The latest Texas Department Of Transportation news from The Texas Tribune.
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 Story
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Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Department of Transportation are arranging to temporarily fund air traffic control towers slated to close next month at 13 Texas airports due to federal budget cuts related to the sequester. Full Story
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The Senate Transportation Committee heard testimony Wednesday on two bills addressing criticisms stemming from the proliferation of toll roads and toll lane projects around the state. Full Story
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State Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, is engaged in a long-term campaign to convince his fellow legislators that the state's bond debt is an urgent problem and that tax increases are part of a conservative solution. Full Story
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Under a bill filed by state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, self-driving cars like the one Google drove around Texas last month would have to have a licensed driver behind the wheel and meet minimum insurance requirements. Full Story
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State Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, wants Texas voters to approve a constitutional amendment to temporarily increase the state sales tax to pay off the Texas Department of Transportation's debt. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers hope to follow in Virginia's footsteps this session and revamp the way they fund transportation. While Virginia opted to cut gas taxes and raise sales taxes, Texas is looking at other options. Full Story
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A Google self-driving car drove itself around Austin and across Texas over the last week. State laws don't yet appear to address the futuristic technology. Full Story
A new advocacy group is hoping to get lawmakers and the public as worked up about transportation funding this session as they are about water. Full Story
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A planned interstate highway stretching from South Texas to Michigan remains decades away, but Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday that lawmakers should find more money for the project and ones like it. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Transportation is two years away from a severe drop in funding unless lawmakers find more cash, agency officials said at a budget hearing Monday. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Transportation is taking proposals for privatizing its information technology system, part of a larger movement by the agency toward outsourcing many of its functions. Full Story
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As lawmakers look for a way to fix infrastructure crumbling under the weight of a drilling boom, talk of reducing the tax money that feeds the state's Rainy Day Fund is drawing attention. Full Story
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An upcoming expansion of the Panama Canal will boost Texas exports but not do as much for imports, according to a report commissioned by the Texas Department of Transportation. Full Story
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TIFIA, a popular transportation-focused federal loan program, has $17 billion ready to dole out and Texas is jumping at the chance to tap billions of dollars in credit. Full Story
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Though the controversial proposal to build a 4,000-mile network of highways and rail lines across Texas never came to fruition, the Trans-Texas Corridor proposal helped usher a change in how the state builds roads. Full Story
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Amid a lack of public financing to meet the state's transportation needs, Texas officials are increasingly looking to toll projects, some boosted by investments by private firms. Full Story
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Before anything can be done on transportation funding, What constitutes a budget diversion? Is a fee increase the same thing as a tax hike? The debate over transportation funding next session could hinge on how Full Story
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The newly opened stretch of State Highway 130 from Austin to Seguin has an 85 mph speed limit, the fastest in the country. Beyond the debate over whether it's safe, what's it like to drive? Full Story
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A possible boost in imports to Texas has prompted state officials to consider allowing heavier trucks on some of the state's interstate highways. Full Story
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