WHY TXDOT, AN AGENCY GONE ROGUE, SHOULD BE ABOLISHED

continued from
http://salcostello.blogspot.com/

PEOPLE FOR EFFICIENT TRANSPORTATION
STATE of TEXAS SUNSET REVIEW OF TXDOT

JANUARY 7, 2008

TxDOT, an agency in control of Billions of tax dollars for Texas transportation, is out of control.

Under unaccountable, appointed leadership, TxDOT has thumbed it’s nose at not only Texas citizens, but elected local, state and national leaders:

VIDEO: TxDOT chair refuses to meet with chair of Texas Transportation Committee at House Transportation Committee meeting, 2/13/07.

Houston Chronicle article titled, “TxDOT Directive Drives Congress' Texans into Tizzy”, states, “"Arrogant," fumed Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco. "A letter like this is not a way to build relation ships," complained Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston. Said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble: "TxDOT needs to understand the elected representatives make the decisions on what projects we do — not the bureaucrats."” 3/22/07

Bexar County commissioners threatened by TxDOT. As reported in the San Antonio Express, “TxDOT leadership has begun to take on a very different and mean-spirited tone of late," Adkisson's letter states. "This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated, especially coming from appointed officials who are unable to be held accountable by the public.".” 6/19/06

Ft. Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief states in a Dallas News Op-Ed, “ TxDOT's understanding of the new CDA [Comprehensive Development Agreement] approach to road building is that local branches of government and the Legislature are no longer part of the process. According to the TxDOT view, once an agreement is made with a private partner, TxDOT and the provider alone are empowered to makes decisions concerning road alignments. This is a staggering change from the way we have historically made these decisions. These projects are too important to not allow the citizens to participate through their various voices in government. This is a fundamental issue of the separation of powers and checks and balances in the system.”, 6/18/06

State Sen. John Lindsay in a Houston Chronicle Op-ed, says “Highway extortion” and “Selling our state highways to anyone is terrible public policy.” and “Question: When is it more appropriate to call a proposal "highway extortion" rather than "highway robbery"? Answer: When the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) negotiates with the Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) and makes demands such as TxDOT is now making on how new toll roads will be built in Harris County.”, 1/06/07

Rep. Joe Pickett in a Letter to Editor, Austin American-Statesman titled "TxDOT TRAMPLED ON US" “The Congress member in our area opposes creating a mobility authority, as does the county judge-elect. Do you think the Texas Department of Transportation honored the decision of the local planning organization? No way. It is the state's way or the highway, I mean tollway. It gets worse, 30 minutes after the vote was taken in El Paso against a mobility authority, a TxDOT commissioner called a road contractor and threatened to kill a pending project if they didn't get the mobility authority in line. Then TxDOT threatened the state of New Mexico by saying it would kill a joint railroad relocation study because some of our planning organization members who voted against the mobility authority are from New Mexico.”, 7/15/06

TxDOT continues to misinform the public and the press, claiming $2 to $3 gas tax increase would be needed if we don’t toll, after a 2006 report from the Governor's Business Council (GBC) told legislators that only pennies a gallon would be needed to build all the roads we need as free roads now. 12/27/07

Internal emails record how TxDOT hid TxTAG overcharges from the press and public for months, then intentionally deceived the press to play down the fact that tens of thousands had been double charged. 10/18/07

"State transportation officials have pushed San Antonio leaders, treated them rudely and ignored them,” said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff. 8/17/05

After decades of an unaccountable TxDOT being comfortable with the good old boy system it’s time to start fresh with TxDOT. TxDOT must be abolished, and a new accountable agency from the ground up needs to be formed, using the finest successful DOT’s from other states as a model. Texans deserve nothing less.

Reality-based accountability for people of texas and the legislature is required from this agency gone rogue.

SUNSET REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Based on your experience, how could TxDOT's
transportation planning process be improved?

TxDOT's planning process is polluted with special interests, including lobbyists and campaign contributors which prevail over the wishes of the public.

Public records show TxDOT Engineer, Bob Daigh has been in constant contact with convicted criminal Pete Amos Peters

TxDOT has public meetings, but the public’s input is simply ignored. Such as the overwhelming public outcry to not toll what should be a public expressway with our tax dollars.

TxDOT planning process includes strong arm tactics, to pressure local elected officials to ignore the public will, to divert tax dollars intended for freeways (as well as existing right of way) to build toll lanes, so TxDOT can create more revenue. The toll roads cost more to build and maintain than free roads, but that doesn't stop TxDOT’s thirst to become a taxing authority.

Our tax dollars should not be used to create yet another tax on our families.

The State Auditor found TxDOT’s estimate for it’s needs was off by tens of Billions of dollars, either in error or undocumented. That is unacceptable.

TxDOT’s planning process involves revenue by tolling freeways and not solving congestion.

CAMPO Board Member Jeff Mills speaks out about how TxDOT’s toll plan is about revenue, NOT congestion. "These projects do nothing for the main points of congestion," Mills said, noting that the Texas Department of Transportation had made it clear that it was only interested in toll roads. "There are sufficient funds for non-tolled roads." 10/08/07

TxDOT must be abolished, and a new accountable agency from the ground up needs to be formed, using the finest successful DOT’s from other states as a model.

2. How could TxDOT improve its public
outreach, education, and participation efforts,
particularly in the development of transportation projects?

TxDOT could listen, for a change. TxDOT never listens to those they are supposed to serve.

TxDOT needs to change its policies to restore public confidence. To do this, TxDOT must immediately stop spending our tax dollars on political propaganda such as the multi million dollar advertising campaigns for toll roads and TxTags.

Texas should eliminate the corruption (or appearance of corruption) that comes from the unlimited donations of road contractor contributions to Texas politicians, such as Gov. Rick Perry, who directly and indirectly chose the private road contractors.

ALL public records must always be easy to find an open to the public and the press.

Travel demand models promoted by TxDOT, and used by Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) like CAMPO, have been privatized and out sourced, so the public can no longer closely examine those models or major transportation decisions. TxDOT shifts many of its planning responsibilities to unelected Regional Mobility Authorities (RMAs), where public decisions are even more difficult to follow.

3. How well does TxDOT work with its local,
regional, state, and federal partners?

TxDOT partners with others “mafia style”, so long as everyone agrees with their policies and
doesn't mind being kept in the dark.

TxDOT is not a transparent agency and is run from the top down. Recently TxDOT announced that they were backing away from their commitments to help plan and build the toll roads they had promoted, causing an angry response from Sen. Kirk Watson, who asked them some hard-hitting questions:

Sen. Watson got a response from TxDOT, with none of his questions answered. This is par for the course for TxDOT. The lack of honesty and transparency demonstrated by such key information from a public agency is shameful.

4. How could TxDOT improve the way it purchases
right-of-way? Should the Department be authorized to
purchase property that is available on the open market?

The amount of land involved in ROW Acquisition can be greatly reduced by advocating for smaller footprints for roadways. Texas cannot afford to continue to build frontage roads, instead parkways should be built. No other state in the country wastes tax dollars by building frontage roads.

More free roads and less toll roads also take up less of a footprint, since free roads have smaller footprints.

TxDOT is guilty of having local “partners” buy land and then not building the road. Such as SW 45 in Austin: In 1997, based on a TxDOT promise to build 45SW voters approved bonds to buy ROW. But, TxDOT failed to build the road and hold up their part of the deal.

If they weren't committed to building the road back then, why did they have the taxpayers buy the ROW? (See attached 1997 letter from TxDOT to then Travis County Judge Bill Aleshire)

Now, TxDOT wants to use that tax funded right of way to build a toll road that costs more to build than it could make in revenue, since traffic projections prove the tolls are NOT needed. A CTRMA Feasibility Study for 45 SW now shows an additional $2.9 Million needed for ROW & Utilities for the oversized toll road.

Like a tragic oil spill, all the major problems we have with TxDOT have now leaked and expanded, in the form of RMA’s.

5. To what extent should TxDOT be able to use
alternative financing methods, such as private investments
and public private partnerships, in addition to the
traditional means of funding roadways and
transportation through fees and taxes?

TxDOT should NOT use any of these alternative financing methods for two very important reasons:

• They amount to corporate subsidies.
• These deals also allow information that should be public, to be kept a secret.

The gas tax mechanism for collecting a taxes is perfect, if it’s indexed. Many states already index the gas tax, as every other product we buy is naturally indexed though the marketplace. The gas tax is the most cost efficient, fair and accountable form of taxation for our transportation needs.

Tolling roads are the most expensive, most bureaucratic and most unaccountable transportation taxation option. The Texas Transportation Institute (with the Governors Business Council) study from 2006 says indexing the gas tax to rising construction costs would be enough to pay for the roads needed now, without the need for tolls.

Using our gas tax dollars to create another tax by building toll roads where public expressways should be is unfair and an unaccountable form of taxation.

Developers who purchased cheap land need to start paying their share for the roads that make them rich.

Many of the problems Texas faces come from the diversion of tax dollars. Diverting tax dollars for toll roads will create more problems.

The Comptroller’s report called “Need for a Higher Standard” Special Report in 2005. Converting freeways into tollways more expensive, it's unnecessary, and it encourages TxDOT to bulldoze perfectly good roads in order to rebuild them as toll roads. This policy makes no fiscal sense, is a total waste of taxpayer resources, serves to grow government and it primarily benefits road builders, not taxpayers.

6. What improvements are needed in how
TxDOT lets and manages contracts for highway
construction and maintenance, for both
traditional tax-funded projects and projects funded
through innovative financing techniques?

Minimize the impact of mega-contractors. Require small contractor participation – not as a partner to the mega contractors. This would mean opening the bid up to partial bids, and an increase in the coordination capacity of TxDOT. But it would keep the process more transparent.

Any cost overrun more than 3% or $100k must be approved by a elected (legislative) board.

7. How could TxDOT do a better job of
managing vehicle titles and registrations?

Hire an expert from another state who has set up a registration system that is a national model, and then give that person the money and authority to do it.

8. What improvements are needed in how
TxDOT administers its regulatory programs, including
motor vehicle dealer licensing?

Hire an expert from another state.

9. Should the State and TxDOT direct more resources
towards other modes of transportation, such as rail,
to meet the State's transportation needs?

Yes, BUT, the rail system needs to be financially feasible and we should not give subsidies to rail corporations who then profit from that public subsidy.

10. Should the Texas Department of Transportation
be continued for 12 years? Should the Legislature
make changes to the mission or
functions of the Department?

TxDOT has fallen under the influence of the many special interests that benefit from roads, particularly contractors and land developers. Change the mission to disconnect TxDOT from the decision making and the financing.

Sunset TxDOT and start fresh by looking at what other states have done, to keep the cost of roads in check.

Sunset the Regional Mobility Authorities which are nothing more than mini-TxDOT’s.

11. Please add any other comments about the
Texas Department of Transportation. If you would
like to suggest any changes to the Department,
its operations, or its statute, please provide:

Accountability and transparency is desperately needed.

Replacing the current unelected, unaccountable transportation commissioners with one elected person would be one step in the right direction.

Like many other states, TxDOT should be 100% disassociated from the decision making process, as well as from the financing process. Also, TxDOT should not hold any voting rights on MPO’s, since they often present the plan that is voted on.

TxDOT needs much more oversight by competent representatives of the people. TXDOT is generally allowed to work in secret, with nobody questioning their design decisions, their cost estimates, or their construction management. Thus we find out that a project is over budget once it's too late to do anything about it, and we don't have enough information to determine why.

TxDOT should not be allowed to perform, or to let to consultants, their own environmental reviews as allowed by NEPA. There is just too much opportunity for disingenuous behavior.

The State of Texas should review TxDOT's projects as per NEPA EIS regulations according to applicable State, Federal AND Local regulations. The savings would be in the form of designs done right the first time. The drawbacks of the complexity of the onerous system are that only truly qualified experts can understand whether or not a project meets the required regulations.

The State of Texas should require TxDOT to meet the highest regulatory standards whether they are Federal, State or Local. TxDOT is not required to even consider local regulations, that must change.

TxDOT, or the State of Texas for that matter, should constitute an Employee Suggestion Program like Wisconsin, and listen.

Any cost overrun more than 3% or $200k, whichever is less, must be approved by a elected (legislative) board.

TxDOT never takes oil prices into account in any aspect of its planning, whereas rapidly rising fuel costs reduces the amount that people drive, which must be taken into account when planning transportation for our future.

Like a tragic oil spill, all the major problems we have with TxDOT have now leaked and expanded across Texas like a poison. Recent laws have allowed mini-TxDOT’s, otherwise known as Regional Mobility Authorities (RMA’s), to spread across the state with the same lack of transparency and unaccountability, to assist TxDOT in taking our public assets. The bureaucracies absorb city, county and state tax dollars for seed money to get going. Then they steal the public's right of way, more tax dollars and create debt, while they create monopolistic tolls from what should be a public expressway.

State of Texas Comptroller report shows how RMA’s give out NO BID contracts. 3/05
See Appendices, Appendix 5

Toll Authorities are also an issue. Toll Authority Execs Raise Toll Rates Then Party in Vienna!

Thank you,
Sal Costello
Founder of People for Efficient Transportation
sal@texastollparty.com