This article is an excerpt from Barry Goodman's testimony given before the Texas State Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security. He argues that current transportation policies do not reflect our goals as a society, and then digresses into the different forms of governance that could help align the two, such as congressional action, regional mobility strategies, and increased state financial support.
2. Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6 Cities project.
Barry Goodman is the founder and president of the The Goodman Corporation, a company which assists clients in planning, funding, and implementing mobility projects.
Previously, Goodman worked as a Senior Legal Counsel for the Urban Mass Transportation Administration in Washington DC, and as the Executive Director for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris Country (METRO) in Houston. This demonstrates expertise in legal governance as well as public transportation.
3. What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
Public transportation is an integral part of addressing challenges relating to reducing vehicle-miles traveled, energy use, and pollution. This should be viewed as an increasingly important solution as gas prices rise, congestion increases, and air quality diminishes.
The highway trust fund is spending more money than its taking in, yet there has been no congressional reaction. Transportation program re-authorization is being put off until November elections, and will put the issue onto the next Congress in 2011. Federal and state resources for transportation are running out, and a change needs to be made.
Meeting regional mobility goals requires new forms of governance, like incentives, and more state funding.
Public transportation increases employment, economic development and sustainability.
New state legislator on transportation is necessary.
4. Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
Through the use of budgetary statistics for state organizations and taxes
Federal gasoline sales tax is the same in 2010 as 1991, when gasoline was 80 cents per gallon. Texas' 20 cent gas tax also has not been raised since 1991. This demonstrates how opposition to raising taxes can be arbitrary, and it is logical to regularly re-address issues as the context due to time changes drastically. The lack of federal funds should be a priority issue because of the degradation of transportation infrastructure. Goodman argues that the legislature needs to better allow local cities and counties to tax themselves through increase in local gasoline taxes, vehicle registration fees, etc.
"Is it not hypocritical for the legislature to fail to increase the state sales tax on gasoline since 1991 and, at the same time, preclude local communities their democratic right to tax themselves to help solve their own local mobility challenges?" (pg 30).
The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission's review of TxDOT found that of their $8 billion spent in resources biannually, less than 1% of these resources are dedicated towards the support of public transportation services.The Texas Department of Health and Human Services devotes almost three times the resources to public transportation services than TxDOT. Considering public transportation should be in a more direct domain of the state transportation agency, this points to flaws in the priorities of the DOT.
Goodman establishes an argument for the legislation by suggesting the benefits to the state if it would support public transit.
From previous research (timeline event from week 1, Houston Receives Federal Funding for Light Rail) I noticed that a common attitude in Texas is that public transportation should not receive funding because the main public transportation company METRO is a private organization. This attitude is reflected in Texas passivity in public transportation development, where they do not actively work against it, but do little to support it. Goodman points out that it is still important for state involvement, because public transportation can help the state meet its own goals that relate to energy and environment, as well as economic goals.
Suggesting specific legislative improvements in the address help Goodman paint a picture of a potential brighter future, instead of him just aimlessly begging for change. His suggestions for governance reflect his legal experience. One example includes allowing loans and borrowing of funds for public transportation projects, which is already made available from current legislation to highway construction projects.
5. What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
"Congress and regional governments are increasingly aware that the crisis is getting worse, that air quality and quality of life are in jeopardy, and that transportation policy must reinforce the nation’s energy and environmental goals. If these ingredients don’t constitute a perfect storm for improved mobility options, then one may never occur. Transit is poised to play a more critical role in our future; necessary to achieve national objectives which require more extensive public transit. Transportation systems can best achieve this higher level of importance if it becomes a key component of a more comprehensive regional strategy which is encouraged by congressional guidance" (pg 28).
"Growing states like Texas need to link their energy, environmental and transportation policies in a way that encourages alternative mobility systems and that reduces pollution, congestion and energy consumption. The next step is to create a framework for developing mobility strategies which encourages and rewards those communities that best meet their transportation priorities, and that are willing to commit local public and private investment to leverage maximum federal funding" (pg 29).
"State funding comprises a key component of our ability to match available federal funding and respond locally to the growing demand for public transportation services. The challenge for our Legislature in the upcoming session is clear and compelling — to provide better guidance and oversight for major, regional transit expenditures, and to substantially increase funding and loan support to public transportation, especially as the price of gas continues to increase" (pg 31).
6. What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
Budgetary/ tax values were used, as mentioned in question 2.
As a testimony, it seems as though the suggestions in this article is primarily produced by Goodman's professional experiences, and as a transit advocate he uses a lot of general arguments instead of studies to incite the senators on the Texas State Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security to feel passionate about public transportation.
7. How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
This article did not focus on air pollution, but instead on how legislation to promote public transportation can help Texas meet all of its goals, including those involving air pollution and air quality.
Health was not mentioned, but equity is related to ideas presented on increasing self governance of cities and counties.
8. Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
This article was originally published in RAIL Magazine, Issue 25. This is a quarterly publication produced by Community Transportation Association of America that focuses on how different communities implement public transportation.
Barry Goodman's company, The Goodman Corporation, provides a direct link to this article on their website.
9. Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
No bibliography is included in the article, and sources directly referenced are used for the budgetary/ tax statistics.
Most of the information in the report was produced through knowledge of Texas Legislature, which Goodman likely possesses due to his work experiences.
10. What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?
Goodman discussed the re-authorization of transportation programs, so I looked into the congressional process for that. The re-authorization sets funding as well as policy and program administration for several years. The Administration creates a legislative proposal for the transportation bill, which is sent to Congress and members within each of the different authorizing committees work independently to prepare versions of the bill in both the House and the Senate. Committees in both the House and the Senate hold hearings on the legislation. source
Specifically, he mentions the proposed the $500 billion 5-year authorizing bill that was continuously pushed back due to November elections. When the new congress came in in 2011, there was still trepidation to pass due to the 2012 presidential campaign. Obama support greater transportation investment, and his fiscal year 2012 budget called for $556 billion in investments in highways, transit, and intercity passenger rail over the next 6 years. However, the proposal did not explain how the Administration planned to fund the legislation. This shows that politics frequently interfere with transportation progress, and there is often clashing between government branches. source
Goodman said that Texas ranks among the lowest in per capita transit spending despite having some of the greatest need, without providing source or data year. I attempted to find data to see if Texas' per capita spending had increased since 2010, but could not find a source that provided this information. Texas state agencies should increase transparency by making spending data more readily available online.
2. Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6 Cities project.
3. What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
4. Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
5. What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
6. What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
7. How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
8. Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
9. Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
10. What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?