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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (591862)	10/29/2010 4:10:18 PM
From: Brumar89	Respond to of 1580148

White began contentious 'Safe Clear' towing program in Houston Bill White has a transportation record, too. Rick Perry's many years in office, as I said here last week, have been as much about transportation as jobs or the border or any of the other issues that he has been emphasizing in this third run for governor. But transportation was likewise a prominent feature of his Democratic opponent's six years as Houston's mayor, albeit on a smaller scale appropriate to the administrator of a city. White, in fact, based much of his 2003 run for that office on a pledge to "Get Houston Moving," which was accompanied by a 43-part plan. Yes, 43 parts. That is what you call wonk cred in political circles. Houston, if you don't know, has a "strong mayor" system. The mayor presides over a 15-member City Council and has more power to shape policy and city government than Austin's mayor. White, in fact, created a Mayor's Office of Mobility. One of his first acts was to order the city staff to focus on better synchronizing traffic signals. White received credit for the effort, although pinpointing the actual effect on drivers is always difficult with synchronization. Not so with Safe Clear, certainly the most publicized and scrutinized of White's transportation efforts. He pushed the initiative through the council in his first year, creating a situation where 11 towing companies were assigned portions of the city's freeways and then agreed to respond within six minutes to any disabled car. If the car wasn't moved within that time, it was towed and the driver had to pay $75 to get it out of hock. Negative reaction was instant, particularly to the fee. The towing industry also rebelled, especially those not among the 11 under contract, filing suit in an unsuccessful effort to stop Safe Clear. White and the council soon tweaked the program, providing free tows to as far as a mile off the freeway. Free to the driver, not to the city. A program expected to break even eventually added about $3 million to the city's annual budget. Studies commissioned by the city later showed accidents on Houston freeways decreasing by about 20 percent and average speeds increasing in the wake of Safe Clear. In a delicious irony, White was eventually ensnared by a quick Safe Clear tow. Responding to a large warehouse fire in March 2009 with his daughter in her car, he parked in a freeway emergency lane and jogged to the emergency. When he returned, the car was gone. White later termed the towing "appropriate." White also pushed to install red-light cameras in Houston after state law changed to allow them, and before his term ended, 70 intersections in town had the cameras. As in other places, revenue from the $75 tickets eventually fell as drivers sussed out where the cameras were. Studies were inconclusive as to how effective the cameras were in preventing accidents caused by people running red lights. Then there's Houston Metro. Unlike Austin, where members of Capital Metro's board are appointed by several governments, five of the Houston transit agency's nine board members are named by the mayor. White wasted no time putting his five appointees in place in 2004, and the board then hired Frank J. Wilson to lead the agency. All this came on the heels of Houston Metro opening its first light-rail line just as White was taking office. Work was already under way at the time to get federal funding for what would be several more rail lines. That effort to start more lines was still under way when White left office in 2009, hamstrung in part by opposition from Republican members of the Harris County congressional delegation. The performance of Wilson and Houston Metro in general — and by implication the leadership of White's appointees — was a focus of the mayoral race to succeed White. Annise Parker, who ultimately won, in particular characterized the agency as lacking transparency and sensitivity to the riding public. After taking office, Parker in short order replaced White's appointees. Wilson was gone soon after. statesman.com