Posted on 10/11/2007 6:44:57 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Cameras tucked into orange barrels videotaped the license plates of thousands of drivers on Interstate 35 as part of a Texas Department of Transportation study of the busy highway, officials said.
The 21 camera points scattered along the I-35 corridor between Dallas and Mexico included two in Central Texas, one north of Round Rock and the other in Kyle. The cameras caught both north- and southbound cars, agency spokeswoman Gaby Garcia said.
Critics of last month's study questioned whether it invaded motorists' privacy. But Garcia said the study and others planned for the future are vital to transportation planning and are not meant to be sneaky.
The state contracted Alliance Transportation Group Inc. for nearly $781,600 to conduct the study. The company mailed about 150,000 surveys to homes explaining that the driver's license plate was randomly recorded and asking questions about the trip's destination and purpose and the number of people living in the home.
"It's one thing to study traffic patterns, but to ask all this personal information of people makes you wonder why they are doing it," said Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project. "This is more than Orwell ever imagined."
The cameras were placed Sept. 12 and 13 outside cities along a 450-mile stretch of I-35 and nearby highways.
Garcia said the information won't be shared or sold and will be securely disposed of. The mailer also said that responses are confidential and that no personal information will be retained.
Garcia said this is the first time the state has conducted a comprehensive transportation study on the entire I-35 corridor.
"With the heavy traffic demand already on I-35 — one of the state's busiest interstate corridors — this survey will help us better forecast future demand and needed improvements to I-35," Garcia said.
Might that forecasting include the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor tollway alternative to I-35?
"This is going to be used to justify any improvements in the I-35 corridor," Garcia said.
Garcia said about 3,000 people have responded since the survey was mailed out three weeks ago. About 200 recipients have called a toll-free number listed on the survey, with most of them asking about its purpose and "a few callers unhappy that they received a survey," she said.
Chandra Bhat, a civil engineering professor at the University of Texas Center for Transportation Research, said similar surveys have been conducted in numerous states.
Bhat said the drawbacks include problems with the data quality of a survey based on videotaping license plates and the possibility of a negative public perception.
The department plans similar surveys next year in the Houston, Galveston, Beaumont and Port Arthur areas. Garcia said drivers will be notified ahead of time.
"It was by no means meant to be sneaky," Garcia said. "Lesson learned."
- Additional material from staff writer Ben Wear.
Dear Texas Citizens,
Did any of you notice the large, front page drawing (in the Cameron Herald Sept. 20) of the proposed water transport pipeline granted to Blue Water Systems LP of Austin? Did you read that this water transport pipeline 'extends to the new State Highway 130 just North of Manor'?
Did any reader realize that this 'new State?? Highway' is now 'admittedly' part of the Trans Texas Corridor? For three years the Governor and his TXDOT gang denied that 130 had anything to do with the TTC. However, when it changed to an advantage to them, suddenly this tax-payer funded state highway was and is, supposedly, part of the tolled TTC-35.
Why the change in their 'story'? Could it be because the recent two-year moratorium placed on new toll corridors by our Texas legislature this past spring, might not cover a project that has already been started? Therefore, 'they' now tell us, 'of course 130 is part of the TTc-35!'
Well, even if you have not been concerned about the Trans Texas Corridor some 10-15 miles from our Milam county, perhaps this perfect visual of our local water leaving our water district from our precious aquifer and heading through a huge new 'transport pipeline to an even larger - 90-foot - pipeline to flow out and away down the TTC, perhaps this will concern you.
Remember, TxDOT, an unelected agency of our state government, has recently granted powers to actually make treaty-like agreements with other states and other countries for permits and concessions along a corridor such as the TTC would be.
Even though some of us have been trying to warn citizens about the TTC and this water threat issue, this recent clear article and visual drawing brought the fact home, even quicker than I expected it to happen.
Very concerned and "Thirsty" in Milam County,
Margaret Green
Buckholts
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
Don't be ridiculous, it's not your water. It's the governments'. giagantic /s
You will be assimilated.
The company mailed about 150,000 surveys to homes explaining that the driver’s license plate was randomly recorded and asking questions about the trip’s destination and purpose and the number of people living in the home.
I wonder what liability the state has in divorce settlements?.......
I often quite happily fill out surveys, but this type might get my dander up.
It’s none of TXDOT’s biz why anyone was on any road. These vehicles were, so deal with it. Licence plates were not needed, just a simple counter would have done the job.
Nothing less than a case of some “public service” drones out snooping for more info than they need.
BTTT
Yeah, I bet a lot of parents thought it would be great to put TX Tags on their kids cars to be able to check on their whereabouts. There are always unforeseen consequences.
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