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JULY 2006

DID YOU KNOW?
Transportation Info about DelDOT

According to DelDOT's latest Customer Satisfaction Survey, 85% responded to the question,  "Overall, how well does the state's system of roads and highways meet your needs," either "very well" or "somewhat well."  Transit, bicycle, and pedestrian systems fared less well; however, 73% gave the overall transportation system high marks.  Congestion and sequencing of timing of signals were the biggest gripes.

Legislators' biggest complaint against DelDOT in the session ending June 30th appeared to be projects that weren't in their districts.  Their special target (after former Secretary of Transportation Nathan Hayward) was Wilmington, notably the Riverfront.  But Secretary of Transportation Carolann Wicks, in her January 11, 2006 Presentation to the Joint Committee on Capital Improvements, pointed out the great return on public investments along the Riverfront:

  • The public investment of $19.9 million in Christina Landing was matched by $130 million in private investment which produced 419 new residences and a 2.5 acre public park, and served as a catalyst for Christina River South Bank redevelopment.
  • The $2.6 million public investment for the AAA Mid-Atlantic site was matched by $32M from AAA and produced a 157,000 square foot office building and nearly 400 new jobs.
  • The $15.2 million public investment in Christina Crescent was matched by $78 million in private investment and is producing a 270,000 square foot retail/office building, a public plaza, a 1,120 parking-space garage, and 1,300 new Barclay employees.
  • The $21.5-26.5 million public investment in Justison Landing is spurring a $400M private investment with plans for over 1,100 new residences, 2,269 parking spaces, 73,600 square feet of retail space, 300,000 square feet of office space, and 2.5 acres of public open space.
  • Purchase of the Delmarva property for $10.7 million is expected to facilitate $100 million in private investment by providing street grid improvement, allowing riverfront redevelopment to expand to formerly unavailable property, providing a location for the AAA Mid-Atlantic structured parking, facilitating environmental cleanup, and enhancing planned development aesthetics by relocating industrial use.
  • Purchase of the DuPont Beech Site involved $500,000 in public investment and $4 million in private investment.
  • The 10-year return on the Public Investment of approximately $72 million (matched by Private Investment of $744 million) is expected to be $182 million in State tax revenue, $5.7 million in State land sale revenue, $1.6 million in County tax revenue, $61 million in City tax revenue, and $11.6 million in City land sale revenue, totaling $262 million.

Whether or not DelDOT projects will facilitate economic development in the future is an open question.  Until the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) is adequately funded, there will be insufficient income for projects already planned, approved, and under design, let alone new projects to facilitate economic development.  Because it is an election year, the Administration and the General Assembly chose not to address the need to increase the Transportation Trust Fund income streams for FY 2007.

The State motor fuel tax, which provided 32% of the TTF income for FY 2006, has remained at $.23 for gasoline and $.22 for special fuels for well over a decade.  Tolls provide nearly 33% of TTF revenue, but the General Assembly, last year, only allowed an increase on I-95, because most of that comes from out-of-State motorists.  Whereas the Secretary of Transportation has the power to increase the I-95 tolls, the General Assembly took that power away from former Secretary of Transportation Anne Canby (along with the power to reduce the speed limit to decrease air pollution) on Route 1, and has refused to increase the Route 1 tolls because they impact Delaware commuters.  There will be no increase in motor vehicle document fees or registration fees, either, in FY 2007.

Instead of addressing the insufficient funding of the TTF this year, the General Assembly merely transferred $40 million from the State's operating fund surplus, with most of that ($32 million) going to the legislators' Community Transportation Fund (CTF).  Of that $32 million, $18 million will go for legislators' FY 2007 CTF and $14 million for CTF projects authorized for FY 2006 but for which there was not enough cash last year.  The rest of the TTF income available for construction will go towards completing projects already under construction or for projects for which there are signed contracts.

Members of the Bond Bill Committee have estimated that legislators, next year, will need to increase funding for the Transportation Trust Fund by at least $100 million just to keep up with projects that are in the first year of the 6-year Capital Transportation Program (CTP).  Options include transferring funding for DelDOT operations back to the State's General Fund (see the June 2006 FYI for the history of this raid on the TTF) and increasing tolls, fuel tax, and registration and documentation fees.  Several legislators have suggested transferring the approximately $200 in operating costs to the General Fund over 3-5 years.

At some point, the numbers will collide.  Delaware expects a population of over one million by 2030 and Delawareans haven't been willing to compromise on their mode of transportation.  Seventy-eight percent of New Castle County commuters drive alone to and from work (66% in Kent and 72% in Sussex).  Fewer than 3% of all commuters walk to work regularly, fewer than 2% take the bus, and only .2% commute by bike.  While licensed drivers held steady at about 72% of the population from 2000 to 2004, the number of registered motor vehicles increased by 86,582 and mileage increased by 1,064,000 miles.  In 2004 there were 604,124 licensed drivers in Delaware, a 2% increase from 2003.  However, those licensed drivers increased their average annual vehicle miles traveled by 9.3%.

While population growth, increasing numbers of cars per household, and increasing miles traveled-on top of existing congestion-all attest to the need for new construction, with limited funding, DelDOT's top priority will have to be maintaining its existing 12,994 lane miles and the 1,379 bridges for which it is responsible, as well as its 68 bus routes and statewide door-to-door paratransit for the disabled unable to use fixed-route bus service.  The good news is that 69% of Delaware's roads are rated in good condition, 21% fair, and only 10% poor, and the 10% rated poor are funded for improvement.

While the General Assembly did not increase funding sources for the Transportation Trust Fund for construction, it did buy land.  Language in the Bond Bill (Section 109 System Capacity Preservation) authorizes and directs the Secretary of Transportation "to use state funds appropriated to the Transportation Enhancements program"  to purchase the 101-acre Delaware National (nee Hercules) Golf Course, the 35-acre Millcreek Farm (Yearsley) Property adjacent to Mill Creek and Stony Batter Roads, and the Mellinger and/or Willow Run Properties adjacent to Fairgrounds Park in Elsmere, and to work with the communities surrounding each site to develop master plans for "permanent protection of the site as community recreation and open space."

Beverley Baxter