The gentleman from Kentucky, my esteemed colleague Michael Lindenberger, eased into the TTI urban traffic congestion report with a somewhat upbeat rendering. It was the right headline based on the figures in the biennial report.
On the editorial page, meanwhile, we addressed the same report more from the harried driver's eye view, and you know what that can look like. As opposed to glass half full, we said, Through the windshield, the glass looks dry as an El Paso July.
So what's your view? What do you see from the pavement you travel?
One thing is not easily within grasp -- a current, definitive measure of local congestion. What we have are tidbits and indicators of activity, plus the anecdotal.
Statewide, fuel tax collections are down, along with the economy. One would expect a similar impact here, but I don't have figures.
People's eyeballs tell them that fewer trucks are on the roads today. More fallout from the economy.
Beyond that, the data tell a mixed story. Behold a maze of fascinating data, posted on the North Central Texas Council of Governments' website. Pore over them and reach your own conclusions.
My eye goes first to NTTA transactions on the DNT, which seem somewhat insulated from the downturn. Over the entire system, as Michael has written, NTTA officials project a revenue falloff, but the transaction figures make the picture murkier for me. Bush drivers down, yes, but 121 has come on line.
Also of interest is how mass transit ridership has fared -- or not -- in the downturn. As a daily DART train rider, I can attest how people packed on the train when gas hit $3 a gallon and again at $4 a gallon. Then ridership seemed to level off. The NCTCOG graphs reflect that as well.
One other thing occurs to me here: Over years of building congestion, through two spikes in gas prices and now into this economic downturn, DART doesn't seem to be making gains in building permanent ridership, bus or train.
Is that "just the way Dallas is" and will always be?
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