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Some people see the glass as half full whilst others see it as half empty.  It is a function of perception.  One can conclude that politics played little if any role in the award of the HSR contracts.  That is understandable.  But given the correlations that I researched, I am hard pressed to believe that an objective analysis would have generated the outcomes that were announced.  Texas is a conservative state, to be sure, and the preference is for highways and airways over railways.  But there is a growing group of influential people in the Lone Star state who believe that passenger rail is a desirable alternative to driving and flying over short to medium distances in congested corridors.    In addition to the state support for the Heartland Flyer, we have developed a first class commuter rail operation between Dallas and Fort Worth.  In addition, assuming that it gets going by the end of the first quarter, we will have a decent commuter rail operation in the Austin area.  And plans are afoot to build a commuter line from Georgetown to San Antonio.  So the state is not without it success stories. I don't know whether the Texas proposal was proper.  Even if I read it, I am not sure that I would have the expertise to determine if it was proper or to evaluate it objectively with the competing proposals.  I know, however, that many people in this state know how to play the federal paperwork chase.  They have done it successfully.  That's how we got federal money for the DART light rail lines as well as the Trinity Railway Express.  The federal government should not be handing out money to selected states for regional transport solutions, which I have discussed.  If passenger rail is a good solution for Virginia and North Carolina, as an example, they should pay for it.  The same applies to Texas.
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