With the continued increase of demand on Texas highways and the decrease in available funding for highway infrastructure maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R), the deterioration of highway infrastructure will accelerate. Given the extent of the Texas highway network, ports, and the border it shares with Mexico, the deteriorated condition of roads can become a major challenge to the nation’s economy if they are not properly maintained. Yet various studies have indicated that the revenue is insufficient to pay for the M&R work required to keep the overall condition of the state-maintained highway system at its current condition level. Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) must develop new and innovative ways to ensure that our highways fulfill their role in helping Texas maintain its economic competiveness with a safe, reliable, and economical highway transportation system. Managed lanes are becoming accepted more and more by public agencies all over the world as an alternative approach to bridging the budget gap; it can serve as an innovative and cost-effective financing mechanism. This study proposes an integrated approach based on a tiered highway system of managed lanes where the finance, maintenance, and operation of the system are considered simultaneously. Each tier would provide a different level of service depending on its importance. The most important tier will be maintained and operated through the utilization of managed lanes, leaving more state appropriated funding for the remaining tiers. Various tolling strategies were evaluated in terms of obtaining preliminary revenue estimates along with the projected M&R needs. Preliminary analysis results indicate that the proposed funding mechanism is promising and could help maintain the state’s economic competitiveness, leading to sustainable economic growth in Texas.
An Integrated Approach to the Finance, Maintenance, and Operation of Highway Infrastructure
Second International Conference on Public-Private Partnerships ; 2015 ; Austin, Texas
Advances in Public-Private Partnerships ; 412-424
2017-07-11
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Maintenance of the highway infrastructure
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