Families Urge Support for Texting-While-Driving Ban
More than 30 families who have lost someone to distracted driving gathered Tuesday at the state Capitol to rally support for legislation that would ban texting while driving in Texas. Full Story
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In State Contracting, Failure is an Option
Texas's tendency to privatize state services has led to contracting scandals erupting regularly. But a history of cost overruns or bad performance hardly bars a company from winning future jobs. Full Story
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TxDOT: Toll Billing Problems Being Addressed
Officials with the Texas Department of Transportation and Xerox, the company handling the state's tolling operations, said Thursday that fixes to customer service and billing issues were in the works. Full Story
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![Interstate 45 Gulf Freeway's HOV and Toll lanes exit into Metro's Eastowood Transit Center in Houston Friday, October 19, 2012.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Tesla Motors, Car Dealers Clash Over Franchise Law
Monopolies are bad for consumers, both sides fighting over whether Tesla Motors should be allowed to sell its cars directly to Texans agreed Wednesday. But monopoly is in the eye of the beholder. Full Story
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![Tesla vehicle on display outside the Texas Capitol on Jan. 15, 2015.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Video: A Conversation With Dan Patrick
Full video of my 1/27 conversation with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who talked about the change in Senate rules, vouchers, tax relief, transportation funding, open carry and more. Full Story
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Texas Bikers Know How to Be Heard at Capitol
More than a thousand Texas bikers descended on the Capitol on Monday to present lawmakers with their legislative agenda for this session. Not surprisingly, they want looser traffic laws for motorcyclists. Full Story
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![Bikers from all over Texas came to the Capitol to lobby their representatives for their causes, Jan. 26, 2015.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Bill Targets Toll Road's Power to Take Land
Only one private company in the state has the power to condemn and take land for a toll road. Following public backlash over its proposed road near Dallas, state Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale, wants to take that power away. Full Story
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![Traffic on I-30 on the eastern side of Lake Ray Hubbard in Rockwall on June 6. A proposed private tollway to relieve traffic in the area appears to be dead.]()
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TxDOT Spends Millions in Tuition Reimbursements
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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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![Elon Musk, the CEO and of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, spoke at the Texas Transportation Forum in Austin on Jan. 15, 2015.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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![Gov. Rick Perry laughs at a question during the final keynote of 2014 TribFest.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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![Greg Abbott said boosting transportation funding would be a priority for him during his first term as governor.]()
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Lower Speed Limits Coming in Drilling Areas
A rule change will allow the Texas Department of Transportation to move more quickly in lowering speed limits on particularly dangerous roads in the state's drilling regions in West and South Texas. Full Story
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Prop 1 Passed. Now What?
With the support of 80 percent of Texas voters, Proposition 1 is expected to add billions to the state highway fund without raising taxes or fees. For lawmakers, state officials and local stakeholders, now the real work begins. Full Story
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Revisit The Shale Life
The challenges the oil and gas boom present for communities across South and West Texas are immense. Revisit our 15-part multimedia series to see how surging energy production is changing lives and fortunes across Texas. Full Story
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