Deck 9: Good Roads, Highways, and Transportation in Texas

Question 1

Who was the Spanish Conquistador who explored West Texas in the 1540s?

A) Ferdinand Magellan
B) Maurice Chevalier
C) Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
D) Francisco Vazquez de Coronado

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The road Mexicans called the Camino Real came to be known to Anglos as:

A) Old San Antonio Road
B) La Bahia Road
C) Opelousas Trail
D) Monclava Road

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which Texas governor established the Texas Railroad Commission?

A) Frank Lubbock
B) James Stephen Hogg
C) James "Pa" Ferguson
D) Dan Moody

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The 1946 legislation that provided steady finding for Texas road building was called:

A) Federal Funding Formula
B) Federal Gas Tax
C) Good Roads Amendment
D) Toll Road Authority

Question 5

From 1950 to the present2006 Texas per capita expenditure on roads has been what percent of the national average?

A) 86 percent
B) 96 percent
C) 106 percent
D) 116 percent

Question 6

From 2005 through 2008 Texas spending on roads exceeded the national average largely due to:

A) gas tax increases
B) more driving by Texans
C) increased local road spending
D) increased debt

Question 7

The federal gas tax has been set at what rate since 1993?

A) 12.6 cents per gallon
B) 18.4 cents per gallon
C) 24.6 cents per gallon
D) 40.2 cents per gallon

Question 8

The federally subsidized passenger rail service in the U.S. and Texas is called:

A) USrail
B) Texrail
C) Amtrak
D) Amtravel

Question 9

The 2010 census reported that what percentage of Texans live in urban settings?

A) 70 percent
B) 78 percent
C) 86 percent
D) 93 percent

Question 10

Texas began collecting a gas tax in what year?

A) 1923
B) 1949
C) 1963
D) 1991

Question 11

The first European to travel through much of Texas was:

A) Cabeza de Vaca
B) Vasco da Gama
C) Antonio de Mendoza
D) William Boehlert

Question 12

The most important road in early Texas was:

A) Natchez Trace
B) La Bahia Road
C) Opelousas Trail
D) Camino Real

Question 13

Which level of government was responsible for roads in 19^th century Texas?

A) federal
B) state
C) county
D) township

Question 14

What resource did Texas employ to encourage railroad construction in the 19^th century?

A) cash grants
B) land grants
C) federal tax rebates
D) import exemptions

Question 15

Which of these states was among the first to provide state funds for highway building in the early 1890s?

A) Massachusetts
B) South Carolina
C) Indiana
D) Texas

Question 16

Who was the engineer that headed the Texas Highway Department from 1940 through 1972?

A) Thomas Campbell
B) Gibb Gilchrist
C) DeWitt Greer
D) Henry Cisneros

Question 17

The 2010 census showed the U.S. was 82 percent urban. What was the percent urbanization in Texas?

A) 76 percent
B) 80 percent
C) 84 percent
D) 86 percent

Question 18

Federal and state governments in the U.S. fund road building and maintenance principally through what revenue source?

A) gas taxes
B) vehicle registration fees
C) general revenues
D) vehicle sales taxes

Question 19

The Texas gas tax has been set at what level since 1991?

A) 15 cents a gallon
B) 20 cents a gallon
C) 25 cents a gallon
D) 30 cents a gallon

Question 20

The Texas Mobility Fund, approved by the legislature in 2001, allows the Texas Transportation Commission to:

A) invest gas tax funds
B) defer maintenance more than one year
C) issue bonds on its own authority
D) borrow from the federal treasury

Question 21

The national average annual per capita funding for alternative transportation modes like urban mass transit is $17. What does Texas get per capita?

A) $9.45
B) $14.75
C) $17.60
D) $21.40

Question 22

When the federal government awarded grants in 2010 to begin building high speed rail projects, all but which state below won big awards?

A) Illinois
B) Florida
C) California
D) Texas

Question 23

Texas transportation policy to date has been described as:

A) highway centric
B) backward looking
C) a national model
D) remarkably innovative

Question 24

What proportion of Texans live outside the urban areas?

A) 14 percent
B) 24 percent
C) 35 percent
D) 42 percent

Question 25

According to the Texas A&M "Annual Urban Mobility" study, lost commuter time in Dallas increased from 7 hours a year in 1982 to how many hours in 2017?

A) 15 hours
B) 23 hours
C) 53 hours
D) 67 hours

Question 26

How has funding of road building and maintenance evolved since the early 20^th century and what particular problems confront road building and maintenance today?

Question 27

Gas tax rates have been stable since the early 1990s. Given that inflation has reduced the purchasing power of gas tax funds, what solutions do you see for the current underfunding of road construction and maintenance in Texas and the U.S.?

Question 28

What are the plusses and minuses of alternative (non-highway) transportation solutions like urban mass transit and high speed rail for Texas?

Question 29

What considerations limited road building in Texas during the 19^th century?

Question 30

What role did the Good Roads Amendment of 1946 play in promoting road building in post WW II Texas?

Question 31

The Texas gas tax has been fixed at twenty cents a gallon since 1991. Would you favor raising it or supplementing gas tax revenues with other funds?

Question 32

Describe the "system financing" approach that envisions permanent toll roads rather than roads tolled only until the bonds to build them are paid off.

Question 33

Describe comprehensive development agreements (CDAs) as an approach to funding and managing new transportation projects.

Question 34

The Spaniard who was shipwrecked in Texas and walked to California before turning up in Mexico City was Cabeza de Vaca.

Question 35

For the last two decades, road building has lagged behind population growth.

Question 36

Texas is less highly urbanized than the nation as a whole.

Question 37

Since 1956 Texas has had the lowest return of any state on its contributions to the Federal Highway Trust Fund.

Question 38

Texas collects about 10 cents more in gas and related taxes and fees than does the average state.

Question 39

The Mexican name for the most famous path or road in early Texas was the _______

Question 40

The governor who established the Texas Railroad Commission was _______

Question 41

Texas matched and then surpassed the level of U.S. urbanization in what decade _______

Question 42

Revenues for road building and maintenance came from what kind of taxes_______

Question 43

A public/private partnership in which a private company puts up most of the money to build a road in exchange for tolling rights is called_______

Question 44

The federally subsidized passenger rail system in the U.S. is called_______

Question 45

A road that you have to pay a certain fee to drive on is called a _______ .