People walk past a model of a $15 billion Dallas-to-Houston high-speed rail line during an open house. A reader asks who will fund high-speed rail in Texas.
Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
Who will pay for it?
Re: “‘A long game: ’ High-speed rail could drive billions to Dallas. Will it happen?” online story.
Great story except for not explaining who is going to pay for it. What about the properties affected along the rail? It is a benefit to some cities. If it makes sense financially, let private equity fund it.
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Herein lies the problem. You can’t make it happen without eminent domain and state and federal subsidies. If I live away from the stations, why should I pay for it? Why should I have my property ruined if I am far from a station?
Great idea for people near the stations. Bad idea for the rest of the taxpayers and property owners.
I believe this is why it gets voted down over and over. Please report the whole story.
Frank M. Wagnon, Southlake
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Not in favor of less patrolling
The Texas Department of Public Safety’s decision to end its patrol contract with the North Texas Tollway Authority should alarm every driver in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Texas traffic deaths have declined three years in a row, built on consistent, visible law enforcement. DPS troopers on NTTA’s 150-plus miles of toll roads have been a critical part of that effort.
The results of inadequate enforcement on these corridors are written in tragedy: a double fatality near I-635 when a wrong-way driver struck an innocent vehicle head on, a wrong-way crash near Royal Lane that killed one person and injured five others, a driver who traveled 11 miles the wrong way on the President George Bush Turnpike before killing himself and another motorist in Richardson. Wrong-way crashes are the signature danger on these roads.
The Legislature appropriated $3.4 billion in new border security funding and gave DPS sweeping new responsibilities. That was their call to make. But traffic safety is not a lesser priority; it affects everyone who uses NTTA roads.
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As DFW’s toll roads carry more traffic, DPS enforcement on these corridors should be increasing, not disappearing. In 2025 alone, there were 221 distracted driving crashes on NTTA toll roads, five of them fatal prompting DPS and NTTA to launch a joint enforcement initiative just weeks before DPS announced it was walking away. That contradiction speaks for itself.
The Legislature must ensure that DPS has the personnel and resources to fulfill all its missions. Handing off a 150-mile regional tollway to local police departments that weren’t built for it is not a plan. It’s an abdication.
Americas are hurting
As a scholar of rhetoric for more than four decades, I frequently observed the significant difference between seeing and feeling the news. There is no better example of this than the current state of our economy and its potential political impact.
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Case in point. Last Wednesday we learned that the nation’s inflation rate rose to 4.2%. This, however, is more than a statistic. The women in front of me this morning at the checkout counter had only $80 to pay for her groceries. As a result, she was forced to remove several items from her cart to get the price reduced to what she could afford.
I offered to pay the remaining amount of her groceries, but she declined. I understand how embarrassed she must have felt. In retrospect, I wonder if my gesture to help her made the situation worse. Perhaps.
But the bottom line is this: Inflation is a real and visceral problem. Americans are hurting, and we have a president who said he doesn’t care. Indeed, there is a real rhetorical difference between “seeing” and “feeling.”
Richard A. Cherwitz, Camas, Wash.
A recycling plan
Texans have a history of standing for commonsense solutions. In the 1980s, they turned state pride into “Don’t Mess with Texas” — a campaign to stop littering across the state. Now, Texans are tackling a new challenge: reaching a 75% recycling rate by 2035.
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But roadblocks remain. America’s outdated and fragmented recycling system limits the ability to process many types of plastic, leaving Texans confused about what belongs in the recycling bin.
The Recycled Materials Attribution Act, a bipartisan bill supported by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, brings clarity, consistency and accountability to America’s recycling system.
Dallas communities need solutions that unlock innovations in the recycling system. According to a recently released report by the Progressive Policy Institute, emerging recycling technology could compliment traditional recycling by more than doubling U.S. plastic recycling rates, saving states and local municipalities hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
The RMAA is a practical step toward reaching the state’s recycling goals, cutting through confusion, strengthening trust in recycling and keeping plastic out of landfills.
John Hewitt, Arlington, Va.
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Senior vice president, Consumer Brands Association
Invest in the Forest Service
Re: “A Texas agency combating wildfires is hoping to get help from outer space,” online story.
It was very cool to see that the Texas A&M Forest Service is an early adopter of FireSat, which tracks low-grade wildfires using satellite technology. Given that the same Forest Service, with input from local fire departments, tracked 6,304 fires across Texas last year, the need for every possible tool we can use to prepare for and respond to fires is clear.
Local fires, like the recent Oak Cliff apartment explosion in Dallas, are devastating for our urban communities. But if we fail to invest in effective forest management, the scope of damage to our resources, infrastructure, environment, health, happiness and ultimately, our prosperity for future generations will be much greater.
Our congressional representatives — John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, Jasmine Crockett, Julie Johnson, Beth Van Duyne, Keith Self and Marc Veasey — should support robust funding for the U.S. Forest Service, and beware of efforts that may harm or limit the Forest Service’s ability to steward our country through wildfire season.
Tracking fires via satellite is a start, but it is not enough. We must continue to invest in the Forest Service alongside feeling hopeful about new technological innovation.