The depth and breadth of Texas Transportation Institute’s expertise in all facets of transportation are valuable assets to lawmakers charged with addressing the state’s growing transportation needs. TTI has responded to an unprecedented number of information requests from individual lawmakers, legislative committees, the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House. Here’s a sampling.

• Is there a hidden cost to better fuel economy?

  

  Alternative-fuel vehicles, while good for the environment, will definitely have a negative impact on Texas' fuel-tax revenues.

  Yes — and it’s growing, according to TTI Research Scientist David Ellis. In testimony provided to the joint committee meeting of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee last May, Ellis outlined the impact of key transportation finance variables including fuel efficiency, fuel consumption, debt service and vehicle registration fees. In the short term, better vehicle fuel efficiency is generating less revenue from the fuel tax at a time when road construction and maintenance costs are rising. In the long run, electric vehicles will generate no fuel tax revenue at all to cover the costs of the roads on which they drive. The two committees sought input from Ellis regarding the effect of Texas’ population growth on vehicle miles traveled, projected fuel efficiencies and construction commodity prices.

• Are there alternative approaches for paying for road construction and maintenance?

  

  How to pay for our state's roadways is a key question under consideration by the Texas Legislature.

  As vehicles move away from traditional fuels to energy sources like electricity, the importance of identifying new ways to finance our transportation infrastructure grows. That effort is well underway at TTI.

  TTI Senior Research Engineer Ginger Goodin and Associate Transportation Researcher Trey Baker testified before the Subcommittee on Funding of the House Select Committee on Transportation Funding last October on one possible exploratory study of using vehicle mileage fees (VMFs) in Texas. A similar briefing was held for legislative staffers prior to the current session.

  Moving toward an actual ‘user fee’ for roadways represents a significant change over the current funding system, which taxes fuel purchases as a proxy for road use. The VMF study gathered input and perspectives from Texans, as well as engaged a panel of technology experts to outline possible deployment options for such a fee. Public concerns the researchers encountered included privacy issues, administrative costs and questions about enforcement.

• What does congestion cost the typical Texas household?

  The costs of congestion are evident at the pump since more time spent idling during rush hour burns more fuel.

  In October, Ellis and TTI Research Engineer Tim Lomax appeared before the Select Committee on Transportation Funding of the Texas House of Representatives to assess congestion costs to Texas households under six different scenarios:

  

  The costs of congestion are evident at the pump since more time spent idling during rush hour burns more fuel.

  • current funding trend;
  • increasing vehicle registration fees by $30;
  • doubling vehicle registration fees;
  • spending $4 billion annually on new construction and $2 billion annually on maintenance;
  • using Texas Emissions Reduction Plan funds to offset bond and
  • pass-through debt and using oil severance-tax revenues to recapture bond and pass-through debt.

  The researchers plotted two variables for each of the six scenarios:

  • the impact of congestion on common consumer commodity prices; and
  • the cost, in terms of both extra travel time and extra fuel, of not addressing congestion.

  Two trends emerged from this analysis:

  • By 2035, the annual cost of congestion for Texas households, on average, will increase from the current $1,500 to almost $5,400.
  • If congestion costs were kept at current levels, every $1 in transportation infrastructure improvements would produce an estimated $6 in economic benefit.

  The researchers found that the $4 billion-per-year construction investment would likely result in saving the typical household $3,390 per year by 2035, while costing each household only $350.

• Are there other ways to move freight across the border?

  In a presentation to the Senate Committee on International Relations and Trade May 4, 2010, TTI Assistant Agency Director Steve Roop reported on the potential of a private-sector freight shuttle system to greatly improve border freight movement. The Freight Shuttle combines technology and operational strategies to provide sustainable and productive freight transportation. It’s designed to address critical freight transportation challenges, including:

  

  Implementing innovative ideas that work, like TTI's Freight Shuttle, is vital to the future of the Texas economy.

  • increasing predictability in freight movement;
  • improving productivity, measured in terms of the relationship between cost and capacity;
  • reducing infrastructure deterioration by removing vehicles from public roadways;
  • improving air quality and
  • providing greater security, improved safety and better risk management.

  Using the best features of truck and rail freight movement, the freight shuttle system is an automated, non-stop, non-divertible means of moving both containerized and trailer-based goods, Roop noted.

by Dennis Christiansen

It was Representative Oberstar’s first visit to TTI but not his first experience with the agency. Indeed, the congressman often cites TTI research findings during transportation committee hearings and public speeches.

The April 14 visit was arranged by Representative Chet Edwards, who referred to the Minnesota congressman as “Mr. Transportation” when introducing him at the event. Edwards represents the 17th Congressional District of Texas, which includes Bryan/College Station, TTI‘s hometown.

“When Chet asked if I would like to come to College Station and meet with the Texas Transportation Institute, I said that’s like going to a birthday party for me,” says Oberstar. “This is where they do all of the great research.”

Both congressmen met privately with senior TTI leadership and Bob Johns, director of the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota. Oberstar outlined his “future of transportation,” which focuses on transforming surface transportation programs, increasing multimodalism, enhancing livable communities, and developing new methods to fund and approve infrastructure projects.

“It was an honor to get to know Congressman Oberstar,” says TTI Agency Director Dennis Christiansen. “He has dedicated his life to mobility in the United States. He knows the way things work, he knows the issues, and he knows how important transportation is for our economy. He is also keenly aware of the vital role of transportation research.”

Oberstar was given an overview of TTI, which included details of the Universal Freight Shuttle (a zero-emission freight-movement system developed at the Institute), a “sneak peak” of the updated Urban Mobility Report (a widely publicized examination of congestion across the country) and a briefing on the Transportation Performance Measurement Program (a collaborative effort between TTI and the University of Minnesota in Oberstar’s home state).

“I salute you for your vision,” the 17-term congressman told participants. “A big problem facing America is the cost of logistics [the movement of people and goods]. TTI for years has been the nationally acknowledged leader and authority on metropolitan mobility and cost of congestion.”

During a news conference and gathering of Bryan/College Station elected officials and area leaders also hosted by TTI, Oberstar detailed his committee’s proposed $450 billion transportation bill that calls for streamlining federal funding mechanisms.

“We’re at a point where the current formula is not working very well,” he said. “We need to attack the major congestion choke points in America.” Oberstar blamed some of our congestion problems on the amount of time it takes to approve infrastructure projects. If approved, the new transportation bill would go into effect this fall.

Oberstar and Edwards spent part of their visit hearing from the mayors of Bryan and College Station and the Brazos County judge. The elected officials outlined their local road project priorities and detailed their concerns about future congestion problems.

“We are indebted to Congressman Chet Edwards for initiating the visit to TTI by Congressman Oberstar,” Christiansen said. “In our business, it is important that Chairman Oberstar knows who we are and what we do.”

Chairman James Oberstar addresses local elected leaders and transportation officials in TTI's TransLink® Research Laboratory while Congressman Chet Edwards looks on.

Chairman Oberstar (far right) is welcomed to TTI by (left to right) Chancellor Mike McKinney, Congressman Edwards and Agency Director Dennis Christiansen.

Chairman Oberstar answers a question from the audience.

Congressman Edwards addresses the group in the TransLink® Research Laboratory.

As a thank-you gift, Congressman Edwards presents Chairman Oberstar, an avid cyclist, with a Texas A&M Cycling Team jersey.

Guests joining Dr. Christiansen (third from left) and other TTI staff during the visit were (left to right): College Station Mayor Ben White; Congressman Edwards; Congressman Oberstar; Bryan Mayor Mark Conlee; Bob Johns, director of the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota; and Brazos County Commissioner Kenny Mallard.