DEPARTMENT: Transportation and Capital Improvements
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Mike Frisbie
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: N/A
SUBJECT:
Staff proposes to present a resolution in support of a proposed passenger rail project between Dallas and Houston and to oppose State legislation detrimental to passenger rail projects.
SUMMARY:
In August 2016, City Council adopted the SA Tomorrow Multimodal Transportation Plan. The Plan recognizes the importance of passenger rail as a mode of transportation in the advancement and sustainability of the transportation network. Passenger rail of all types can help increase mobility, reduce highway congestion, and improve air quality. This is a vision strongly supported by San Antonio citizens, who recommended dedicating 30 percent of our transportation funding to light rail in a survey completed as part of SA Tomorrow.
Texas Central Partners, LLC, is a private, Texas-based company developing a proposed 240-mile, high-speed passenger railway between Dallas and Houston. Texas Central and its affiliated entities are responsible for the proposed system's design, finance, construction, operation, and maintenance. Once constructed, this high-speed passenger rail line would travel between Dallas and Houston in approximately 90 minutes, traveling at over 200 miles per hour.
The population of Texas is expected to double by 2050, and much of this growth will be concentrated in the "Texas Triangle", the area between San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Houston. While the proposed Texas Central rail line has no current formal plans for connection to San Antonio, this project and others around the state will provide Texas with an opportunity to address future growth through the development of a multimodal and interconnected transportation system.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
A resolution of support for the Dallas-Houston high-speed rail project and action to oppose State legislation detrimental to passenger rail projects will preserve San Anton...
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