Infrastructure Policy Forum
ACEC Texas Commentary
May 7, 2010
TRANSPORTATION: THE COST OF DOING NOTHING
No one wants to pay more for anything, but in transportation it’s becoming more and more clear that there is a cost – in both time and money – to doing nothing. This week, the Funding Subcommittee of the Texas House Select Committee on Transportation Funding heard testimony from Frank Bliss, a commercial real estate developer in the Metroplex who investigated the cost to taxpayers in increased fuel costs through decreased fuel efficiency when traffic goes from free-flowing to “stop and go.”
Mr. Bliss used data from projected congestion trends in the DFW area and EPA estimates of highway and city fuel efficiency for different kinds of vehicles to estimate the aggregate cost incurred when congestion increases the amount of driving that takes place under city conditions (19.6 mph) versus highway conditions (48.3 mph). He concluded that, depending on the fuel efficiency of the vehicle, the increased cost to the average taxpayer if no action is taken would range from $250 to $350 per year just in extra fuel costs. Increased time in congested traffic would also cost time (204 hours each year) that could be spent at home or in the community – and would cost businesses productivity.
His conclusion: “Without adequate funding for transportation, as growth occurs we pay for the lack of infrastructure by buying more gasoline and having less time for our families, communities, and the businesses we represent. Instead of . . . [paying] to fund new roads, we’re giving it to the gas companies. If we understood the math, I think we might change our attitudes and put the money where it can help us the most.”
The state’s transportation user fee is set at the same rate as 1991 (well before the world wide web was invented) and its purchasing power has declined forty percent. But anyone who thinks drivers are not paying more to drive has not looked at the pace of toll road construction and gross toll revenue collections in Texas over the past fifteen years, as toll authorities work to meet the capacity demands that aren’t being paid for by user fees.
Gross Toll Revenues in Texas, 1995 - 2009
(Millions $)
This rate of increase is essentially equivalent to a one-half cent per gallon annual increase in the state’s transportation user fee over the period – and it is driven by a shortfall in user fee-funded investment.
Our point is this: If Texas continues to grow at a pace of 1,000 new residents a day, highway users don’t get to decide whether or not we will pay more to use the highways. We will pay more. We only get to decide how we want to pay. If we decide we don’t want to pay through increased user fees (the most broad-based way), then we will pay more with our time and pay more in tolls. It’s that simple.
With the constant repetition of the mantra of “no new taxes,” it’s time for
some straight talk about transportation user fees.
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