The latest transportation news from The Texas Tribune.
Phil Wilson, a former Texas secretary of state and aide to Gov. Rick Perry, on Thursday was named executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation. For Wilson, the new job comes with a big salary — and even bigger challenges. Full Story
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A weeklong partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration has delayed airport construction projects in Houston and Abilene. Full Story
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This week, Secretary of State Hope Andrade conducted a lottery that determined the order of the 10 new proposals on the November ballot. Each amendment already won approval from two-thirds of the House and Senate and now needs a nod from a majority of the voters. Here's the rundown... Full Story
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Notorious radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones led a raucous protest at the Capitol Wednesday over the Legislature's failure to pass a bill criminalizing invasive airport pat downs. "Every one of [those senators] is an enemy of the Republic and the Republic of Texas!" he bellowed. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Public Safety today announced the start of a program to help poor drivers pay off expensive surcharges and get their driver's licenses back. Full Story
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A bill directing the Department of Motor Vehicles to create an anti-abortion license plate to raise money for crisis pregnancy centers got an early OK from the House — and staved off a flurry of amendments from Democrats. Full Story
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Consider it a do-over. The House today tentatively approved the Texas Department of Transportation Sunset bill, the measure that last year sent lawmakers into a surprise special session. Full Story
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With less than five weeks left to go in the session, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst sat down with the Tribune to talk about his future political plans, the status of the budget in the Senate and in the biennial parley between the Senate and the House, redistricting and the tug-of-war over the Rainy Day Fund. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Transportation Sunset bill that got caught up in the backlog of legislation last session passed the Senate today. Full Story
The Texas House today passed a bill allowing Texas Department of Transportation to study whether to increase the speed limit on certain highways to 85 miles per hour. See how the state compares with this interactive map. Full Story
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The Texas House today passed a bill allowing TxDOT to increase the speed limit on certain highways to 85 miles per hour. These interactive maps visualize the vehicle speed limits set by states on rural interstates, with darker shades representing higher speeds. Full Story
Lawmakers at the Capitol debate eliminating a surcharge on traffic tickets that has been riddled with problems almost since its inception. Full Story
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Lawmakers at the Capitol today debated eliminating a surcharge on traffic tickets that has been riddled with problems almost since its inception. Full Story
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Lives are at stake if the Legislature fails to appropriate the full amount of the Driver Responsibility Program fund, medical professionals said at a Capitol press conference today. Full Story
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Lawmakers today filed a bill they hope will help drivers, cyclists and pedestrians safely share the roads. Full Story
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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
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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
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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Road rage and fender-benders aren’t the only reasons to hate traffic jams — Texans wasted $8.96 billion on congested roadways in 2009, according to the Urban Mobility Report released today by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) at Texas A&M University. Full Story
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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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