Monday Morning Report
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The Executive Committee of the Austin-San Antonio Corridor will meet Wednesday, March 19 at the Corridor Council offices in San Marcos. Please RSVP to council@thecorridor.org or call 512-558-7360 for more information.
The Austin-San Antonio Commuter Rail District met in San Antonio last Friday (3/7) and made a series of organizational changes. Because of the large size of the Board and logistical issues associated with moving meetings up and down the Corridor, the Board voted to move to quarterly meetings held in San Marcos. Monthly meetings of the Executive Committee will be scheduled. The Board also voted to seek legislative changes that would allow other government entities (universities, RMA's, etc) to join the District.
SAVE THE DATE: The Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council’s Transportation Task Force Committee will meet 1:30 pm on Monday, March 31, 2008. An agenda and more information are forthcoming.
Don't forget today's meeting of the San Antonio Mobility Coalition, 1:30 - 3:00 pm, at the TxDOT District Office in Building 2 Training Room located at 4615 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78229.
Infrastructure
The Dallas Morning News editorialized yesterday (3/9) about various funding strategies to add 250-miles of new rail transit in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. The paper notes that some business interests opposed to a 1-cent increase in sales taxes to pay for new service have forced local transportation leaders to seek creative new solutions that would reduce the sales tax requirement through other revenue sources and provide for cost-sharing among transit and non-transit communities. Worth a read if you're following CAMPO's Transit Advisory Working Group in Austin. Click here. Here's more on the same topic from the Star-Telegram.
The US Department of Transportation has announced a $287 million fund to focus resources and new technology on reducing deaths on the nation's rural roads. The Department's Rural Safety Initiative has five key goals: safer drivers, better roads, smarter roads, better-trained emergency responders and improved outreach.
Demographic projections show that by next year or the year after, the annual number of high school graduates in the US will peak at about 2.9 million after a 15-year climb. The number is then expected to decline until about 2015. Most universities expect this to translate into fewer applications and less selectivity, with most students probably finding it easier to get into college, reports The New York Times here.
Problems continue in the Lockhart Independent School District after the resignations of two top leaders, including the Board president and superintendent. Latest developments here and here.
Economic Development
The Austin Chamber of Commerce unveiled its plan for the next phase of Opportunity Austin. Opportunity Austin’s latest goal calls for creating 117,000 new jobs and adding $10.8 billion to the area’s payrolls for next five-years. The second phase of Opportunity Austin will focus on five specific industries for future economic development: convergence technologies, creative media, green industries, corporate headquarters and office, health care and life sciences.
The Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection gave final approval for the San Antonio International Airport to be designated as an “airport of first landing” for private aircraft. This new status will allow private aircraft coming into the U.S. from foreign countries to fly directly into the airport and clear customs. Without this status, private aircraft would have to fly to another designated airport before arriving at the San Antonio airport – which costs additional money and time.
Analysis from Texas economist Ray Perryman suggests that while the nation battles a housing correction, Austin’s residential market remains relatively healthy. Moreover, there is clear demand among Austinites to live in the city’s vibrant downtown. There are currently about 6,000 people living downtown. And with about 4,000 residential units under construction or planned around downtown, that population is expected to double over the next two years.
Fortune magazine has recognized AT&T Inc. as its Most Admired Telecommunications Company for 2008, outpacing Verizon, Comcast, Virgin Media and the DirecTV Group. This is the 10th time in 13 years that San Antonio based AT&T has topped the America’s Most Admired list.
New Austin City Manager Marc Ott named Robert Goode as a new Austin assistant city manager. Goode comes from Fort Worth, where he was director of transportation and public works since 2002.
Terry Trevino has been hired by the City of Seguin to be the next Director of the Seguin Economic Development Corporation. Trevino was director of the Karnes County Economic Development Corporation. She will start work on March 24th.
“Governments never learn. Only people learn.”
- Milton Friedman (1912-2006)