Traffic trending down on NTTA roads, though impact modest so far
As promised, I checked with NTTA to find out what the high gas prices have meant for traffic on its toll roads. So far this year, the impact has been minimal, but numbers from May and June are...
View Article250 miles of suburban transit: Long desired and still expensive
Dallas County Commissioner Mike Cantrell is convinced residents are willing pay more — even much more — in vehicle registration fees each year to fund their share of a 250-mile suburban light rail...
View ArticlePay to park at DART? Not any time soon
Is DART going to begin charging to park at its rail stations? Television reports are saying the board is considering doing just that, so we thought we’d give you a bit of context — especially since...
View ArticleGas prices around the world may surprise you
Come January, we are likely to be fighting again over whether state gas taxes are too high or too low. It’s never to early to start the debate, so I thought I’d share something from Portfolio...
View ArticleState Highway 121: Where’s the money?
The money, some $3.1 billion or so, is still in Austin. But that hasn’t stopped local officials from developing plans for when the cash finally gets here. On Thursday, the Regional Transportation...
View ArticleTop transportation officials in Texas today
The Bush Administration has sent two transportation heavies to Texas today. The U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters, will be in Houston this morning with a big announcement about light rail,...
View ArticleQuestion: Is North Texas asking too much of NTTA, and of tolling in general?
This morning’s story about the NTTA carries some criticism of the way the agency does business, and offers some sobering views about how the credit market and other problems on Wall Street could...
View ArticleThe British are coming. BBC traveling tour bus to stop in Dallas Sunday,...
You might switch your double-shot of espresso for a steaming cup of breakfast tea Monday morning. The BBC is stopping at the Parker Road Station in Plano, along DART’s Red Line, Monday at 7 a.m. to...
View ArticleDART set to approve $1.6 billion budget for 2008-09
Download the agenda budget item (PDF) Running a transit agency costs a lot of money. As in more than $1.6 billion, according to the 2009 budget DART board members will all but certainly approve...
View ArticleMore on DART’s HOV spending for 2009
If, like me, you were curious what DART could be spending $40 million on for HOV lane projects in 2009, here’s an answer. Spokesman Morgan Lyons provides the following list and their estimated costs....
View ArticleEver see empty DART buses? Here’s what DART does about it
So a reader sent me a note the other day asking about those big, empty buses you can occassionally see along city streets. I sent his question to DART, and got a response. Take a look and let me know...
View ArticleTxDOT interest on variable-rate debt soars
And you thought your bills were going up? Just be glad you don’t have $500 million of debt with interest rates that fluctuate weekly. The Texas Department of Transportation does, and it’s paying...
View ArticleTRE to offer new departures, tweaked schedules
The Trinity Railway Express will offer new early-morning westbound trips for patrons of its commuter rail line, and provide more eastbond trips in rush hour as well. The changes, along with dozens of...
View ArticleCan you ride the TRE to the State Fair? Yes you can, with a few transfers
I received a timely e-mail from a reader, who asks, “Can you please tell me if the TRE runs from Fort Worth to the State Fair? Thank you.” Yes you can, sort of. Here’s what I sent back: Hi The TRE...
View ArticleNTTA shows city of Dallas how it’s done: Decide on a name, then ask for...
Well here is one way to avoid the kind of public relations nightmare the city of Dallas has endured over its efforts to rename Industrial Boulevard. Ask for public input, after you narrow the possible...
View ArticleCredit worries affecting both public and private efforts to build roads, bridges
How badly is the Wall Street implosion affecting cities and states — and, say, toll road authorities? Pretty badly, if they are trying to borrow money right now. That’s the word from Ken Orski, editor...
View ArticleCiting frozen credit market, NTTA likely to delay completion of long-term...
We’re likely to get a clearer picture of how badly the credit market woes have impacted NTTA on Monday. The tollway authority has called a special meeting of its board of directors amid expectations...
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Gov. Perry says if lawmakers want higher gas taxes, he won’t block effort to...
Is Texas’ chief proponent of private toll roads changing his mind, or just changing his tone? Probably the latter. Gov. Rick Perry, the man who many say has staked his legacy on an ambitious, if...
View ArticleMore talk (still no action) on spending big on transportation
You are going to hear more about this soon, but today Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., held a press conference in San Francisco to press for a so-called second bailout, one that would pump billions of...
View ArticleJohn Wiley Price named a TxDOT ‘Road Hand’
With his dapper frock coat and carefully braided hair, Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price looked nothing like a member of a highway construction crew Thursday when he was honored by the Texas...
View ArticleHoughton lends support to Carona’s plan to raise gas-tax rate
When lawmakers return to Austin in January, one key player will be pushing an old idea that has never gotten very far before. But Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, may have some momentum by the time he...
View ArticleTrinity Railway Express provides 20 millionth ride
Twelve years and 20 million rides. That’s the tally for Trinity Railway Express, which welcomed Tim Clark of Bedford this morning as he took what is the 20,000,000th trip on the commuter line. Here’s...
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Real estate slump hammers NYC transit funding; DART sales tax receipts remain...
Most days, transit enthusiasts look toward New York City with some kind of mix of admiration and ambition. Not so much today. The Metropolitan Transit Authority announced Monday that it is facing a...
View ArticleDewhurst hasn’t made up his mind about 2010 senate bid
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst kept his cards close to his chest once again Wednesday, declining to take a reporter’s bait about the U.S. Senate race in 2010. The seat would only be vacant in that year if...
View ArticleWhat kind of transportation system do we need?
Every five years, Congress gets another whack at shaping the broad outlines of federal transportation policy. This is when the egg-heads, the lawmakers, the bill-drafters, lobbyists, the DOT staff...
View ArticleDeparting Jorge Figueredo to NTTA: ‘I am very thankful’
The North Texas Tollway Authority has released a statement by Jorge Figueredo, who abruptly resigned as the authority’s executive director Friday afternoon. The letter, attached letter from...
View ArticleAttorney General says no to forwarding 121 money to RTC
Who needs the Grinch, when the Texas Attorney General can ruin Christmas all by himself? Late Wednesday, Greg Abbott’s office issued a ruling that the state cannot send money paid by NTTA for State...
View ArticleTxDOT fleshes out tentative rules for distributing stimulus money
So now that the U.S. House has passed the federal stimulus bill, you might be wondering what’s in it for Texas? The real answer is this: Wait a week or two, and once the Senate passes its version and...
View ArticleQuestions about private toll roads: You ask, we answer
With 122 comments from readers, and counting, this morning’s story about the North Tarrant Express toll project has obviously touched a nerve. With a few minutes to kill before an interview with NTTA...
View ArticleTransportation: Carona lays out his priorities in Senate
The oracle has spoken. Dallas’ Sen. John Carona, transportation chairman, has set out his priorities in a highly anticipated letter to his colleagues. The Quorum Report is calling it a Caronafesto,...
View ArticleTxDOT issues list of possible projects it will fund with stimulus
TxDOT leadership plans to decide Thursday how it will spend federal stimulus money sent to Texas for highways and bridges. Lawmakers have demanded to know why the agency has decided to move so...
View ArticleA faster, (much) costlier commute along LBJ: What do you think?
As you may have read, private toll roads are soon to be a reality for Dallas drivers, just as they are quickly becoming so in Tarrant County and other places like Indiana and Chicago. But the LBJ...
View ArticleNichols files bill to restrict, but not eliminate, use of private toll roads
A bill filed Monday in the Texas Senate would significantly change the rules for private toll road contracts. Authored by Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, the bill would do a number of things: *...
View ArticleDewhurst, Straus urged to reject North Texas local option tax plan
When North Texas leaders mulled how best to convince the Legislature to authorize local officials to call sales tax elections to pay for rail expansion, they finally decided to give up their long (and...
View ArticleTxDOT delays temporary closure of I-35E; had been scheduled for Sunday and...
Plans to shut down all lanes of I-35E, scheduled for Sunday and Monday nights, have been postponed. Details over at the Dallas Transportation … [visit site to read more]
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Carona would consider run for mayor if Leppert doesn’t seek re-election
Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, said today that he would consider a run for Dallas Mayor if his friend Tom Leppert decides not to seek re-election. “Tom is a … [visit site to read more]
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John Wiley Price: City must speed up its response to water main breaks
Update: City responds below. Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price said today that the city of Dallas needs to respond more quickly when water mains bust, something he and other commissioners...
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At city’s urging, Congress may prevent Army Corps from declaring levees...
City officials are banking on help from Congress to keep the Army Corps of Engineers from designating the … [visit site to read more]
View ArticleAttorney general says Watkins, not commissioners, has authority to select...
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office has issued an opinion this morning saying Dallas County commissioners do not have the authority to hire an attorney to represent the county in civil matters...
View ArticleCorps: City and corps are studying whether 800-year protection for levees is...
Update: I knew I should have considered my sources when I took Jim Schutze’s blog post seriously, but fortunately city council meetings are recorded and Steve Thompson has provided some useful facts...
View ArticleIs transit the key to Dallas’ future? Thinking TOD, as Dallas’ O’Donnell...
Sunday kicks off a remarkable conference in Washington focused in large part on showing cities, developers and transit agencies how to make real their dreams of using transit to anchor major...
View ArticleNTTA: FBI is investigating board members’ conduct, possible conflicts of...
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the conduct of some North Texas Tollway Authority board members, including possible conflicts of interest, the authority disclosed Friday. NTTA...
View ArticleKent Cagle to leave NTTA board as he accepts Leander post, Vandergriff may...
NTTA board member Kent Cagle is leaving the board, and leaving North Texas. He’s been hired as city manager of Leander, and starts next month. Cagle said over the weekend that he will send Dallas...
View ArticleRawlings to South Dallas developers: ‘I’m still a tollroad guy’
Mayor Mike Rawlings is “still a toll road guy.” I think that was clear as a bell this morning and on our blog, where we’ve reported that he’s asked for answers from the Texas Department of...
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San Francisco cyclist who ignored red lights puts bikers there under scrutiny...
A memorial site sits along the Katy Trail, where Lauren Huddleston was struck by a cyclist and later died. The photo was taking in January, 2011. The incident occurred Sept. 30, 2010. (Jim...
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Kirk praises Rawlings, says education improvements critical to Dallas’s future
Ron Kirk traveled the world as the USA's top trade negotiator in President Obama's Cabinet, including the visit to Geneva above. But he was passionate on Thursday when talking about the challenge...
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Wendell Berry at 80: If he were to return to Dallas would he find it a more...
Wendell Berry, in conversation with the author, on his front porch in July, 2012. Photo by Michael A. Lindenberger WASHINGTON — Wendell Berry turns 80 today, a fine milestone for a wonderful writer...
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Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to Supreme Court: Strike down states’ gay marriage...
The United States Supreme Court will hear arguments in what most expect to be the culminating decision on gay marriage on April 28. WASHINGTON–Mayor Mike Rawlings of Dallas has joined 225 other U.S....
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As Trinity swells again, a reminder that we still haven't fixed the levees
Flood waters from the swollen Trinity River surround a roadway as people walk from the Sylvan Avenue bridge towards the flooded Trinity River Greenbelt Park on Friday, May 29, 2015, in Dallas. (Smiley...
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