The focus is typically on projects to widen state highways. Instead, the council withheld the money to pay for projects that link land use and transportation. On Friday, the Surface Transportation Technical Committee approved the budget. The funding plan will go before the Regional Transportation Council for a final vote June 14. Letters have been distributed to North Texas communities with partnering developers about applying for the money if their projects fit the bill.
Officials say there are more requests for money than there is funding.
Critics say that the initiative gives Fort Worth and Dallas an unfair advantage over suburban and rural areas and that it overemphasizes mass transit. Many communities in Tarrant County cannot join a transportation authority because they have committed sales tax revenue to other uses, such as economic development, and do not have further taxing authority.