TTC preparing for $1.5B bond issue for roads, but funds must also come from elsewhere
Standard & Poor's analyst Horacio Aldrete-Sanchez in his last rating report said “While the department’s long-term needs are far greater than this bond program will address, the program allows management to accelerate certain projects while maintaining very high debt-service coverage.”
However, TxDOT has faced increasing construction costs in addition to falling revenue from traditional sources. Also, Texas' gas tax has not been raised since 1993, and with the development of increased efficiency in new vehicles, there will be less revenue per gallon and more miles traveled.
The revenue from the state motor fuel-tax put toward the fund has been less than the amount spent for maintance on the 193,000 lane-miles of highway since 2002. In fact, a committee appointed by the Texas Transportation Commission stated that Texas would need to invest $315 billion over the next two decades to keep up with the demand that growth in population and freight traffic are expected to incur through 2030.
With pending and current financial constraints, TxDOT has come up with other ways to fund major projects. For example, the Dallas-Fort Worth area implemented public-private projects such as the LBJ Express redevelopment with new forms of financing.
“With this public-private approach, the state is able to leverage limited tax dollars to create billions of dollars in congestion-relieving roadway benefits for local drivers, while also creating new jobs for Texans,” said Nicolas Rubio, president of Austin-based Cintra US, the lead partner in the consortium.
According to the LBJ Infrastructure Group, LBJ Express is the first privately funded road development project of its kind in the country to attain financial close in 2010. Projects such as the LBJ Express are the future of highway development in
“The best solutions are going to be those in which actions by transportation agencies are complemented by businesses, manufacturers and commuters,” said TTI researcher Tim Lomax. “There’s a mindset that says that this is a city government’s job or a state DOT’s job, but the problem is far too big for transportation agencies alone to address it adequately.”
Click here to read the full article in the Bond Buyer.
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Tags: Texas Transportation Commission Transportation roads
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