the next fifty years, which is only going to benefit the private company, but not any changes in the revenue of the state.
Throughout the book Tom Lewis goes back and forth between the good and bad that came about from building highways. While the paved roads connected our country, made travel time faster, provided recreation, and pushed the development of automobiles they also created more congestion and travel time, divided communities, and made us slaves to automobiles. The author is critical of the highways, but he does realize the great achievement it is in the building of America. Lewis said, “As much as we might dislike them, we cannot escape the fact that ...
Harvey Parnell once said that “[at] one time public roads in Arkansas were so bad that the wild geese, honking southward, would go around them.” In 1927, Parnell, as Lieutenant Governor, helped get the legislation for the Martineau Road Plan passed in the State Legislature. This legislation dealt with the improvement of the state highway system. Parnell also proposed the building of roads in the rural areas connecting outlying communities with the main state highway. Parnell, and Martineau before him, worked to make sure that the new highway system would not be paid for by personal property taxes but by the taxes on gasoline and vehicle licenses. This way the people paying for the new highway would be the people who actually use it. As ...
... the overall increase in commerce. The benefits will also be felt through the decline in poverty and welfare by way of incorporating new jobs and revenue into the state. The State of Texas must put an end to all of the money being spent elsewhere while Texas has the capabilities and resources available to provide and profit off the same gambling experience other states provide. It has been shown through numerous states that legalized casino gambling can be a rewarding business model, just as The Lottery, pari-mutuel wagering at horse and dog tracks, and charitable bingo has proved in Texas. Due to the current state of the economy it seems to me the only logical point of view is to bring Texans home, by legalizing casino gambling in Texas, recapturing vital commerce that will help lead to financial prosperity thus, enriching The State of Texas and its residents.
The state of Texas faces several issues year round. The state and government agencies pursue to find solutions for these problems. One of the solutions is to finish the border wall to prevent this from happening. Since Texas borders with Mexico one of the main issues it faces is immigration and the trafficking of drugs. The borders along the south side of Texas are an easy pathway to get the immigrants and drugs into the country.
Many mass construction projects in the history of the United States have had a major impact on the economy and culture; however, not many of these have had as large as an impact as the Interstate Highway Act of 1956. The Interstate Highway Act revolutionized the way that we think about highways today. The act created an extremely easy mode of transportation for people across the country. Not only was the Interstate Highway Act extremely helpful in making rural and urban transportation for normal people, but it also helped commercial businesses in increasing sales across the country. These businesses were now able to transport their goods cheaper and faster. The Interstate Highway Act was tremendously beneficial in regards to its economic, social, and cultural significance. The legislation was significant economically in the way that it promoted business and cut travel costs, it was significant socially in the way that it allowed people to see friends and family even if they did not live close, and it was significant culturally in the way that it allowed people to move out to the country for low costs in order to live a happier life.
The government of the state of Texas is a difficult and complicated institution that is composed of many different levels. The question comes in to everyone's mind at one time or another whether or not to trust the government. It could be that people believe that the officials will take advantage of their power, or simply people don't like the idea of being controlled by someone who is not a family member or friend. To avoid this centralized power, the government is divided into stages and this is a reasonable ground for trusting the government. Government runs this state and it does deserve to be trusted.
Streets Special Revenue Fund accounts for revenues brought in through Arizona Highway User Revenue Tax. The revenues brought into this fund are used only for highway maintenance and improvements. The major source of revenue comes from intergovernmental bringing in $15,847,087 accounting for 98.4% of revenue in total. Highways and Streets are the largest expenditure totaling $12,746,928. Due to the specific purpose and restrictions of the fund, it makes since for the highways and Streets to account for 99.6% of total expenditures. At the end of the period the total change in the fund balance increased by 2,503,911, this change is small enough to make it seem like a normal fluctuation in revenues and
Texas Democrats extend this philosophy to the issue of public education. “All children should be able to attend a safe, secure school and have access to an exemplary educational program that meets their needs and abilities. All school districts must be adequately and 100% equitably funded. All Texans should have access to affordable, quality higher education and career education programs.” Clearly, they believe every child in Texas deserves a high quality education, and have outlined several propositions to accomplish this goal. Texas Democrats would like to reduce reliance on "Robin Hood" and instead utilize state revenue to es...
The funding of public education has long been an issue for the state government of Texas. Starting before Texas was even a state, public education funding was at the forefront of politicians’ minds. In 1836, one of the reasons Anglo-Texans wanted to become independent from Mexico was Mexico’s lack of a public school system (An Overview of the History of Public Education in Texas, 2016). This drove the desire of President Mirabeau B. Lamar of the Republic of Texas to create legislation that would grant public schools land (A Brief History of Public Education, n.d.). This act set aside four leagues of land per county for the use of free education centers and thus began the funding of public education by the state government (An Overview of the History of Public Education in Texas, 2016). In the last 177 years, the Texas Legislature and the Texas Education Agency have created numerous acts and laws regarding the funding of education, but it has been in the last 50 years that this topic has become highly contested, resulting in several lawsuits and endless efforts (by the school districts) to equalize the distribution of funds to Texas school districts (Texas School Finance History, n.d.). In sum, the complex issues and policies that surround the funding of public education are derived from a combination of the legislature, bureaucratic agencies, and local governments in the form of school districts.
There is less state funding for local community, educational, and healthcare programs. “Texas has no income tax and no state property tax, so our schools depend heavily on local property taxes”( 2nd work c). Since this is the main way to fund these programs local property taxes are higher. This affects children who attend Texas’ public schools, a state income tax makes it easier to gather money to fund children's public
Projects developed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) go through a planning process that includes the determination of the project’s schedule. To determine the schedule, highway construction projects are divided into several activities and the time management of these activities will define the project’s duration. In order to improve the productivity and facilitate the execution of the project, an effective planning is needed. An organized Work Breakdown Structure can enhance the project duration. However, there are certain unexpected and unavoidable factors, which can delay the project’s termination: (1) Conflicting Weather Conditions (2) Temperature, (3) Project’s location, and (4) Workers’ shifts.
When states try to find ways to restrain from non-essential areas, unfunded federal mandates are at the top of the list. These mandates often force state and local governments to spend much more than necessary on everything from medical care to welfare to road building. A complex web of federal programs bind together the tree treasuries of the local, state, and federal government. As much as 25 percent of state budgets now comes from the federal government, and up to 60 percent of some state budgets is spent on joint federal-state programs.
The money was cut from programs that assisted the poor, such as: Children’s Health Insurance Program and food stamps. I believe the lack of assistance programs, such as the aforementioned programs; have effectively increased poverty percentage nationwide. These programs benefit many families in poverty as providing food at low cost and insurance for the children. Other programs similar to those that provided housing for families in poverty, were also cut drastically, thus increasing the difficulty for individuals seeking to qualify for said programs. What, then, can be done differently to reduce the amount of poverty in Texas? Revenue should be increased through tourism and re-distribute its income towards industries. Texas has always been a state of tourism; many tourists come to see the river walk, the Alamo, as well as the other major cities in this State. Along with tourists, Texas has the capabilities and natural resources to attract businesses to this state. It is important to attract development and jobs to Texas, as it will benefit the state economically, while also provide more jobs and open doors to those people struggling in poverty. Increasing the industrialization of Texas may be the beginning to effectively decrease the poverty