By DAVE MONTGOMERY - Fort Worth Star Telegram - March 25, 2009
AUSTIN — Legislation aimed at funding billions of dollars in road and rail improvements in North Texas cleared its first hurdle in the Legislature on Wednesday, winning approval from a key Senate committee.
The 7-2 vote by the Transportation and Homeland Security Committee sends the bill to the Senate floor for a vote as early as next week.
"We’ll pass it," Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, the committee chairman and sponsor of SB 855, said of the likely outcome in the Senate. Approval there would send the issue to the House, where Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller, is sponsoring a companion measure.
Sens. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and Joan Huffman, R-Houston, voted against the bill.
City and county governments throughout North Texas, including Fort Worth and Arlington, have made the bill their top legislative priority to help the area escape traffic congestion and pollution they say endanger future development. But opposition has arisen on several fronts amid concerns that proposed fees and taxes in the bill would impose further hardships during the recession.
The legislation would allow countywide elections in which voters would decide on a menu of funding options to finance transportation improvements at the local level. North Texas officials want to use the revenue to improve roads and develop more than 200 miles of commuter rail throughout Dallas-Fort Worth, the fourth most populous region in the nation.
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, secured an amendment that would spare users of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport from an added $2-a-day parking assessment at public lots. Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, questioned the exemption, but Carona noted that parking charges at the airport are already among the costliest in the region, about $12 to $15 a day.
"It seemed like a reasonable compromise," Carona said.
The committee also added an amendment by Carona that would prohibit the use of revenue raised for the transportation projects to be used for lobbying. The Dallas lawmaker said he wanted to include the restriction because "of public concern over taxpayer-funded lobbying."
Fort Worth, Arlington and the multicity Tarrant Regional Transportation Coalition have agreed to pay $275,000 to a prominent Austin lobbying firm, HillCo Partners, to help push the transportation bill through the Legislature.
The bill was originally designed for North Texas but has been broadened to include local-option provisions for the Austin and San Antonio areas, and the committee accepted an amendment that would add El Paso to the mix. Gov. Rick Perry, who at first supported the measure, has raised concerns about the inclusion of regions other than North Texas.
Williamson County, near Austin, would be excluded from the bill under another amendment adopted on behalf of Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, who is cool to the legislation and whose district includes the county.
Under the measure, local voters would choose from a combination of proposed funding sources, including fees on parking, vehicle emissions and driver’s license renewals. The bill also includes an optional tax on gasoline or diesel fuel and "an impact fee" charged to new Texas residents.
Ellis said he fears that the bill would create a "system of city-states," but he acknowledged that cities may need to find new revenue sources for transportation because of inadequate funding from the state.
Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
An Inventory of Records at the Texas State Archives, 1970-1995 (bulk 1990-1994)
Records of the Texas High Speed Rail Corporation in the Archives of Texas
MegaRail High Speed Rail alternative to Trans Texas Corridor
Content from MegaRail Corporate website
Note: Claims have not been verified by DFWRCC or Texas Rail editors
120-mph Non-stop Passenger, Automobile & Cargo Service in Single System over Existent Highway Rights of Way
Low-cost alternate to costly projects such as Texas Corridor Plan
* High-speed, inter-city MegaRail can carry most inter-city passenger, cargo and automobile traffic on a single pair of small, low-cost guideways installed over interstate highway rights of way.
* Avoids the very high cost of additional highways and railroads and right-of-way.
* High-speed, inter-city MegaRail is low-cost, low-risk and near-term.
* Rubber tires in enclosed rail tubes and electric propulsion for noise-free operation.
* Electrically powered vehicles with rail-supplied power are non-polluting.
* Heavy-duty CargoRail guideways can be added over same interstate right-of-ways to transport large trucks and containers should future need arise.
Note: Claims have not been verified by DFWRCC or Texas Rail editors
120-mph Non-stop Passenger, Automobile & Cargo Service in Single System over Existent Highway Rights of Way
Low-cost alternate to costly projects such as Texas Corridor Plan
* High-speed, inter-city MegaRail can carry most inter-city passenger, cargo and automobile traffic on a single pair of small, low-cost guideways installed over interstate highway rights of way.
* Avoids the very high cost of additional highways and railroads and right-of-way.
* High-speed, inter-city MegaRail is low-cost, low-risk and near-term.
* Rubber tires in enclosed rail tubes and electric propulsion for noise-free operation.
* Electrically powered vehicles with rail-supplied power are non-polluting.
* Heavy-duty CargoRail guideways can be added over same interstate right-of-ways to transport large trucks and containers should future need arise.
Landowners question high-speed rail
By Peggy Fikac - San Antonio Express-News - 2/08/2009
AUSTIN — For travelers, a 200-mph train connecting San Antonio, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth may sound like a dream. But for some landowners along the proposed Texas T-Bone high-speed rail route, it's a question mark that they fear could easily turn into a nightmare.
“From a rural, agricultural standpoint, we're very concerned. It just seems like every time we turn around, someone's got us in their cross hairs,” said Central Texas farmer Richard Cortese, a Bell County commissioner and a leader in the Texas Farm Bureau.
Despite efforts by high-speed rail backers to build a partnership with local communities, some landowners are wary, partly because the fresh rail push comes after heated battles over the Trans-Texas Corridor, a massive proposal pushed by Gov. Rick Perry for a network of highways, tollways, pipelines and rails.
State officials recently buried the Trans-Texas Corridor's name after a backlash from property owners who feared their land would be devalued or taken. But “it hasn't gone away,” Cortese said.
“If you were to take a template of the Trans-Texas Corridor and lay it over this high-speed rail issue, I think you would find that many of the concerns would be very much the same,” said the Texas Farm Bureau's Gene Hall. “Fixing eminent domain (strengthening private property rights) is the first step toward increasing our comfort level with any of these projects.”
Several proposals are percolating in the Legislature to strengthen property rights. Hall said one key element is to ensure that property owners are compensated not only when they're forced to sell their land for a public project but when access to their property is diminished, affecting its value.
Besides the property-rights concern, Ralph Snyder of Snyder Salvage in Holland raised issues including train noise and who'd be on the hook for mitigating it.
He and Cortese said they understand the need for transportation in a growing state but that they want a detailed plan before making up their minds about the $12 billion to $18 billion rail proposal that would follow the Texas T-Bone — from Dallas-Fort Worth through Austin to San Antonio and branching off in Temple to go to Houston.
“We haven't seen any financial prototypes on this. I think that's our concern,” said Cortese, with questions including the expense to local governments if they're responsible for train stations.
Backers envision a project that's primarily privately financed but stems from a partnership with local governments. They'd like to have it running by 2020.
This legislative session, they're asking for state help, including tax exemptions for companies that would build the project.
“There's a perception about rural people that they are backward and they don't understand the problem. That's just simply not true,” Snyder said. “They want the studies done before a project is undertaken to make sure the right thing is being done.”
A key high-speed rail backer said details still are being developed because supporters want to ensure the proposal bubbles up from communities instead of being seen as handed down from the state capital.
“We want to involve the communities and the counties and the interest groups in that planning process, as opposed to ‘You bring this back when you have a plan and then we'll shoot at it,'” said Temple Mayor Bill Jones, vice chairman of the nonprofit Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corp.
Local communities will decide whether to contribute financially to such things as building a train station, he said.
Among key points, Jones noted the consortium includes elected leaders, cities and counties, among others, and that backers have said they want to elevate the rail where necessary to reduce the effect on property.
“We are committing as best we can possibly commit at this stage to elevate as much of the system as we can where it's necessary,” Jones said.
Property owners said the prospect of the rail being elevated would help address their concerns because it would allow access to land on both sides of the track.
Former Harris County Judge Robert Eckels, chairman of the nonprofit corporation, said the group is sensitive to local concerns and would want to stay along existing routes and minimize the infringement on private property. “It's not only good politics,” Eckels said. “It's cheaper that way.”
Read more in the San Antonio Express-News
AUSTIN — For travelers, a 200-mph train connecting San Antonio, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth may sound like a dream. But for some landowners along the proposed Texas T-Bone high-speed rail route, it's a question mark that they fear could easily turn into a nightmare.
“From a rural, agricultural standpoint, we're very concerned. It just seems like every time we turn around, someone's got us in their cross hairs,” said Central Texas farmer Richard Cortese, a Bell County commissioner and a leader in the Texas Farm Bureau.
Despite efforts by high-speed rail backers to build a partnership with local communities, some landowners are wary, partly because the fresh rail push comes after heated battles over the Trans-Texas Corridor, a massive proposal pushed by Gov. Rick Perry for a network of highways, tollways, pipelines and rails.
State officials recently buried the Trans-Texas Corridor's name after a backlash from property owners who feared their land would be devalued or taken. But “it hasn't gone away,” Cortese said.
“If you were to take a template of the Trans-Texas Corridor and lay it over this high-speed rail issue, I think you would find that many of the concerns would be very much the same,” said the Texas Farm Bureau's Gene Hall. “Fixing eminent domain (strengthening private property rights) is the first step toward increasing our comfort level with any of these projects.”
Several proposals are percolating in the Legislature to strengthen property rights. Hall said one key element is to ensure that property owners are compensated not only when they're forced to sell their land for a public project but when access to their property is diminished, affecting its value.
Besides the property-rights concern, Ralph Snyder of Snyder Salvage in Holland raised issues including train noise and who'd be on the hook for mitigating it.
He and Cortese said they understand the need for transportation in a growing state but that they want a detailed plan before making up their minds about the $12 billion to $18 billion rail proposal that would follow the Texas T-Bone — from Dallas-Fort Worth through Austin to San Antonio and branching off in Temple to go to Houston.
“We haven't seen any financial prototypes on this. I think that's our concern,” said Cortese, with questions including the expense to local governments if they're responsible for train stations.
Backers envision a project that's primarily privately financed but stems from a partnership with local governments. They'd like to have it running by 2020.
This legislative session, they're asking for state help, including tax exemptions for companies that would build the project.
“There's a perception about rural people that they are backward and they don't understand the problem. That's just simply not true,” Snyder said. “They want the studies done before a project is undertaken to make sure the right thing is being done.”
A key high-speed rail backer said details still are being developed because supporters want to ensure the proposal bubbles up from communities instead of being seen as handed down from the state capital.
“We want to involve the communities and the counties and the interest groups in that planning process, as opposed to ‘You bring this back when you have a plan and then we'll shoot at it,'” said Temple Mayor Bill Jones, vice chairman of the nonprofit Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corp.
Local communities will decide whether to contribute financially to such things as building a train station, he said.
Among key points, Jones noted the consortium includes elected leaders, cities and counties, among others, and that backers have said they want to elevate the rail where necessary to reduce the effect on property.
“We are committing as best we can possibly commit at this stage to elevate as much of the system as we can where it's necessary,” Jones said.
Property owners said the prospect of the rail being elevated would help address their concerns because it would allow access to land on both sides of the track.
Former Harris County Judge Robert Eckels, chairman of the nonprofit corporation, said the group is sensitive to local concerns and would want to stay along existing routes and minimize the infringement on private property. “It's not only good politics,” Eckels said. “It's cheaper that way.”
Read more in the San Antonio Express-News
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