The Senate Select Committee on Transportation Planning held a hearing on March 29 to hear invited testimony on transportation planning, financing, and performance.
Tryon Lewis and Victor Vandergriff, Texas Transportation Commission; Mark Williams, Deputy Executive Director of Texas Department of Transportation
- Commissioners thank committee for bringing them in and introduce Mark Williams for presentation
- TxDOT has been engaged in implementation of HB 20 for the last 9 months
- MPOs and TxDOT staff have collaborated to put together Initial Report completed on September 1, 2015
- Alternative funding methods section of the report includes revenue bonds, Texas Mobility Fund, Prop 14, Highway General Obligation Bonds, Private Activity Bonds, and other sources which have all been used to address accelerated project delivery
- Sen. Hall asks if TxDOT has looked at methods other states have done to finance projects compared to what Texas has done
- We keep an eye on what other states do, but Texas is leading the way in most areas of using alternative funding methods
- Initial Report also addressed performance metrics and measurement tools – HB 20 called for TxDOT to address performance in congestion, residence of the region, available funding, environmental effects, and socioeconomic effects
- Initial Report has a department collaboration section to address the ways TxDOT collaborates with MPOs, the public, Regional Mobility Authorities, elected officials etc.
- Sen. Nichols asks Williams to address how MPOs operate and make their decisions
- Each MPO has a Policy Advisory Committee of mostly elected officials who represent major political subdivisions in the MPO
- Committee is tasked with the approval of MPO projects
- MPO and state plans have to come together and align
- HB 20 puts responsibility on MPOs of adopting 10 year plan in addition to the plans they are already required to submit
- Sen. Nichols asks Williams to explain the organization of MPOs
- There are two levels of MPOs: the Technical Advisory Committee is mostly composed of the staff, and the Policy Advisory Committee is made up of mostly elected officials from major political subdivisions
- Technical Advisory Committee elevates ideas/plans to the Policy Advisory Committee
- TxDOT works very closely with MPO staff
- Initial Report also covers zero based budgeting and possible benefits
- Many decisions in our budget are not discretionary; necessary funding for projects already underway or bond payments
- HB 20 is expected to provide more predictability of budget
- Some benefits from zero based budgeting would include budgeting for employee traveling and operational activities, but the report did not require enactment of zero based budgeting, only required the analysis of possible benefits
- We are still working on promulgation of rules to align with HB 20
- Sen. Nichols asks what some of the most interesting or helpful findings have been throughout process of implementing HB 20
- Williams says collaboration with MPOs and district staffs has been beneficial to understand regional priorities
- Sen. Nichols says there was nothing in HB 20 requiring TxDOT to modify categories or change formulas for funding
- Vandergriff says there is no active plan to modify categories or funding formulas once the money has been put into a category
- Some categories have shifted due to mandates such as category 3 (toll projects)
- Sen. Hall mentions benefit of moving towards some type of zero based budgeting; there are parts of TxDOT that we could benefit from constantly looking at
- Sen. Hinojosa notes positive change in relationship between legislature and TxDOT over the last decade
- Lewis notes the importance of planning ahead, but also of flexibility
- Sen. Hall and Sen. Nichols say with more funding comes more responsibility; legislature promised less toll roads to public
- This includes managed toll lanes
- Sen. Perry says we need to consider inversion of funding; if we can take money from bureaucracy and put it on work on the roads, that is what needs to happen; zero based budgeting is more important on that level rather than focusing solely on zero based budgeting solely on the project level; commends the panel on their work
- Lewis says there is currently a movement of money; was previously more centralized, now it is going more to districts
Committee Adjourns