The Bexar and Travis County judges are urging people to write their state lawmakers asking them to use part of the budget surplus to fund rail projects. The Texas comptroller has estimated lawmakers will return to Austin in January with a surplus of $18.3 billion.
The Travis and Bexar County judges joined city council members from Austin and San Antonio and a representative from the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico in calling for a passenger rail line along Interstate 35 linking DFW, Austin, San Antonio and Monterrey, Mexico.
"Economic competitors like California, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada are aggressively investing in passenger rail," says Travis County Judge Andy Brown.
Brown says a rail line would give people a reliable way to travel along the I-35 corridor without hitting a traffic jam.
"We can modernize our transportation system, give another option to commuters and make it safer, more efficient, more reliable to travel around the biggest cities in our country which are right here in Texas," he says.
Brown and Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai joined Emmanuel Loo, deputy secretary of foreign investment for the state of Nuevo León, Mexico. Loo says passenger rail linking the Metroplex, Austin, San Antonio and Monterrey would create opportunities for economic development.
Loo says 25,000 trucks cross from Monterrey into Texas on 35 every day.
"We have to create new alternatives for that cargo to get here and for those passengers to get here," he says. "Every day, we move a lot of people between the two states."
Loo says an easier connection among large cities in the region would fuel additional growth among Austin, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.
"We'd love to grow the connection to the Texas Triangle," he says. "I think Mexico's authorities would love to have this connectivity and work hard with Texas authorities to continue to grow this relationship."
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