LRGVDC wants a regional transit authority for the Rio Grande Valley

WESLACO, Texas – The Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council is spearheading efforts to set up a transit authority for the region.

Both the president of LRGVDC, Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepulveda, and its executive director, Manuel “Manny” Cruz, mentioned the initiative at the group’s inaugural State of the COG. 

Giving LRGVDC’s annual report at the event, Cruz said new legislation may be needed to establish a funding source for an RTA.

COG stands for Council of Government. LRGVDC is the official COG for Hidalgo, Cameron, and Willacy counties.

“We are the fifth largest council of government in Texas and the only one of the five that does not have a regional transit authority,” Cruz told the Rio Grande Guardian International News Services, in an exclusive interview at the conclusion of the State of the COG event.

“And our population, right now, is 1.3 million. If we establish a regional transit authority for the region, under the auspices of Valley Metro authority, we can increase our budget tremendously – currently from $15 million to maybe $100 million.”

Cruz quickly dampened enthusiasm over the likely timeline.

“It’s not going to happen overnight. I can tell you that because, one example would be the RGVMPO. I started in 2002, here at the COVID and I heard rumblings about that back then. And look how long it took. Not until 2019 to create that RGVMPO organization.”

RGVMPO stands for Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization. It is part of LRGVDC.

Cruz said the transit authority the LRGVDC envisages would be “large, complex, and multi-faceted.” He said: “It would pay big dividends to the region because not only would we get to improve our transit system, but we would also get to contribute to the infrastructure of all the cities, especially if they are all in (support of) creating a regional transit authority.”

By way of example, Cruz referenced Corpus Christi.

“Corpus Christi, they make anywhere between $60 to $70 million a year with their regional transit authority, compared to our $15 million,” Cruz said, pointing out that Corpus has a much smaller population that the Valley.

“Just imagine (the impact),” Cruz said. “But first we need to identify a steady funding source that we’ll be able to sustain for that particular goal or project.”

Cruz said the leadership of the RGVMPO recently met with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

“We just had our MPO review from FHWA, and it was very positive. A lot of recommendations, accolades that they received. And like I mentioned in the (State of the COG) meeting, they (FHWA) themselves even recommended a regional transit authority for the region. So that’s huge, coming from a federal government agency.”

Light Rail

---

Asked if light rail would depart of the mix for a regional transit authority, Cruz answered affirmatively.

“That would be an addition, yes, to the regional transit authority. With that much more money we would be able to contribute to or establish a (light) rail system or at least begin the phases to create that as well,” Cruz said.

Cruz said the current rail tracks that run alongside Business 83 would not cut it.

“The current tracks, as they are, they are commercial, more so than for regular high-speed rail. And so having a regional transit authority would allow us to explore that in reality and actually try to implement the infrastructure that’s needed. And obviously, there are partners out there, private partners, that are anxious to engage in partnerships so that we can try to improve the situation for the Rio Grande Valley.”

Cruz was asked if the upcoming legislative session could be of use in the push to establish a regional transit authority. For example, it was pointed out to him that the Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force is working to get additional funding in the upcoming session for bus routes to be established in the Valley’s larger colonias.

Cruz responded: “Yes, I’m part of that task force, the transportation committee, along with Mr. Tom Logan, the director of Valley Metro. And going back to the regional transit authority, the RTA would be the answer to their (colonia residents) predicament. The RTA is key to being able to improve our situation when it comes to transportation.”

State of COG Address

---

Harlingen Mayor Sepulveda, the LRGVDC president, gave the State of the COG Address. With regards to public transportation, she said this in her address:

“We advocated for passenger rail. The LRGVDC participated in the Texas Passenger Rail Advisory Committee to advocate for increased rail service frequency and reliability in Texas with a long-term vision of reconnecting the Valley to the state rail network.

“We also laid the groundwork for a regional transit authority. We supported the creation of the Regional Mobility Advisory Committee tasked with researching the establishment of a regional transit authority to improve public transportation funding and explore future passenger rail possibilities.”

There was applause from the audience when Sepulveda said this.

LRGVDC Annual Report 

---

Cruz, the LRGVDC executive director, gave the annual report and budget at the State of the COG event. Specifically on transportation, he said in his report:

“This has already been said, but again, the RTA, the regional transit authority, that’s a huge, huge endeavor that we engaged ourselves in. But there’s no stopping. We’re going to continue to try to accomplish that. But we are going to need your help because this is going to be a regional LRGVDC effort. It takes everybody to make sure that this happens, because we need to get in contact with our legislators so that we can either modify an existing bill or pass a new bill to identify a sustainable, reliable funding source.”

Later in the annual report, Cruz discussed recent interactions between the RGVMPO and the FHWA related to certifications.

“Believe it or not, one of the recommendations that they (FHWA) came forward with is a positive for creating a regional transit authority. So that’s huge. It’s coming from the federal government. All they need to provide is the funding now, but we’ll see if that happens.”

The post LRGVDC wants a regional transit authority for the Rio Grande Valley appeared first on Rio Grande Guardian.