This excellent animation from TrueMajority shows in
graphic detail (using Oreo cookies) how ridiculously, large
the military budget is, and how we could solve many domestic
problems with a modest 12% cut. A must-see. (watch
it now)
During the DEIS commentary
period I voiced my organization's opposition to SH 130 to your
colleague Brett Jackson in a letter dtd March 20, 2000 which I
have attached here for reference. The reservations and concerns
outlined in the aforementioned document remain, but in addition
and for the record, it should be noted that stated goals of public
policy locally and at the federal level are in fact thwarted by
proceeding with SH 130.
Financial
Constraint
An MPO‚s regional
transportation is supposed to be financially constrained. As
reported in the Austin American Statesman, CAMPO‚s proposed
plan is already in excess of $360 million short at the local
level. SH 130 will open vast new territory for sprawl development
requiring ancillary roads, electricity, water, waste water,
policing, fire protection, EMS, public transit, etc., at enormous
expense not only for the capital and service costs, but for the
debt service to bring these amenities on line. Given that local
government is legally responsible as a public utility to provide
supporting infrastructure, these costs are unavoidable and are one
of the key reasons why our regional plan does not meet the test of
financial constrain. Any examination of Travis County and City of
Austin budgets (and the debt service, therein) over the last 20
years will reveal, "sprawl" does not pay for itself.
Reduce Congestion and
Promote Mobility
Because SH 130 perpetuates the
past into the future on the assumption (myth) that today's traffic
forecasts should be projected to meet tomorrow's needs, the
traveling public will find itself on the road longer for greater
periods of time to get less and less places. Additionally, the
enormous direct and indirect expenditures engendered by the
highway, will promote a land-use pattern contrary to alternatives,
increase VMT, and ultimately result in degraded levels of service
(E and F) throughout the service area. This is borne out both
within the MIS and the DEIS documents already on the public record
as well as by TTI data. A 15 year study of TTI's data on 70 cities
shows that those cities that spent billions on congestion relief
by increasing roadway capacity had as much or more congestion as
those cities who did little or nothing. (You can view this
document at http://www.transact.org under documents and reports,
"An Analyses of the Relationship Between Highway Expansion and
Congestion in Metropolitan Areas" as well as an update to that
report, the title of which I do not have at the moment). Since
mobility is, in fact, the ability to travel to the most places in
the least amount of time, SH 130 does not promote mobility or
reduce congestion. Should we not be listening here, to TTI, the
highway lobby's own "think tank?"
Promote Air
Quality
More vehicle miles traveled
(VMT), even in cleaner cars, is contrary to the steps required for
reducing air pollution. Tomorrow's city must have a far higher
percentage of walking, bicycle, and transit trips and this will
not be possible if we build to the past's paradigm. Dirty air is
far more expensive that clean air as I hope will be shown in the
upcoming U.S. Supreme Court hearing brought by the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce who seem to think that public health is some
unaccountable and irrelevant cost when it comes to
business.
In closing, it was my
understanding that ISTEA and TEA 21 were reforms to federal law
designed to put more control in the hands of local officials in
the belief that government was of the people, by the people, and
for the people, rather than leaving decisions to bureaucracies,
such as TxDot, who are beyond the reach of the people or their
representatives. Surely the alignment of a transportation facility
is a matter of local choice and not one made by a remote and
removed process.
State Highway 130 is what the
great historian, Barbara Tuchman, identified in her book of the
same name* as, "The March of Folly;" i.e., the pursuit of public
policy contrary to our own self interest when at the time everyone
clearly understands that the policy in question is overwhelming a
failure for all but a few special interests. Someone has to have
the courage to recognize this and say "the buck stops
here!"
Thank for your consideration in
this matter.
Sincerely,
Dave Dobbs
Executive Director,
TAPT
*See Barbara Tuchman, The March
of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1984.
Michael Bluejay explains slot machines. I know about more stuff than just bikes. My explanation about how slot machines work is probably the best you're gonna find anywhere.'
