Concerned Citizens

As I was sorting through my mail this weekend I ran across a public notice from VIA for a series of public comment meetings on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project being planned for the Fredericksburg corridor to be completed sometime in 2012. I’m all for public input on major projects. The trouble is last year Judge Nelson Wolff put light rail back on the table causing VIA to put BRT on hold for three months while they study that option according to the E-N article. Now it appears we’re back on the BRT approach. As I look at this activity, that of the Alamo RMA, and many other transportation projects under consideration it is very apparent Bexar County needs a consolidated transportation plan to avoid wasting money, especially with stimulus dollars in the mix.

Apparently that three months resulted in a scrapping of the light rail plan, or so one would think. However I haven’t seen or heard the results of the study other than a press release on 1/27/2009 stating that BRT is back on track. You would think that VIA wouldn’t be spending money on two competing projects of such magnitude. However all that is really available through VIA’s website is that on 1/27/2009 both the BRT suspension was discussed along with an update on the Rail Transit Feasibility Study. While the money being spent on running both projects simultaneously is probably small compared to the overall project budgets it is money being spent that could go to a lot of other options.

I recently had the opportunity to hear Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-San Antonio) speak about some of the issues being considered in Washington that would impact San Antonio. One of the issues discussed was the transportation challenges San Antonio faces now and how federal stimulus dollars might help address those issues. Rep. Rodriguez’s biggest concern regarding San Antonio’s transportation work is that there was no consolidated transportation plan for the region. It appeared to be a series of piecemeal efforts all competing for the pool of federal dollars. You know, he’s right about that point.

San Antonio lacks a consolidated and coordinated transportation plan to help prioritize and maximize our money and resources to avoid overlapping projects, project missteps, and development of strong state and federal lobbying efforts for legislation. Recent efforts by the Alamo RMA demonstrated the need for good project oversight after the project was suspended after both the Federal Highway Administration and TxDOT removed environmental clearance for the 281 North Project.

Recently State Rep. Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio) filed legislation in the Texas House to provide new options for funding of county transportation needs – HB1674. The bill provides a county commissioners court the ability to secure transportation dollars through various revenue sources and prohibit TxDOT from penalizing the county if those sources are established. It is focused on Bexar County but models after similar legislation introduced by State Sen. Pete Carona (D-Dallas) creating similar options for counties across Texas. SB855 was passed by the Senate and is now headed to the House for consideration. Villarreal’s legislation is backup legislation should Carona’s bill fail to pass.

The challenge with both bills is that it authorizes the county commissioners court to fund projects after coordinating with various county transportation agencies. That sounds like a consolidated plan except there really is no plan. It just means the county court must coordinate with the agencies. Each agency could still operate their own plan and continue the fractured mess that currently exists.

Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) introduced a bill to authorize consolidating various regional transportation agencies into a single multimode authority – SB2096. The bill is designed to addess issues related to having multiple authorities that can lead to “inefficiencies and even duplication in planning, financing, and developing the facilities that will best meet a community’s needs.” It sounds like a good idea. However, as recent as last week, the San Antonio City Council engaged in heated debate on the proposed bill. The biggest issue is with the representation allocations for the authority. Councilman John Clamp expressed the most dissatisfaction, desiring to maintaining a majority representation by San Antonio members.

With the recent mayoral race in full swing each of the candidates has provided several options to address San Antonio’s transportation needs. DeBerry-Mejia has called for a transportation plan for San Antonio, essentially endorsing Sen. Wentworth’s legislation. I wrote about some of the positions by the various candidates in a blog entry in February. A lot has happened since with a lot of discussion focused more on DeBerry-Mejia’s involvement with Alama RMA through GDC contracts. However, it appears aside from support of Wentworth’s bill there is not a lot of call for a consolidated plan.

With a lot of stimulus dollars now in the mix many of the current authorities are racing to take advantage of those dollars if they become available. According to the flyer I received VIA was rapidly advancing the BRT plan “to be prepared in the event that there are additional stimulus dollars allocated to transportation.” I hate to use the old comparison but the “hogs are racing to the feed trough” and you don’t want to get in front of them. If there ever were a time for a consolidated plan, now is that time. Unfortunately San Antonio will probably act more quickly to spend the money rather than work to make the best use of it.

I plan to attend one or two of the meetings to see what is going on. You can bet one of my first questions will be what the status of the light rail study is and how it could impact the BRT project if it was still going on. If you’re interested in attending here is the schedule of meetings and locations:

• Monday, May 4, 6 – 8 p.m. – Topic: Stations #3 (Magic Dr. or Callaghan Rd.), #4 (Crossroads Blvd.), #5 (Williamsburg Pl.), and #6 (Babcock Rd.) – Norris Conference Center, Crossroads Mall/Red Oak Room
• Tuesday, May 5, 6 – 8 p.m. – Topic: Stations #1 (University Hospital), #2 (Ewing Halsell Dr.) – Ecumenical Center for Religion and Health/Jones Hall, 8310 Ewing Halsell Dr. (Wurzbach)
• Wednesday, May 6, 6 – 8 p.m. – Topic: South Texas Medical Center Transit Center, Bob Ross Senior Center, 4207 Babcock Rd
• Thursday, May 7, 6 -8 p.m. – Topic: Stations #7 (Mary Louise Dr.) and #8 (Calaveras St. or Huisache Ave.), VIA Metro Center, 1021 San Pedro
• Saturday, May 9, 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. – Topic: Westside Multimodal Transit Center, VIA Metro Center, 1021 San Pedro