Link to story here.

Bush Administration: Time to Face Traffic
By LESLIE MILLER
Associated Press Writer
May 16, 2006

WASHINGTON — Moving people or freight around America just can’t be done anymore without encountering one bottleneck or another, and the Bush administration said Tuesday that it’s time to do something about the congestion.

“Congestion is not a fact of life. We need a new approach and we need it now,” said Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta.

Five years ago, Mineta complained that “congestion and delay not only waste our time as individuals, they also burden our businesses and our entire economy.”

The transportation secretary unveiled a strategy to reduce congestion that included privatizing roads, putting tolls on busy roads and designating corridors for development to speed movement of truck and rail freight.

Mineta outlined the plan to a meeting of the National Retail Federation.

Traffic jams have only gotten worse in most places in the five years since Mineta declared congestion was a national problem.

Commuters and truckers aren’t the only ones complaining. Shippers face congestion at crowded ports and along jammed railroads, and airline delays are on the upswing.

When a reporter asked why it took so long to come up with a congestion strategy, Mineta said the Transportation Department first had to win passage of the six-year, $286.4 billion highway and mass transit bill. The bill was signed into law nine months ago.

“Who are they kidding?” said Rep. Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat who sits on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “This is part of a Hail Mary pass.”

Greg Cohen, president of the American Highway Users Alliance, said he’s glad transportation officials are finally focusing on traffic jams.

“It is actually groundbreaking to see the Transportation Department say, ‘Congestion is not necessary and we can make it a thing of the past,'” Cohen said.

But, he said, “I don’t see a whole lot here in terms of actually paying for this stuff.”

Democrats criticized the plan’s reliance on privatizing roads and charging tolls to use them.

“They’re recognizing a real and growing problem, but I think they come up short on their solutions,” said Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio, a senior Democrat on the transportation committee.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., blasted the plan for ignoring passenger rail.

“This country cannot have a serious discussion about reducing traffic congestion when the Bush administration refuses to include rail service as part of its plan,” Lautenberg said.

The national strategy is long on expediting, promoting and encouraging, but short on new funding.

It calls for transportation officials to seek “Urban Partnership Agreements” for a few communities “willing to demonstrate new congestion relief strategies.”

It encourages states to pass laws that let private companies invest in transportation and it promotes such technological improvements as “better real-time traffic information.”

There’ll even be a competition to select up to five “interstate corridors of the future” for long-term investment.

The Highway Users’ Cohen said the publicity surrounding earmarks to the highway bill — epitomized by the “bridge to nowhere,” a $223 million span in Alaska to an island with a population of about 50 — made it clear that the highway program isn’t doing what it’s supposed to.

“Folks want to get out of traffic,” Cohen said.

Link to Houston Chronicle article here.

U.S. to battle bottlenecks
New techniques to be used against traffic snarls
By DIRK VANDERHART
Houston Chronicle
May 16, 2006

WASHINGTON – Citing the adverse effects of traffic congestion on the economy, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta on Tuesday unveiled a plan to reduce backups in major metropolitan areas like Houston (yes, I’m sure this is a plan to deal with traffic and has nothing to do with big business).

The plan, which also is aimed at limiting delays in rail and air transport, will assure that the United States has the most efficient transportation system in the world, the secretary said.

“President Bush and I recognize the challenge that congestion poses,” Mineta said in an address to the National Retail Federation. “We need a new approach and we need it now.”

The Transportation Department estimates that roughly $200 billion is lost every year because of delays in road, rail and air transport.

According to the Texas Transportation Institute, an average Houston commuter spent 63 hours caught in traffic in 2003, the fifth-longest per-person delay in the country. That wasted time and fuel resulted in a net loss of almost $2.3 billion, the institute reported.

If congestion continues to increase — as it has in recent decades — traffic problems will begin to affect more than just America’s largest cities. The department said small and medium-size cities could see significant backups in coming years.

Mineta said the Transportation Department will select a handful of large metropolitan areas to showcase technologies and procedures designed to ease highway congestion. These include express bus lines, electronic toll collection systems and methods of increasing tolls as roadways become more congested.

Once these techniques prove their effectiveness, Mineta said, urban areas around the country can adopt the ones that best suit local conditions.

States also should allow private companies to invest in toll roads and other infrastructure, Mineta said, noting that such public-private partnerships are vital if states hope to have the money to make crucial improvements. Similar arrangements, such as the leasing of a toll road in Indiana to a private company, have led to fierce debates in state legislatures.

“Some of what we are about to do will be indeed labeled controversial,” Mineta acknowledged.

Although he gave no details, the secretary also proposed partnering with the Department of Homeland Security to create a “border congestion team” to ease backups at border checkpoints. In addition, the Department of Transportation will look into expanding capacity and efficiency at airports. New York City’s La Guardia Airport was specifically identified as needing improvement.

No cost estimate was given, but Mineta acknowledged that “this will be expensive work.”

See results on Leon Valley’s web site here.

Art Reyna trounced incumbent Hubert Lange in the Leon Valley City Council race by an almost 80% to 20% margin. This race was a referendum on toll roads, especially the project planned on Bandera Road. The Leon Valley City Council had at one time last year voted unanimously to pass a resolution supporting the tolling of Bandera Road. Now, a motion to rescind the resolution asking for the toll road will be voted on in June, once the new council is sworn in and it is duly placed on the agenda.

More anti-incumbent sentiment in the Cibolo/Seguin area:
http://www.seguindailynews.com/archives/2006/may/05-15-06/05152006.htm.

Link to article here.

NOTE: Even TxDOT’s own lawyer says TxDOT’s reasons for keeping the information from citizens aren’t valid, “The public is entitled to consider the numbers that we’re considering and give us their feedback,” said TxDOT Attorney Sharon Alexander.

Gag law may hinder toll-study discussions
By Patrick Driscoll
Express-News Staff Writer
05/13/2006 12:00 AM CDT

A brewing controversy has shed light on a 1997 state law that could hamper public discussion of toll-road studies.

When Terri Hall of San Antonio Toll Party recently asked for a feasibility study on Bandera Road toll lanes, the Texas Department of Transportation demanded she sign an agreement that says she wouldn’t share the information with anyone without state permission.

“This is really crossing the line, for TxDOT to try and block us from finding out what they’re doing on something so major like this,” Hall said.

The law allows the state to copyright studies, maps, planning documents, designs, manuals and other materials and control how they’re publicly distributed, TxDOT attorney Sharon Alexander said.

Just how people are supposed to get permission to discuss or distribute copyrighted public records isn’t clear. Alexander said she didn’t see a problem with people reciting such information in speeches or debates but putting it on the Web would need state approval.

“I’m not trying to defend the idea, I’m just saying that’s my understanding of it,” she said.

Also, nobody has explained what’s so valuable about the Bandera toll-lane study. TxDOT engineers say they’re worried that the report, which is preliminary, could be construed as final. But Alexander said that’s not a legitimate concern under public information laws.

“The public is entitled to consider the numbers that we’re considering and give us their feedback,” she said.

The issue might have come up sooner when Hall asked for studies on toll lanes and ramps for U.S. 281, Loop 1604, Interstate 35 and Wurzbach Parkway, but Alexander said she believes those studies had already been made public and therefore didn’t seek a gag agreement.

On Thursday, the department determined that the Bandera Road study had also already been made public and decided to drop its request for a nondisclosure agreement.

But gaping questions remain on how a slew of additional feasibility studies for more than 70 miles of planned toll roads in San Antonio will be handled when completed. Multiple studies are expected in coming years for proposed projects overseen by TxDOT and the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority.

Apparently, officials could opt for nondisclosure agreements on any or all of those reports.

“I don’t know,” mobility authority Chairman Bill Thornton said. “You’re hitting me with something I haven’t heard of or thought of.”

TxDOT officials couldn’t be reached for further comment.

Read about it here.

Congrats to our partner the Austin Toll Party for another outstanding victory in unseating yet another toller on the Austin MPO Transportation Board!

See how TxDOT’s illegal antics continue to unfold. Follow the saga here…

Driscoll’s blog.

Contact the Express-News and ask why this isn’t a front page story. Our government is willfully breaking Open Records laws and attempting to muzzle free speech on the internet!

Government Editor: Mark Langford, mlangford@express-news.net
Public Editor: Bob Richter, richter@express-news.net

Mmmm … maybe not
By Pat Driscoll
Express-News
May 11, 2006

State officials are backing off a gag order involving a study for Bandera Road toll lanes.

The feasibility study is available to the public, but Texas Department of Transportation officials wanted to control how it’s distributed. They told Terri Hall of San Antonio Toll Party that she would have to sign an agreement (see last five pages) to not share the information with anyone without state permission.

The Legislature passed a law in 1995 and amended it two years later (see below or section 201.205 in the Transportation Code) to protect certain public records as intellectual property, TxDOT attorney Sharon Alexander told me. The purpose is to make sure people don’t sell or covet state data as their own.

“It’s definitely public information but we can restrict the use,” she said.

It’s not exactly clear …

… how citizens are supposed to get permission to publicly discuss or distribute copyrighted public records. Alexander said she didn’t see a problem with people reciting such information in speeches or debates but putting it on the Web would need state approval.

“I’m not trying to defend the idea, I’m just saying that’s my understanding of it,” she said.

It’s also not clear what’s so valuable about the Bandera toll-lane study. TxDOT engineers say they’re worried that the report, which is very preliminary, could be construed as final. But Alexander said that’s not a legitimate concern under public information laws.

“The public is entitled to consider the numbers that we’re considering and give us their feedback,” the TxDOT attorney said.

The issue may have come up sooner when Hall asked for studies on toll lanes and ramps on U.S. 281, Loop 1604, Interstate 35 and Wurzbach Parkway, but Alexander said she was under the impression that those studies had already been made public. Hall got what was available in those reports at no charge.

But now it’s questionable …

.. whether the issue may come up again on toll studies anytime soon. TxDOT officials today rethought their position and decided to rescind the mandate for a non-disclosure agreement, and will tell Hall in a letter that could go out tomorrow, spokesman Randall Dillard told me shortly after the close of business.

The agency is also waiving its $110 upfront fee just to see the study. I’m not sure if that also applies to getting a copy but I’m sure the letter will spell that out. I’ll post the letter when I get it.

Meanwhile, here’s the applicable law …

§ 201.205. PROTECTION AND USE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
AND PUBLICATIONS. (a) The department may:
(1) apply for, register, secure, hold, and protect
under the laws of the United States, any state, or any nation a
patent, copyright, trademark, or other evidence of protection or
exclusivity issued in or for an idea, publication, or other
original innovation fixed in a tangible medium, including:
(A) a literary work;
(B) a logo;
(C) a service mark;
(D) a study;
(E) a map or planning document;
(F) an engineering, architectural, or graphic
design;
(G) a manual;
(H) automated systems software;
(I) an audiovisual work;
(J) a sound recording; or
(K) travel literature, including a pamphlet,
bulletin, book, map, periodical, or electronic information
published or produced under Section 3, Chapter 193, Acts of the 56th
Legislature, Regular Session, 1959 (Article 6144e, Vernon’s Texas
Civil Statutes);
(2) enter into a nonexclusive license agreement with a
third party for the receipt of a fee, royalty, or other thing of
monetary or nonmonetary value;
(3) waive or reduce the amount of a fee, royalty, or
other thing of monetary or nonmonetary value to be assessed if the
department determines that the waiver will:
(A) further the goals and missions of the
department; and
(B) result in a net benefit to the state; and
(4) adopt and enforce rules necessary to implement
this section.
(b) Money paid to the department under this section shall be
deposited to the credit of the state highway fund.

Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, § 30.07(a), eff. Sept. 1,
1997.

Link to article here or see below.

The meeting feedback we received is in direct contrast to how Mayor Stevick portrays the response in this article. See direct feedback here. Does this sound like “there were no questions left unanswered? The article begins with saying resident reaction was mixed (meaning some in favor and some not), but they could only quote an ex-city councilwoman in favor of a property tax hike to pay for state highways. Also read the New Braunfels paper on the Hwy 46 meeting where Mayor Stevick and Comal County Judge Scheel have a very different perspective on how residents reacted to the meeting than those of their constituents.

TOLLING Hwy 46…
About tolling 46, read the previous post for detail, but in this Express-News article, Laura Lopez of TxDOT lied about plans to toll 46 (like Greg Malatek did at the meeting). It’s in the November ’05 Transportation Commission Meeting transcript for ANYONE to verify! FYI, “pass through financing” is also known as pass through tolling or shadow tolling in the toll road industry (see Fitch Ratings Special Report where they refer to it). The county fronts the money for the project and it gets paid back based on the number of cars that pass through their reader. Not hard to put two and two together and see how this works against the taxpayers…shadow tolling only encourages more unbridled growth in the Hill Country. They get their money back faster by loading up our highways with more cars. What incentive is there to curb growth or decrease the necessity of driving with such an agreement? That’s growth the taxpayers, not developers pay for! Do you smell a rat, too?

Project to widen Texas 46 discussed
Nicole Lessin
Express-News Staff Writer
05/10/2006

BULVERDE — Plans to widen sections of Texas 46 between Sun Valley Drive to the west end of Old Boerne Road are getting a mixed reaction from residents.

“When the preface is ‘Your taxes are going up,’ you are going to be pretty leery,” said Mayor Sarah Stevick. “(But) I would say the majority of the people are in favor of the Texas 46 project.”

A standing-room-only crowd of about 200 attended the April 26 special City Council workshop at the Guadalupe Valley Telephone Cooperative Auditorium to learn more about the plan, which involves widening a 3.7-mile stretch of the road from two lanes with an intermittent turn lane to four lanes with a continuous turn lane as well as sidewalks.

At the meeting, Police Chief Royce Goodson said on average, 40 percent of local EMS calls each month come from the Texas 46 area. He also said there were nearly 90 accidents on the highway in 2005.

The project is part of a $58 million Texas Department of Transportation program to widen 19 miles of Texas 46 from Loop 337 in New Braunfels to Old Boerne Road.

The first phase of the project to add passing lanes from FM 2722 to Sun Valley Road is scheduled to start in June 2007.

The entire project would be paid for using “pass-through financing” by Comal County and reimbursed by TxDOT.

For the Bulverde section of the roadway, the city would pay about $1.38 million, which would include relocating utilities and purchase of right of way, said City Administrator Phyllis Peterson.

Stevick said under the most likely scenario, the city’s ad valorem tax would be increased about 2 cents per $100 valuation on a home from about 19 cents to 21 cents.

“This project is going to happen fairly soon,” she said. “We have to have the money for right of way acquired by December.”

Despite the increase in taxes, former City Councilwoman Bev Lemes said the widening project is necessary.

“I just feel like with the way the county is growing, we have no choice. We have to improve the safety of our citizens,” she said. “The city is a city; they incorporated to be a city; they need to step up and accept their responsibility.”

But not everyone at the meeting shared Lemes’ point of view.
Rodney Young, a Spring Branch resident, said he was worried that Texas 46 might eventually be turned into a toll road.

“They are trying to separate the two issues when in fact TxDOT has tried to study the toll lanes as a third outer loop around San Antonio,” he said. “They know that’s such a hot-button issue.”

Laura Lopez, a spokeswoman for TxDOT, later said the department had no plans to put toll lanes on Texas 46.

Nonetheless, Young also said many residents thought the plan was inadequate because it did not go far enough west and does not provide an interchange with U.S. 281.

“I think there are less extensive, less expensive alternatives,” he said. “(They are) asking the city to commit to something before TxDOT has a firm plan about what they are going to do.”

However, Stevick said she feels confident the project will receive support from residents, especially in light of the traffic volume and safety issues involving 46.

“People left there with a lot of information, a lot of facts,” she said. “No question was left unanswered.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Terri Hall, Regional Director San Antonio Toll Party
Email: terri@satollparty.com
WEB: http://www.SATollParty.com

San Antonio, TX, May 10, 2006 – Concerned citizen and founder of SA Toll Party.com, Terri Hall, was shocked when she received a letter (view it here) in response to a public information request from the Department of Transportation (TxDOT) requiring her to sign a “license” agreement forbidding her from discussing or disclosing PUBLIC information to the PUBLIC!

“It’s an outrage! TxDOT has clearly violated our Open Records laws and continues to violate open and transparent government. The PEOPLE are the owners of government and we pay their paychecks. TxDOT has lost all objectivity when it comes to toll roads. They’re essentially trying to issue a gag order keeping us from taking this information public. They want to operate in secrecy like the private, foreign companies they’re brokering deals with in secret,” declares Hall.

Hall asked for feasibility studies on all the toll projects in Bexar and surrounding counties. After several months of haggling and having to involve an attorney, she obtained some initial studies last fall. However, TxDOT has ratcheted up the stonewalling a notch by requiring citizens to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Essentially, TxDOT is blocking access to and blocking public dissemination of PUBLIC information that prevents grassroots citizens from seeing, discussing, or sharing vital information about toll rates and the financial details behind toll plans.

Since the contract negotiations are done in secret (see proof here), and given the fact that TxDOT and Cintra are suing to keep even the signed contracts secret from the public (see proof here), one of the few ways citizens have of trying to discover toll rates and the cost of these projects is through feasibility studies. Now TxDOT is trying to keep these feasibility studies secret from the public, too. They’re also trying to charge Hall $109 simply to VIEW the documents.

“This ought to be a wake-up call,” shares a concerned Hall, “that TxDOT is out of control and has overstepped its authority. We’re talking about highways, not top secret classified information. This unlawful abuse of power needs to stop, NOW. These studies PROVE that the toll rates TxDOT is telling the public aren’t true. Frankly, it’s moves like this that make it a lot easier to prove TxDOT’s corruption. What are they trying to hide? We’re the owners of government, and we’re simply trying to get to the truth.”

TxDOT Violates the Freedom of Information Act which states:
Link to Freedom of Information Act here.

(iii) Documents shall be furnished without any charge or at a charge reduced below the fees established under clause (ii) if disclosure of the information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

Another Violation of the Freedom Of Information Act :

(v) No agency may require advance payment of any fee unless the requester has previously failed to pay fees in a timely fashion, or the agency has determined that the fee will exceed $250.

Texas State Public Information Act:
Link to state statute here.

• TxDOT did not require me to sign such a document a few months ago when I requested feasibility studies, nor to my knowledge, have they asked others, including reporters, to do the same.

Sec.A552.223. UNIFORM TREATMENT OF REQUESTS FOR
INFORMATION.AAThe officer for public information or the officer’s
agent shall treat all requests for information uniformly without
regard to the position or occupation of the requestor, the person on
whose behalf the request is made, or the status of the individual as
a member of the media.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 268, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 1035, Sec. 15, eff. Sept. 1,
1995.

• TxDOT should waive the cost when it’s for the general public. Our grassroots group qualifies under this exception of charges.

Sec.A552.267. WAIVER OR REDUCTION OF CHARGE FOR PROVIDING
COPY OF PUBLIC INFORMATION.AA(a) A governmental body shall provide
a copy of public information without charge or at a reduced charge
if the governmental body determines that waiver or reduction of the
charge is in the public interest because providing the copy of the
information primarily benefits the general public.

See Express-News Transportation Reporter Pat Driscoll’s blog on this here.

Link to New York Post article.

Seems our toller friends could learn a lesson from an unlikely source: Howard Stern. He jumped from “free” radio to satellite “pay” radio and now only has one-tenth the audience he had on “free” radio. Now granted, his crude content could be the primary reason for this, but it’s worth noting that when people are now expected to pay for what once was offered free, the users went down 90%. Seems there’s a lesson here for tollers: don’t count on a cash cow TOLL revenue stream to materialize for what was once a FREEway, especially with these gas prices!

STERN EYES FREE RADIO
By JOHN MAINELLI
New York Post

May 9, 2006 — HOWARD Stern says he’s been offered a “major deal” to come back to regular radio via satellite radio – just like his longtime enemies Opie & Anthony.

“The joke could be on them if I get good and worked up [because] I got offered a major deal to go back to terrestrial and stay on satellite at the same time,” Stern told his Sirius listeners in comments replayed and mocked yesterday by “O&A.”

“Can you imagine if I go across town against them in all those markets and just kick some a-? That would really be cool,” said Stern, who now broadcasts to about a tenth of his former audience.

If an offer was actually made to Stern, it most likely came from Citadel Broadcasting, which is in the process of acquiring Disney/ABC’s radio division – including New York’s WABC, WPLJ and WEPN – and is headed by former Infinity/CBS exec Farid Suleman.

Once Suleman gets the keys to ABC’s outlets, he could instantly return Stern to major FM stations in New York, L.A., Chicago and other huge cities, if Sirius, which is paying $500 million over five years for Stern’s supposedly exclusive services, agrees to trade exclusivity for cash.

During a recent investor conference call, CEO Mel Karmazin said he’s not entertaining reverse-licensing offers but added, “It doesn’t mean that we couldn’t in the future.”

Neither Stern’s agent or Suleman returned calls seeking comment.