The latest transportation news from The Texas Tribune.
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Mayors Annise Parker of Houston, Mike Rawlings of Dallas and Betsy Price of Fort Worth on Thursday announced their support for a privately funded high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston. Full Story
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Advocates for more pedestrian-friendly urban cores and communities say interest in making Texas cities more walkable is on the rise — a shift spurred in part by changing demographics and the state’s growing population. Full Story
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Tesla, a manufacturer of high-end electric cars, has named Texas one of four finalists to house its planned $5 billion lithium-ion battery factory. But the state's strict auto dealership laws could hurt its chances, company officials say. Full Story
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As Texas Central Railway works to develop a high-speed rail line connecting Dallas and Houston, its leaders say they expect to avoid the pitfalls that killed a similar project more than 20 years ago. Full Story
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A slight majority of Texas registered voters would support an overhaul of federal immigration law that includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the U.S., according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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Full video of my 2/7 TribLive conversation with three Amarillo lawmakers: state Sen. Kel Seliger and state Reps. "Four" Price and John Smithee. Full Story
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The snowstorm that created a traffic nightmare last week in Atlanta last week sheds light on the challenges facing car-dependent urban areas in Texas and other states that see severe winter weather infrequently. Full Story
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State transportation officials will start public hearings this week on a high-speed rail study that includes Oklahoma and Mexico, and officials are also expected to launch a commission to look at a rail proposal focused on Dallas-Fort Worth. Full Story
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A coalition of public officials in the U.S. federal government, the Mexican federal government and Texas are discussing how to develop and finance a high-speed rail line connecting San Antonio to Monterrey, Mexico. Full Story
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The Federal Railroad Administration is moving forward with studies on the environmental impact of building a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston and a shorter line between Fort Worth and Dallas. Full Story
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