The Texas Department of Transportation has spent about $10.6 million in education costs since 2002, nearly half what state agencies have spent in total on tuition reimbursements and other educational programs. Check out our breakdown.
Transportation
Reporting on roads, transit, infrastructure, and policy shaping travel and mobility across the state, from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Economy
Musk: Texas a “Leading Candidate” to Host Hyperloop Test Track
Entrepreneur Elon Musk said Thursday that Texas is in the driver’s seat for a test track for a transportation system known as the Hyperloop. He also said that a SpaceX facility wouldn’t have been built in Texas without economic incentives.
Posted in
Transportation
Video: A Conversation With Elon Musk
Here’s video of Tribune CEO and Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith’s Thursday interview of SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the 10th annual Texas Transportation Forum.
Posted in
State Government
Texas Poised to Cut Some Specialty License Plates
If fans of Dr Pepper and the Fort Worth Zoo don’t get it in gear, their chance to buy specialty license plates might soon be gone. The Houston Rockets are hanging by a thread.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
The Playlist: The Best is Yet to Come
For this week’s playlist of the news, we’re using our reporters’ own predictions for 2015. Kicking things off: “The Best Is Yet To Come,” by Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, backed up by the Count Basie Orchestra.
Posted inState Government, Transportation
A Toll Road Strategy That’s “as Big as Texas”
There’s no doubt that Gov. Rick Perry has left his mark on the state’s approach to funding roads. Aman Batheja writes that under Perry’s leadership, Texas has been the country’s most aggressive supporter of tolling and private-sector investment in transportation.
Posted in
Economy
Analysis: Skill or Luck, It Has Worked for Perry
Thirty years is a lot to attribute to mere luck. Like Rick Perry or not, his considerable political skills have sustained him throughout his career in state politics.
Posted in
State Government
Video: New Senators on Transportation
At our 12/11 conversation, incoming Texas Senators Konni Burton, R-Colleyville, Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, and Van Taylor, R-Plano, talked about the need for and possible sources of greater transportation funding.
Posted in
State Government
Lawmakers Set $7 Billion “Floor” for State Savings Account
Lawmakers on Thursday chose $7 billion as an appropriate minimum balance for the Rainy Day Fund in a meeting that took just a few minutes but will have far-reaching consequences.
Posted in
Transportation
Abbott Plans to Add $4 Billion to Road Funding
Gov.-elect Greg Abbott wants to add $4 billion each year to build and maintain Texas roads, nearly closing the annual budget shortfall at the Texas Department of Transportation.