What do Texans Think about Transportation Funding and Finance Options?

Richard “Trey” BakerNovember 7, 2015

Research History• 82nd Texas Legislature directed TTI to

facilitate and coordinate studies that address the state’s 50 most congested roadway segments

• Public outreach and education materials were developed for that effort and tested in February of 2014

• Legislatively directed statewide poll conducted in Spring of 2014

Focus Group Locations

Participants in these sessions:• Heard a presentation on transportation funding

and financing• Watched a video• Viewed a one-page handout

Texas Statewide Poll

• 5,000 Texans surveyed in Spring of 2014• Assessed public opinion surrounding:

– travel behavior, – travel solutions, – transportation funding, and– customer satisfaction with governmental agencies.

• Will be conducted every two years

Transportation is important! But is it a good value?

The public has difficulty with this because they:

• Don’t know what they are paying• Don’t know how much they are paying

Poll Results• Approximately 1 percent know the correct amount of the fuel tax

and how it is assessed• 2/3 believe more funding is needed, yet…• No overt support for any particular funding solution

• Dedicating state sales tax to transportation had the most support• Little support for more toll roads• Little support for fuel tax increase

• Non-monetary solutions had the most support in terms of addressing regional transportation issues.

• Better signal timing• Better incident management

Other Poll Results

• State and local officials should take a more significant role in addressing transportation issues

• Transportation agencies are doing well in some areas, not so well in others

Needs improvement Doing well (but could be better)

Maintaining financial transparency Seeking partnerships with private entities

Understanding expectations Maintaining a safe system

Working efficiently to complete projects Making do with existing funds

Customer service Connecting communities

Perceptions of Waste

• Government in general• Stereotypes of road

construction• Engineering complexity• Project selection

Do we have transportation funding “crisis”?

• Fuel taxes lose purchasing power over time• Vehicles will continue to get more fuel

efficient• Roadways have a functional lifespan

Efficient, transparent and accountable use of taxpayer dollars should always be a priority. However….

How to get people thinking about how we pay for transportation?

1. Fuel taxes are assessed on a per-gallon basis2. Texas has increasingly relied on debt to pay

for roads3. Travelers are not paying as much as they

might think for infrastructure

3 Key Pieces of Information

How did we get in this hole?

Financing for our roads is stuck back in the last century

$1.10

$3.08

Gallon of Gas

Gas Tax Portion

1991 2014

Borrowing is maxed out

$17 billion in debt from bond financing to build highways

What does this

mean to me?

$128/monthInternet, phone,

cable TV

$22/monthin state/federal gas taxes and auto fees

$139/monthcell phone

The average Texan pays:

Transportation improvements cost money

You can help choose the best method

Transportation improvements cost money

You can help choose the best method“The simplest thing to do is just raise the gas tax!” – Texas focus groups

Closing

• We have long term transportation funding issues that need to be discussed

• The public lacks much of the basic knowledge that will enable a fruitful discussion

• By focusing on certain basic messages, we can at least get a conversation started

Serve as an independent resource to the Legislature, providing analysis of the state’s transportation policies and the economic impact of those policies

www.tti.tamu.edu/policy