Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) is a Regional Mobility Authority in the US state of Texas. CTRMA was created in 2003 by Travis and Williamson counties after authorization by the Texas Transportation Commission in October, 2002. It was the first Regional Mobility Authority created under the enabling statute. CTRMA is headquartered at 301 Congress Avenue in Austin.

Projects

CTRMA's first project is 183A, an 11.6 mile (18.7km) toll road in southwest Williamson County. Construction of the US$238 million toll road began in March 2005 and was opened to traffic in March 2007. The road is intended to serve the fast growing suburban communities of Cedar Park and Leander. 183A features a state-of-the art electronic toll collection system known as TxTag implemented by Caseta Technologies, Inc. [Caseta press release regarding CTRMA contract [http://www.agave.com/press04272005.html] ]

CTRMA's anticipated second project will be to construct toll lanes in the median of US 290 east from US 183 to Manor [Current Projects [http://www.ctrma.org/current_projects.php] ]

Governance

The Mobility Authority is an independent government agency with a seven member Board of Directors. The Chairman of the Board is appointed by the Governor of Texas. The Travis County Commissioner's Court appoints three members and the Williamson County Commissioner's Court appoints three. The Board Members serve two year terms and can be reappointed. The Mobility Authority is run by an Executive Director and a staff of approximately a dozen individuals.

Controversy

In March 2005, Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn issued a report [Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority: A Need for a Higher Standard [http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/ctrma05] ] that alleged conflicts-of-interest for board members of the toll authority (the CTRMA) charged with building and eventually running the Phase 2 toll roads. The CTRMA subsequently issued a response [CTMRA: Moving the Region in a New Direction [http://web.archive.org/web/20050924153506/http://www.ctrma.org/documents/Comptrollers_Report_Response.pdf] ] contesting the Comptroller's report. Ronnie Earle, the Travis county District Attorney, wrote a letter to the CTRMA reporting no conflicts-of-interest from his own investigation. [Toll road board cleared by DA [http://www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2005/03/28/StateLocal/Toll-Road.Board.Cleared.By.Da-903853.shtml?norewrite200701090451&sourcedomain=www.dailytexanonline.com] ] In June 2006 Johanna Zmud, one of the CTRMA board members who the Comptroller called to resign in the report, subsequently announced plans that she would resign in order to pursue consulting opportunities.

Also in March 2005, the People for Efficient Transportation (PET), an anti-toll PAC opposing Austin-area toll conversions, filed a lawsuit contesting the constitutionality of the CTRMA board's tenure. The Texas Constitution limits persons appointed to boards created by the legislature to two-year terms (matching that the terms of state representatives) unless otherwise provided by the state constitution. The provision is intended to ensure accountability for un-elected board members.

In July 2005, Texas district court Judge Darlene Byrne ruled that legislation allowing six-year terms to CTRMA board members is unconstitutional based on Article XVI, Section 30(a) of the Texas state constitution which states "The duration of all offices not fixed by this Constitution shall never exceed two years." Because a majority of the board members were within a two-year term, the ruling did not immediately affect the ability of the CTRMA board to conduct business. Subsequently, Williamson county reassigned their CTRMA appointees to two-year terms.

In September 2005, Judge Byrne further ruled the CTRMA must pay PET for legal expenses resulting from the successful lawsuit filed by the group.

References

External links

* [http://www.mobilityauthority.com/ Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority Web site]
* [http://www.183A.com/ 183A Toll Road Project Web site]