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The latest transportation news from The Texas Tribune.

  • The Constant Gardeners

    by Kate Galbraith

    From the highways of Texas to the San Jacinto Battleground, state agencies now aim to maximize the use of native grasses rather than opting for whatever was cheapest or fastest-growing, as they did decades ago. Full Story 

    Bill Neiman, owner of Native American Seed, at his seed-cleaning facility in Junction, TX, Jan. 18, 2011.
    Credit: Callie Richmond

  • TribBlog: DPS Giving Drivers a Break

    by Brandi Grissom

    Some of the 1.2 million Texas drivers whose licenses have been suspended because they failed to pay expensive traffic ticket surcharges can catch a big break right now from the Department of Public Safety. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • In for the Long Haul?

    by Julián Aguilar

    A proposal by the Obama administration that would grant Mexican truckers greater access to Texas roadways would be a boon for business in the state, supporters say, since three of the top five ports for trade between the U.S. and Mexico are Laredo, El Paso and Houston. But unions contend the plan would cost American jobs. “This cheap-labor program comes at too high a risk and at too large a cost to middle-class American workers who work long, hard hours to help maintain a safe commerce system in our nation,” says a spokesman for the Texas AFL-CIO. Full Story 

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    Credit: Mike Miller

  • A Stiff Cocktail of Budget Cuts

    by Texas Tribune Staff

    The Texas House has unveiled a $156.4 billion budget that's $31.1 billion smaller than the current two-year spending plan — a drop of 16.6 percent. The proposed budget came with $1.2 billion in recommendations for savings and new revenue from the Legislative Budget Board. Full Story 

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  • Pay to Pave

    by Mose Buchele, KUT News

    The sixth annual Texas Transportation Forum was the largest yet, with contractors, state officials and others meeting to talk mobility in the state. Mose Buchele of KUT News reports on the added challenges they will face this year to keep Texas moving. Full Story 

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  • Out of Gas?

    by Kate Galbraith

    Over the next several months, hundreds of electric and plug-in hybrid cars will arrive in Texas cities. They will emit little pollution and be cheaper to operate than conventional vehicles. For the state government, however, the advent of alternative-fuel vehicles creates a long-term concern: They will generate little or no gas tax revenue — a key funding source for keeping the state's roads and bridges in good repair. Full Story 

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    Credit: Flickr user, colorblindPICASO

  • TribBlog: Life in the Fast Lane

    by Emily Brown

    More than a third of Texas drivers think roadways are less safe than they were five years ago even though data shows that deaths have steadily decreased, according to a survey by the Center for Transportation Safety at the Texas Transportation Institute. Full Story 

    Trooper Johnny Hernandez patrols Hidalgo County in the Rio Grande Valley.
    Credit: Callie Richmond

  • Inside Intelligence: The Budget Will Be Balanced By...

    by Ross Ramsey

    For this week's installment of our non-scientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we focused on the budget. Specifically, we asked how big the shortfall is going to be, how the Legislature will close the gap and which areas of the budget are most likely to be cut. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • The Cost of Disrepair

    by Mose Buchele, KUT News

    Think repairing the state’s roads and highways is costly? Try not repairing them. That's the message from transportation advocacy groups, which say poor road conditions are costing Texas drivers $22.6 billion per year in car damage, fuel costs and traffic accidents. But as Mose Buchele of KUT News reports, before any of those problems can be addressed, we should all prepare for a bumpy ride. Full Story 

    Traffic congestion on Interstate 35 in Austin. The freeway through central Austin is among the state's most congested road segments, according to a TxDOT study.
    Credit: Illustration by Charles Stricklin/Todd Wiseman

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    by Evan Smith

    M. Smith on the frailties of electronic voting machines, Hu on the big bump in early voter turnout, Chang talks to the national coordinator of Health Information Technology, Hamilton on why the nondiscrimination policies of state university systems don't include sexual orientation, Aguilar on the prospect of high school football referees on strike, Stiles updates our government employee salary app to include 20 more public agencies, Philpott on where the candidates in HD-52 stand on fast growth, Galbraith on damage to Texas roads caused by heavy truck traffic, Grissom interviews the first Hispanic sheriff of Harris County and my one-hour sit-downs with Rick Perry and Bill White: The best of our best from October 18 to 22, 2010. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • The Trouble With Trucking

    by Kate Galbraith

    Heavy truck traffic, some of it related to the wind industry, has increased sharply across the state in recent years, and it's taken a heavy toll on rural roadways. To its chagrin, the Texas Department of Transportation has little prospect of recouping repair costs. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Where They Stand: HD-47

    by Ben Philpott, KUT News

    In House District 47 — which sits entirely within Travis County — incumbent Democrat Valinda Bolton is locked in a tight race with Republican Paul Workman. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune looks at where the candidates stand on the issue of transportation. Full Story 

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  • American Idle

    by Elizabeth Titus and Kate Galbraith

    Each year in the United States, idling trucks and cars burn several billion gallons of fuel, emitting various pollutants without driving a single mile. The Texas Legislature passed legislation in 2005 limiting big trucks to five minutes of idling time, but local governments aren't obligated to enforce the law, and the debate over exemptions continues to roil. Full Story 

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    Credit: Andrew Atzert

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    by Ross Ramsey

    I hit the campaign trail with Rick Perry, E. Smith starts off the fall TribLive series by interviewing Attorney General Greg Abbott, Stiles on the most congested roads in Texas, Ramshaw's interview with former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, Grissom on the perils of talking too much if you're the head of the state's jail standards board, M. Smith on Congressman Chet Edwards' fight for political survival in a Republican year, Philpott on counties worried the state's budget woes will trickle down, Hamilton on whether Texas should be in the movie-vetting business, Aguilar on a Mexican journalist seeking asylum from his country's drug violence, Galbraith on green energy and Texas college football, and excerpts from former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby's new book, How Things Really Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics: The best of our best from August 30 to September 3, 2010. Full Story 

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  • TribBlog: The Bus Fuss

    by Brian Thevenot

    After a 2006 bus accident in Beaumont that killed two students and injured several more, parents and legislators successfully demanded the state finance seat belts in school buses. Today, four years later, the Legislative Budget Board finally gave approval for a grant program — but the rules the board set likely will exclude the Beaumont area from getting the money, even though the grassroots movement started there. Full Story 

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