#TxDOT

Archive

BTS Statistical Release: 2017 North American Freight Numbers

BTS 13-18 Friday, March 16, 2018 BTS Contact: Dave Smallen Tel: 202-366-5568 david.smallen@dot.gov SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data NOTE: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding. Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding. All five major transportation modes – truck, rail, pipeline, vessel and air – carried more U.S. freight with Canada and Mexico by value in 2017 than in 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Transporta

In Texas, Bad Transportation Policy Is Killing Us

This morning we saw some fresh evidence that, if you are a pedestrian, this city is passively trying to make you inconvenienced, if not actively trying to kill you. Even without any sidewalk-blocking construction, walking in Dallas can be dangerous, something backed up by the data and plenty of personal anecdotes: Spend a week hoofing it from downtown to the Cedars during afternoon rush hour, and you’ll begin treating the desperate sprint across eastbound Griffin Street on Ak

Highway panel dumps planned I-35 toll lanes

A state transportation panel has dropped a plan to eventually add a pair of toll lanes to Interstate 35 from San Antonio to Austin, removing it and every other proposed tollway from its 10-year, $70 billion outline of 15 major road projects. The stretch of I-35 in Central Texas is annually listed among the most congested in the nation. The 5-0 vote Thursday by the Texas Transportation Commission illustrated how the state’s political system continues to eliminate options to de

TxDOT: 90 Percent of Roads Affected by Harvey Are Back Open

Texans continue to clean up the destruction Hurricane Harvey left as it ravaged the Coastal Bend and Houston area. That clean up includes thousands of staff members with the Texas Department of Transportation. The agency dispatched about 3,600 employees and 2,500 pieces of equipment to areas affected by Harvey, an official said. "Harvey was a storm that was really beyond anything that TxDOT has taken on ever, in terms of its size and extent," deputy executive director Marc Wi

Bullet-train battle moves toward special session

AUSTIN — They’re still working on the railroad, but while advocates of the high-speed train linking Dallas and Houston remain bullish about getting off the drawing board and on track, new barriers could loom. “We’re going to do everything we can to get ourselves inserted into the special (legislative) session” scheduled to begin July 18, Kyle Workman, president of Texans Against High-Speed Rail, said in a Wednesday telephone interview. Chris Lippincott, executive director of

Legislature can't simply ignore voters' wishes for more highway funding

Texas voters overwhelming approved the allocation of a small portion of sales tax revenue for roads (Proposition 7) in the 2015 election. The 83 percent of voters supported the measure, sending a clear message to invest more of our resources in roads and bridges to make highways safer and to address ever-growing traffic congestion. Now, Texas legislators are considering a measure to pull back more than $2 billion of this incremental highway funding even before this new money

GOP lawmaker wants Texas law to catch up to driverless cars

State Rep. Charlie Geren isn’t about to let Texas get left in the dust when driverless vehicles start easing their way into everyday life. Especially since car manufacturers need somewhere to test them and could one day need someplace to mass produce them. “I don’t want General Motors, or Ford, or Volkswagen, or Uber or anybody going anywhere else because Texas isn’t quite ready for this yet,” Geren told The Texas Tribune late Thursday. The Fort Worth Republican this week fil

TxDOT executive director recovering following ‘mild stroke’

James Bass, the Texas Department of Transportation’s executive director for the past 13 months, is recovering at home after suffering a “mild stroke” on Friday, TxDOT officials said Thursday. Bass, 50, a career TxDOT employee who had been the agency’s chief financial officer for 11 years before getting the top job, was in a meeting with his senior staff when the symptoms of stroke occurred, said Tryon Lewis, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission. The executive direc

Texas Chosen as Testing Grounds for Automated Vehicles

U.S. Department of Transportation selects Texas as 1 of 10 testing locations for autonomous vehicle technology AUSTIN – The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has named Texas a national Automated Vehicle (AV) Proving Ground for the testing of connected and automated vehicle technologies. The designation establishes Texas as a leader in the research and development of new transportation technologies that could make roads safer and less congested. “With five of the natio

TEX-21 goes to Austin for IH-30 and IH-35 Legislative Days

IH-35 and IH-30 are two key roads in the transportation infrastructure of Texas. Both have full interstate status. But having interstate status does not guarantee quality roads. Both IH-30 and IH-35 need continuous service roads throughout the corridor. The inconsistent availability of service roads contributes to a higher amount of traffic along the route, and reduced business and economic growth in those areas. Service lanes are also a component of the State Implementati