The RTC monthly update reported that TxDOT has funded the Heartland Flyer for three years, DCTA projects have remaining funding, weekend toll and transit volumes were up while weekday transit ridership dropped about 24% in June, and RTC adopted air-quality targets for VOCs and nitrous oxide.

Commissioner Hale reported on a new tri-party agreement between the COG, RTC and TxDOT that adds a dispute-resolution process and revised indemnification language, noted settlement and release language tied to litigation with Denton County, and cited nearly $600,000 in external legal fees plus about $200,000 in internal costs related to the dispute.

Commissioners were told that scaling the bond down would force the county to drop or delay major road projects (service roads, outer-loop connectors) and that the $4.75-to-$2.66 (hundreds of millions) tradeoffs would remove at least one major project from the list.