With less than two weeks before the end of the 83rd legislative session, efforts to find more funding for the Texas Department of Transportation are sputtering.

A bill that would have increased vehicle registration fees to generate money for transportation projects met its demise in the Texas House on Thursday.

On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: Water, transportation and education were priorities at the beginning of this year's legislative session, but how much progress has been made on each?

Efforts by state lawmakers to find money to repair South and West Texas roads torn up amid a drilling boom appear to be stalling, according to some officials working on the matter. Officials warn about the hazards of not maintaining these roads.

For this week’s nonscientific survey of insiders in government and politics, we asked about transportation and, more specifically, how to pay for expansion and maintenance of the state’s transportation infrastructure. 

In the midst of a battle among lawmakers over a bill to ban texting while driving, a new report by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute suggests that voice-to-text technology is no safer than typing out a text message.

UPDATED: A bill that would make texting while driving a crime passed the House on Wednesday after a lengthy debate. The measure now heads to the Senate.

On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: Lawmakers want to spend billions to repair the state's crumbling roads, but that's putting some Republican leaders in a bind.

Three days after the governor raised the possibility of new revenue streams — including the issuing of 100-year bonds — to fund transportation, members of Texas Tea Parties warned legislators against caving on conservative principles.

A highway under construction in Mexico is widely expected to lead to a surge in produce trucks from Mexico’s western growing regions entering the U.S. through Hidalgo County. 

At last Friday's quarterly meeting of the Texas Lyceum, I interviewed Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins about transportation policy and funding at the state and local level.

Gov. Rick Perry on Friday said he likes the idea of dedicating a portion of future car sales taxes to road projects and also said he's open to spending up to $6 billion of the Rainy Day Fund on infrastructure projects.

Here's the full video of Gov. Rick Perry's keynote address on transportation at The Texas Lyceum's public conference.

The full Texas Senate will consider a plan to spend about half of the projected $11.8 billion balance in the state's Rainy Day Fund for transportation and water projects, though Democrats plan to push for money for schools as well.

The CEO of Tesla Motors on his efforts to sell cars directly to Texans, the state's business-friendly reputation and SpaceX's plans to build an orbital launch facility near Brownsville.

With less than two months left in the legislative session, some lawmakers are lowering expectations on what can get done related to funding for roads. 

Voters want better roads. Lawmakers want happy voters. Roads require taxes, tolls, debt or some combination of the three, which is why conservative officeholders are using those three dirty words.

Full video of Aman Batheja's 4/4 TribLive conversation with state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and state Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman. 

At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and state Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, talked about a proposal to use vehicle sales tax revenue to meet our transportation funding needs.

At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and state Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, talked about whether Texans are having “toll road fatigue” and the impact that toll roads are having on traffic congestion.