UT Professor Shares Vision as New Director of ARTBA

	Mike Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in the college of engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, was recently elected the 81st chairman of ARTBA – the first resident Texan in this role.
		Interview by Eileen Schwartz. To hear the complete Q&A, click here

Texas Construction: You recently testified before the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission that traffic levels in the country will balloon 135 percent by 2043 to more than seven trillion vehicle miles traveled annually. Does this show the need for more and better forms of public transportation as well as upgraded national roads?

Mike Walton: Absolutely. We support the notion of a balanced transportation system. That includes public transport and all forms of surface transportation for passengers and the movement of freight, which is a huge challenge in front of us.

TXC: What impact will increased traffic on our highways and infrastructure have on our environment and how can we control this impact?

Walton: The whole notion comes down to congestion. If you manage congestion, then obviously you're impacting short-term emissions and the quality of the environment.

TXC: What is your impression of the Trans-Texas Corridor?

Walton: That's a bold, creative idea and new system. Other states are extremely envious that we have taken the initiative of a major new network. One of the platforms within ARTBA, and one of the recommendations to our reauthorization task group, is to support the notion of critical commerce corridors, or the Three-C program. We believe an expanded network is needed to handle the growing movement of freight in our country for obvious reasons. Our economy is predicated on the movement of freight as well as our international competitiveness. The forecast for movement of freight is enormous, so consequently networks such as the Trans-Texas Corridor are instrumental to helping us form the basis for the Three-C program.

TXC: You mentioned ARTBA'S reauthorization task force. Tell me more about that.

Walton: It is a task force that would begin focusing on the next transportation bill reauthorization, which will be at the completion of SAFTEA- LU. That program took several years, and by the time it was completed, it left us with less than four years of the program. We're well into three years away from the next reauthorization. We also note that the trust fund goes negative in 2009 about the time the reauthorization needs to take place. So we created this task force to start framing the principals that would guide the reauthorization. We're working with organizations such as  the AGC, ASSHTO, trucking associations and chambers of commerce to form a coalition, if you will, that will continue to work and have a common shared vision for the next transportation bill.

TXC: You recently said Congress should look at all options for new revenues for highway and transit improvements. What are those options other than higher tolls and gas taxes?

Walton: Well, not only increasing the traditional means of transportation but adding to that. For example, with the Three-C initiative, we're talking about creating a program that would be funded separately and differently than the current federal-aid highway program. It should be user-fee funded but it should draw financial support from a combination of new fire-walled user fees imposed on the freight.

TXC: Does that support your recent testimony about reforms and new directions needed to secure the movement of people and freight?

Walton: Absolutely. We recognize the importance of toll financing and PPPs. We realize this is only part of the broader menu. To reach our objectives, we've got to increase funding across the board for transportation in all and add to that base of support. We're not looking at doing away with traditional funding because PPPs and so forth are not the panacea. They're part of the solution but not the full solution.

TXC: What would you say to those who claim the Trans-Texas Corridor would be obsolete by the time it's completed?

Walton: There are different views and perspectives of what the transportation network will look like in the future. I deal a lot with intelligent-transportation systems – ooking to the future of what the next technology network will bring to bear. Having systems such as the Trans-Texas Corridor in place greatly facilitates the deployment of technology in the infrastructure. So, quite the contrary, I see it as the instrument of future growth and expansion for the state.