A proposal by the Obama administration that would grant Mexican truckers greater access to Texas roadways would be a boon for business in the state, supporters say, since three of the top five ports for trade between the U.S. and Mexico are Laredo, El Paso and Houston. But unions contend the plan would cost American jobs. “This cheap-labor program comes at too high a risk and at too large a cost to middle-class American workers who work long, hard hours to help maintain a safe commerce system in our nation,” says a spokesman for the Texas AFL-CIO.
Transportation
Reporting on roads, transit, infrastructure, and policy shaping travel and mobility across the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Transportation
TribBlog: Report: Texans Wasted Nearly $9 Billion In Traffic Jams
Road rage and fender-benders aren’t the only reasons to hate traffic jams — Texans wasted $8.96 billion on congested roadways in 2009, according to the Urban Mobility Report released today by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) at Texas A&M University.
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Criminal Justice
A Stiff Cocktail of Budget Cuts
The Texas House has unveiled a $156.4 billion budget that’s $31.1 billion smaller than the current two-year spending plan — a drop of 16.6 percent. The proposed budget came with $1.2 billion in recommendations for savings and new revenue from the Legislative Budget Board.
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Transportation
Pay to Pave
The sixth annual Texas Transportation Forum was the largest yet, with contractors, state officials and others meeting to talk mobility in the state. Mose Buchele of KUT News reports on the added challenges they will face this year to keep Texas moving.
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Transportation
Pay to Pave
Pay to PaveTexas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.
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Transportation
Out of Gas?
Over the next several months, hundreds of electric and plug-in hybrid cars will arrive in Texas cities. They will emit little pollution and be cheaper to operate than conventional vehicles. For the state government, however, the advent of alternative-fuel vehicles creates a long-term concern: They will generate little or no gas tax revenue — a key funding source for keeping the state’s roads and bridges in good repair.
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Transportation
TribBlog: Life in the Fast Lane
More than a third of Texas drivers think roadways are less safe than they were five years ago even though data shows that deaths have steadily decreased, according to a survey by the Center for Transportation Safety at the Texas Transportation Institute.
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Inside Intelligence
Inside Intelligence: The Budget Will Be Balanced By…
For this week’s installment of our non-scientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we focused on the budget. Specifically, we asked how big the shortfall is going to be, how the Legislature will close the gap and which areas of the budget are most likely to be cut.
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Transportation
TribBlog: Berman Files Bill to End DPS Driver Surcharges
State Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, wants to end something besides illegal immigration and federal intrusion into health care in Texas.
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Transportation
The Cost of Disrepair
Think repairing the state’s roads and highways is costly? Try not repairing them. That’s the message from transportation advocacy groups, which say poor road conditions are costing Texas drivers $22.6 billion per year in car damage, fuel costs and traffic accidents. But as Mose Buchele of KUT News reports, before any of those problems can be addressed, we should all prepare for a bumpy ride.