Where Are We Now?

Why do we have a mobility crisis in Central Texas?

Too often, our dialogue about transportation turns into an argument about who’s to blame for regional gridlock. But the story behind our mobility crisis is really quite simple: Central Texas has grown too fast for our transportation system to keep up. Here’s how:

• Population growth. Central Texas doubles in population about every 20 years. Back in 1991 — the last time the Legislature raised the state gas tax that funds highway projects — the Austin metro area had about 800,000 people. Today’s it’s more like 1.5 million. By 2011 — five years from now — it’ll be closer to 1.8 million. That’s like adding three Round Rocks to the region in just five years.


• More cars, more driving. Right now, there are about 4 cars for every 5 people in Central Texas. In five years, there will be at least another 130,000 cars on the road. And those cars are driving farther and longer as the region expands into the surrounding counties. Right now, Central Texans are spending nearly an hour every week — 51 hours a year — stuck in traffic, and that figure is rising. And our roads are becoming less safe. Our rate of traffic fatalities is 45% above the national average.


• New infrastructure: Costs too much, takes too long. The old pay-as-you-go system of highway building is just too slow to keep up with this growth. That’s because we simply don’t have enough money for our transportation system. The gap between what Central Texas has to spend and the minimum cost of the new highways and transit systems it needs is nearly $2.7 billion. There are more than $4.5 billion in road and transit projects waiting to happen in Central Texas for lack of resources.


• Current funding sources inadequate: Federal, state, and local funding sources required to build and maintain our transportation system are inadequate, rapidly eroding in value, and politically at risk. With troubling news of shortfalls from the federal government and the Texas Department of Transportation, the time has come to allow communities the option to generate additional funding locally for transportation projects to help meet our increasing mobility needs.