During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Joe Biden called on Congress to update the nation's infrastructure, saying an "infrastructure decade" would put the country on a "path to win the economic competition of the 21st century."
In North Texas, transportation leaders say that process will involve more than just adding lane miles as the area's population grows.
Michael Morris, director of the transportation department at the North Central Texas Council of Governments, says NCTOG cannot simply widen freeways with 1.2 million people moving to the area between 2010 and 2020.
Morris says the region has worked to improve access to public transportation, with Trinity Metro starting TEXRail service in 2019 with plans to add a station on Fort Worth's Near Southside and ultimately extend service to Southwest Fort Worth. In January, DART launched a new bus network.
Morris says transit agencies are using technology to adjust their schedules.
"You can follow cell phone data to see how people are moving," Morris said. "Then you can say, 'I'm in the transit business. These are major person movements. Are my transit vehicles operating at these particular points in time? We know there are a lot of people working this particular shift, but if we stop running transit at this particular time, we dropped the ball on that.'"
Trinity Metro is launching a guaranteed service that will run from East Fort Worth, through downtown and to Alliance. Morris says Trinity Metro can rely on guaranteed speeds on "TEXpress" lanes. Transit agencies can use the managed lanes without charge.
"Guaranteed transit is if we don't get you there on time, your transit fare is free," Morris said. "How can we do that? We have the technology on the dynamically priced managed lanes to ensure you're going to be able to get there at 60-65 miles an hour. This is the ability of technology influencing where we wish to work and creating an opportunity for higher-paying jobs for all of our citizens."
In the State of the Union, Joe Biden pledged a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations. Morris says North Texas can also lead in developing advanced infrastructure to build charging capabilities into highways themselves.
"You can recharge your vehicle on the fly with an induction loop, these are the type of things I think will advance the Dallas/Fort Worth region," Morris said. "When I go home, I take this phone, I set it on an induction loop, I don't plug it in. Someone invented a very great way for this to charge. Why can't we develop a pilot study to see if I can recharge my electric vehicle as it goes down the street?"
Morris says the state and federal governments would still need to develop a plan for funding as cars become more efficient and more people drive electric cars, leading to less revenue from the gas tax. But he says renewed funding for infrastructure could allow for advancements in the transportation system, saying transit systems in Europe already recharge vehicles using an induction system.
"Maybe eventually, if I drive in 'lane 2', I'm going to charge my vehicle going to and from work," Morris said. "Or lane 2 going to Austin. I don't have to have a fear of taking my electric vehicle to Austin. I can just drive in lane 2 and charge my vehicle as I drive."
NCTCOG also made a presentation to the Regional Transportation Council to pitch access to broadband internet as "the next generation transportation mode."
"Why isn't equal access to the internet a legitimate transportation mode?" Morris asks. "During this whole COVID situation, people were able to interview for a job [through video conferencing], people were able to use telemedicine. If you're in a food desert, you can often use technology to get food."
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