TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Texas Metropolitan Mobility Plan: Breaking the Gridlock CONTENTS PAGES Overview 1-2 Planning 1 Funding 2 Streamlined Project Delivery 2 Introduction: Why a Texas Mobility Plan? 3 Planning 4-6 Regional Mobility Plans 4 Relieve Congestion 4 Improved Safety 5 Improved Air Quality 5 Improved Quality of Life 5 Improved Opportunities for Economic Development 5 Outcome of the Regional Mobility Planning Effort 6 Funding 7-8 Regional Allocation of TxDOT Funds 7 Gap Funds 8 Streamlined Project Delivery 9 Action Plan 10-11 TxDOT Actions 11 MPO Actions 11 Summary 12 APPENDIX: Texas Congestion Index 13-28 1 Overview Traffic congestion in Texas metropolitan In Transportation Partnerships (August areas threatens public safety, the state’s 2001), the Texas Department of economic vitality, and the quality of life for Transportation (TxDOT) offered a blueprint millions of people. for addressing the state’s transportation challenges. The report recognized that the The air Texans breathe is degraded by idling future of Texas is intricately tied to an and slow-moving vehicles. Productivity efficient and effective transportation system goes down and costs go up as business — a system that must provide reliable deliveries and industry shipments are stuck mobility, improved safety, streamlined in traffic. Commuters, shoppers and tourists project delivery, and economic vitality. are frustrated and tired of constant delays. Building on that report, this Texas Metropolitan Mobility Plan presents a It is time to change the way Texas plans, framework for addressing the remaining funds and delivers transportation intracity needs in the metropolitan areas. It systems in metropolitan areas. Regional is based on basic concepts of planning, solutions should be developed at the local funding and streamlined project delivery. level by officials given the responsibility to set funding priorities and the tools to deliver transportation improvements faster. Planning A framework to address the long-term needs The metropolitan areas need a for the movement of people and goods comprehensive, locally developed, across Texas has been laid through adoption visionary, and realistic plan to reduce of the Trans Texas Corridor System. It will congestion and improve mobility. Such a improve safety, reduce regional congestion, plan must include all modes of divert long-haul and hazardous materials transportation. These regional mobility plans from population centers, create a need to be developed by the individual comprehensive rail system, provide metropolitan areas based on measurable under-developed areas of Texas access to objectives/goals to relieve congestion while competitive utility service and improve air improving safety, air quality, economic quality in urban areas. development opportunities and quality of life. These plans will be needs-based and not The Trans Texas Corridor is a bold approach financially constrained. (Financially to address intrastate transportation needs. A constrained plans will still need to be similarly bold approach is needed to solve developed by the metropolitan planning travel needs in metropolitan areas. organization to meet federal requirements.) Regional mobility plans need to address future land use and private-sector development activities. Regional mobility plans need to address connectivity with the Trans Texas Corridor and other inter- regional systems. 2 Funding Streamlined Project Delivery Texas needs access to additional To reduce congestion and improve mobility funds, particularly a secured Texas mobility, metropolitan areas and TxDOT Mobility Fund. need improved and streamlined processes. Metropolitan areas need to know what More public-private partnerships are funds can be expected from TxDOT through needed. state and federal sources for years to come. This should be a regional, baseline More efficient cash-flow management is allocation of expected TxDOT funds. These needed. funds will not be reduced because of local innovative financing or because a region is aggressive in meeting goals to reduce traffic congestion. The Texas Metropolitan Metropolitan areas need increased flexibility to generate user-pay funds beyond Mobility Plan can bring expected TxDOT funding. The metropolitan about these concepts to areas need to retain control of any locally generated user-pay funds for locally reduce congestion and developed, comprehensive plans to reduce improve mobility in the congestion and improve mobility. This increased ability will help metropolitan state’s metropolitan areas. areas fill the gap between a regional, baseline allocation of TxDOT funds and plan implementation. This report contains recommendations specific Regions may need to develop mechanisms to secure user-pay funds for to planning, funding, and implementation of the regional mobility timely completion of plan. projects. Changes will need to be made in rules for funding state projects. The purpose will be to maximize the flexibility required to An action plan also is move transportation funds between modes. included. 3 Introduction Why a Metropolitan Mobility Plan? The Texas Transportation Commission will Congestion in metropolitan areas is bad for periodically approve these implementation Texas. The average Houstonian spends more plans. Approval will be based on progress than 50 hours stuck in traffic each year. toward achieving mutually agreed Delays result in loss of productivity, reduced congestion reduction goals for each of the air quality, reduced quality of life, and metropolitan areas. increased costs for services and goods. The Texas Metropolitan Mobility Plan is a But the problem is not limited to Houston. firm step in the direction of increased local Metropolitan areas across the state have control of metropolitan transportation experienced tremendous growth in the past planning and mobility funding to reduce decades without adequate funding to urban congestion and improve quality of increase the capacity of the transportation life. system. The plan will allow each of the metropolitan The 2000 census found that 60 percent of areas flexibility to develop plans unique to Texans live in the state’s eight major their needs, anticipate realistic baseline metropolitan areas (those with populations allocation of funds, arrange for gap funding, exceeding 200,000): Austin, Corpus Christi, and use new and improved methods to North Central Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth), El streamline delivery of projects. Paso, Lubbock, Hidalgo County, Houston- Time lost due to congestion is time that will Galveston, and San Antonio — that is more never be recovered. It is time better spent at than 12.4 million people. Congestion in work, at play, with family, and in service to Texas metropolitan areas cost the state over community. The Texas Metropolitan $45 billion between 1990 and 2000 in terms Mobility Plan is intended to save of delay and wasted fuel. metropolitan Texans the most precious non- The Texas Metropolitan Mobility Plan will renewable resource: TIME. result in each of the major metropolitan areas developing locally conceived, comprehensive regional mobility plans to improve traffic flow by using all modes of transportation. Each plan will include strategies to reduce congestion and improve system mobility as well as overall system performance. The implementation of these regional mobility plans will be through a regional, baseline allocation of TxDOT metropolitan mobility funds and the locally generated “gap” funding. 4 Planning Regional Mobility Plans planning organization (MPO) is seen as the Under the Texas Metropolitan Mobility appropriate agency to lead this effort. The Plan, each of the metropolitan areas will MPO will be able to adapt many of its develop, for periodic review and current planning efforts in support of this concurrence by the Transportation plan. This plan will not be financially Commission, individual regional mobility constrained. This plan will list all the plans. These plans will be composed of identified needs to reduce or limit strategies to reduce congestion and improve congestion to meet established goals. urban mobility as well as system performance. Relieve Congestion TxDOT will adopt a Texas congestion index This effort should include an annual to aid the metropolitan areas in setting goals reporting of progress made toward plan for congestion reduction. This index will implementation for all modes. assess the mobility of people and goods in each metropolitan area of Texas. Focusing These plans will be comprehensive across on surface modes of transportation, the all modes and tailored to the needs of the index will be based on the delay time individual metropolitan areas. They likely experienced by people and in the delivery of will vary greatly. In Dallas-Fort Worth, the goods. regional plan may be primarily concerned with commuter traffic and recurrent The travel-time index is an important congestion. In Houston, freight transport to measure of urban mobility. The Texas the Port of Houston may be an additional congestion index will include the travel-time major concern. These different concerns and index as a factor in its formulation. points of emphasis may result in different approaches to improving the mobility of Each of the metropolitan areas in people and goods. consultation with TxDOT will develop improvement goals based on that area’s While different, each of the regional congestion index. mobility plans will address five common goals: For example, there is an opportunity in Relieve