 "Photo: Larissa Mueller")
As the chair of a new statewide committee overseeing research by independent transportation organizations, a UT transportation engineering professor is putting his skills toward solving transportation issues facing Texas.
C. Michael Walton chairs the 12-person group of business transportation experts from across the state. Known as the "2030 Committee," the group aspires to prevent worsening of traffic congestion in Texas and improve existing public transit options for passengers and freight. They review research done by the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Transportation Institute and make recommendations, using the findings to create a realistic cost estimate for the next two decades of investment in Texas transportation infrastructure by December.
With the help of the 2030 Committee, Texas is leading the nation in transportation reform on the state level, said several speakers at the committee's public hearing Thursday.
"Some places, Atlanta, San Francisco, the District of Columbia, are doing transportation projections but nothing is being done at a state level," said a Texas Department of Transportation official at the meeting.
In the metropolitan and urban areas, the Texas Transportation Institute has already confirmed population trends, updated estimates of cost per mile of expanded roads and estimated miles needed to prevent the worsening of congestion, according to the Mobility Needs Assessment released by the institute. The institute is now working on accounting for current and committed road construction projects and are ready to begin calculating the required investment to make changes in highway mobility.
Sandy Hentges, vice president of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, stressed the difficulty of meeting traffic challenges in a city like Austin, which every week sees an additional 500 cars on the road.
In rural areas, congestion is less of an issue, and focus is directed toward basic road safety and maintenance. In its goal of "prioritized improvement," the institute is still in the process of estimating the lane-miles needed to improve rural roads to standard conditions.
The difficulty of transportation on congested Texas roads is a prohibitive factor for business development in the state, said Bob Tesch, chair of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority.
"Dell chose to expand operations - and not here. They went to Tennessee due to traffic congestion around their headquarters," Tesch said, citing tax abatements as no longer enough to attract top recruiters to Texas for doing business.
Hentges pointed to increasing alternatives in transit, such as public transportation, for improving congestion in the city.
Another public testifier, Howard Falkman, said toll roads and better use of highways by buses and high-occupancy vehicles were key for improving transportation in the state.
Improving connectivity to prevent bottlenecks, continued adequate maintenance and public education on transportation funding were other proposed solutions to Texas' highway problems.
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