The latest transportation news from The Texas Tribune.
The population of Texas could nearly double by 2050, prompting some to worry that not enough is being done to avoid a future traffic nightmare and the drag on the economy that could come with it. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/08/FreightFlows.gif)
At last month's Republican state convention, delegates approved a platform less amenable to toll roads, and Attorney General Greg Abbott vowed to build more roads "without raising a single penny in taxes, fees or tolls." Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/03/2012_08_TT_NYT_tollroad_MG_1624.jpg)
Many Texans have wondered why no application centers for the TSA’s PreCheck program exist within 100 miles of Austin or San Antonio. But the agency is now taking steps to change that. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/06/27/TSA-Pre-2.jpg)
The Federal Railroad Administration published a document on its website Wednesday officially kicking off a highly anticipated environmental review of a proposed high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/06/04/HiSpeedRail-1.jpg)
The company behind the 41-mile southern portion of State Highway 130 is low on cash and scrambling to get an upcoming payment deadline waived, according to a report released this week by Moody’s Investors Service. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1b71f25958d52c2b6033bab65913e7c5/BD%20INC%20SH130%2085%2001%202012)
The Texas Turnpike Corporation of Dallas wants to build a private toll road in an area northeast of Dallas. If built, the road would be the only private toll road in the state and one of the only such facilities in the country. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/06/12/I30-Traffic.jpg)
Uber and Lyft are now offering their tech-savvy transportation services in Austin, Corpus Christi, Houston, San Antonio and the Dallas area. But statements from officials in those cities say the company's drivers are technically violating local laws. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/06/09/Uber-Lyft-Hybrid.jpg)
Houston is the seventh most dangerous city in the nation for people on foot, according to a new report. Texas ranked as the 10th most dangerous state for walking commuters, with nearly 4,200 pedestrian deaths between 2003 and 2012. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/05/19/Houston-Peds-2.jpg)
Funding for transportation could draw an unusual amount of attention in coming months as federal highway dollars threaten to dry up and Texans prepare to vote in November on a measure to increase road funds. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/07/30/Money-On-The-Horizon.jpg)
LaSalle County, which is in the heart of the Eagle Ford Shale, has sued the Texas Department of Transportation over a $225 million grant program aimed at repairing roads damaged by oilfield traffic. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/04/25/shale-roads.png)
In 2013, state lawmakers approved millions of dollars in funding to help repair roads damaged by trucks transporting fracking materials. A year later, many of the affected counties say that money will cover only a fraction of what they need. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/FrackDamageRoads.jpg)
A new study from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute found that three out of four Texans at least occasionally speak on a cellphone while driving and nearly half sometimes read or text while driving. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TeenCell.jpg)
UPDATED: Lawmakers are unlikely to abolish the Driver Responsibility Program next year, but at a hearing Monday, they encouraged critics of it to submit recommendations for reform. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/09/Driving-Capitol_1.jpg)
As drillers produce millions of barrels of crude oil in shale plays in Texas and the Midwest, railroad companies are finding booming business in transporting the oil to Gulf Coast refineries. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/11/Crude_by_Rail6216.jpg)
A blogger noticed that a page on the Texas Department of Transportation's TxTag site left customers' credit card information exposed. TxDOT says it has no evidence of any security breaches. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/03/27/Toll-Roads.jpg)
With expectations that state lawmakers will have a budget surplus of several billion dollars, lawmakers, activists and business groups are already discussing what to do with the money. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/07/BudgetSurplus-Capitol.jpg)
Arlington, which had been one of the largest U.S. cities without public transportation, launched its first commuter bus line on a trial basis last year. Supporters are optimistic that the service will prove popular enough to continue beyond 2015. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/03/ArlingtonXpress_0012.jpg)
The Texas Transportation Commission voted 4-0 Friday to hire a former military leader and longtime friend of Gov. Rick Perry as the new executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/04/Joe_Weber.jpg)
UPDATED: A radioactive waste site in West Texas has received its first truckload of transuranic waste from the federal government’s nuclear weapons program, following wildfires and a radiation leak in New Mexico. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/03/31/ANDREWS2a.jpg)
Gov. Rick Perry is encouraging state transportation commissioners to tap Joe Weber, Texas A&M’s vice president of student affairs, to be the next executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/11/19/D54H9860_1_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg)