Texas and shared transportation

With the speed of growth in the population of Central Texas, the citizens of this area would be well served by a high speed rail line for public transportation to improve commuting, reduce carbon emissions, and alleviate traffic. Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) listed IH-35 as the most congested roadway in Texas .

The area between San Antonio and Austin has expanded enormously over the past two years. This area is predicted to become a “megalopolis” if the growth continues during 2017 and 2018. The Austin area alone has around 2 million residents and two of the nearby counties (Hays and Williamson County) have expanded more dramatically.

Some other cities have been working on having subways and trains to help the mobility inside the cities. The TRE (Trinity Railway Express) has offered commuter rail service between Dallas and Fort Worth since 2009 and serves two major counties (Dallas and Tarrant County). Also, Dallas has the DART (“Dallas Area Rapid Transit”) that offers routes to 12 cities around Dallas and makes it easier to travel without the stress of driving on the highways.

In New Mexico, Rio Metro started a project to connect Santa Fe and Albuquerque and the surrounding cities. Portland in Oregon has a great transport system composed by buses, the light rail and the commuter rail. Denver, Colorado has around 130 bus routes and 9 rail lines makes easy to get around town and cities around Denver.

Europe is an example of how train transport can effectively connect nearby cities. European residents use trains and the culture of massive transportation as part of their daily life (“Trains in Europe”). Asia has several examples of effective railways over long distances. Some of these have outstanding technology and comfortability for the residents to improve their travel time and service. The Maglev train in Shanghai is one of the fastest trains in the world and works with magnetic levitation.  Additionally, the Shinkansen rail in Japan covers around 2300 km of rail roads.

Coming back to Texas, Austin has CapMetro who serves most part of the city with buses and one rail line. Capmetro is in constant change and is constantly asking for support to the local authorities, this year Capmetro is trying to create new routes to connect Austin with cities around it.  Last year we saw the death of the Lone Star rail project that wanted to connect Austin and San Antonio. This year, we are looking forward to seeing what will happen with the Texas central Railway that proposes to connect Dallas and Houston with a bullet train.

Last month we´ve read about several lawsuits that been withdraw based on negotiations between the company and the landowners. In addition, other many lawsuits are now are in course against the company. The state government and the local governments from most of the towns and counties where the rail would pass seem to be very skeptical of this project.

According to the report from the Reason Foundation, the main oppositions for the train are the cost for the taxpayers that would go up to $21.5 billion, the operating deficit that Dallas and Houston would run, and the propaganda from airlines that serve the route.

I think that local and state authorities should be more involved in this process. Not just leaving to the companies fighting with people or landowners, but also backing up services that would alleviate traffic and would increase productivity and mobility between cities. These cities should cut costs and pick stops that serve most of its people. Also, public awareness about using public transportation could reduce not only traffic, but stress, save money and help the environment over the long-term.

2nd Critique an editorial or commentary from a Texas newspaper

What is Lamar Smith is doing about climate change?

This commentary was published on Austin Statesman the past March 7^th about how the congressman Lamar Smith wants to “Make EPA Great Again” analyzing how EPA is affecting the economy in the country.

Lamar represents the 21^st congressional district in Texas, which includes part of Austin, parts of San Antonio and west side of both main cities. His committee has jurisdiction over EPA, NASA, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Federal Aviation Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.  The committee´s budget is about $40 billion that focus on research and development, according to Lamar Smith´s website.

Per the article in American Statesman, Smith is “declaiming that regulatory measures taken (in the environment) by the EPA undercut American Industry, the economy and individual liberties.”

Smith is maintaining meetings with an industry-centric panel of witnesses, an air quality lawyer for the fossil fuel industry, a chemical industry representative and an industry consultant to reject all the research that his committee pays for. We must understand then, that these meetings are far more lucrative than just his civic duty of work and the responsibility of the outcomes of research of all the organizations that his committee has jurisdiction over.

The economy of United States is very diverse, attracting a lot of investment. Technology is increasing in demand and multicorps that work in services. The economy also is related of the distribution of resources between the populations, in fact, recent studies mention that jobs in renewable energy were more than three times the jobs that were directly related to the fossil fuel industry. However, it looks like that Smith doesn´t have friends in other industries more than traditional energy.

The third point about individual liberties is very interesting well exemplified in the comments at the end of the page. Where @Antoious and @Newsquid debate about regulations that prevent coal mining companies dumping heavy metals into fresh water streams can damage other people´s health. For this point I would like just to quote the view on freedom once expressed by the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., when he said: "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins."

The article also talks about who voted for Smith, referring to the upper-income neighborhoods. Maybe we should question then, the kind of science education that the upper-income people are receiving and what is more valuable for them.

I agree with the author Jake Ward that we will face dangers of unstable climate system in the future. Maybe Lamar Smith will not be there to see what he is doing, or maybe the dangers will come sooner. However, the responsibility of well living other people and next generations is being purchased by greedy companies for more income and power.

Ward Special to the American-Statesman 12:53 P.m Tuesday, March 7, 2017 Viewpoints, Jake. "Commentary: What Lamar Smith Is Doing about Climate Change." Austin Statesman. N.p., 7 Mar. 2017. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.