5/16/2007

TxDOT leaks 'mysterious letter' to sabotage NTTA bid against Cintra on SH 121

at 5/16/2007

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey, let's not get into defending NTTA. They call this a bid, now I know what everyone else said they could do I'll offer you a few dollars more. NTTA wants to attack the author and the fact the data was made public, but I have not heard any real substantative rebuke from them on what was wrong with this analysis, their best ddefense is TxDOT used 5% in evaluating private proposals. Of coarse those private proposals were guaranteed money not the speculative money shown in NTTA's letter to Senator Corona. I work in the engineering and construction industry, boy I sure wish I could look at everyone elses bid before I have to make mine, I'm sure I could make a lot of money that way. While, I'm no toll road fan, I am a fan of competition to lower prices and make sure I am geting best value out of my dollars. I think NTTA has distorted facts and used a large lobbying contingent and public relations department to play a spin game and attempt to make themselve look like something better than TxDOT when it comes to toll roads.

Let's face it the best arguement NTTA has come up with to say they are better is the $$$ stay in the DFW area relating to toll money going to pay Cintra on TxDOT's deal. Well where the hell is NTTA borrowing their money, I know they don't have $2 billion in the bank. Last I knew they sell bonds on the open market and who knows who buys those and your tolls go wherever the bondholders are - Iran, Syria, Japan, Pakistan, Germany who knows.

Futher to the big deal best I can tell NTTA is betting with my money, if they are wrong my tolls go up more and I pay more. If Cintra was wrong their shareholders eat it. From a user stand point give me that deal. While NTTA wants to boast we will keep tolls low, they have a thing called a trust agreement that says if revenues are not high enough to meet debt payments and coverage ratios they will raise tolls to increase revenue and if necesary set tolls to the optimmum ponit to maiximize total revenues, check it out this thing is posted on their website. Plus looking back to the early 80's here I think NTTA's predecessor was charging about 5 cents a mile here in DFW and today is charging close to 11 cents a mile that works out to almost 4% a year which based on the Consumer Price Index data on line is verynear the average annual CPI since 1980 which is 4.14% a year.

I say let everyone pay more for the roads we need and work on more alternate modes and better development control for mixed use developements to help limit commuting, but we still need more roads and instead of a select few paying for many, why not all of us pay our share, but if I have to have toll roads, please help people make sure NTTA has some better oversight from someone, you think TxDOT runs lose, no one watches NTTA and heck half the people around here don't even know NTTA is an agency and not a business. NTTA is no different than TxDOT and best Ican tell don;t really care about improving mobility or getting things done. Heck they brag about what they've done - 40 miles of roads in 50 years - big deal - like it or not TxDOT shows to be more effective than that at delivering roads, the CTTP projects in Austin are nearly 40 miles or maybe more and that has happened in what about 7 or 8 years max. Boy these guys up here have really been helping ease my commute. What exactly have my tolls paid for other that a slick talking director who make $300K a year, an assitant director making well over $200K a year and 13 lobbyists. Money well spent while I sit everyday on the Dallas North Tollway in traffic that may as well be a parking garage.

toll.hater@verizon.net

9:56 PM, May 16, 2007

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