transportation

The Brief: June 8, 2010

By David Muto June 8, 2010

Efforts to contain the oil still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico finally seem to be making headway, but the government is now warning that the remaining slick may have a mind of its own. Full Story

This photo from a NASA satellite shows the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico on April 25, 2010. — Credit: N.A.S.A.

A Conversation with Deirdre Delisi

By Evan Smith April 26, 2010

For the seventh event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the chair of the Texas Transportation Commission on the size of the road funding hole, the toll-versus-tax debate and whether the governor she once served as chief of staff is really not running for president. Full Story

TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Ross Ramsey April 24, 2010

E. Smith interviews Gov. Rick Perry for the Trib and Newsweek, Philpott dissects the state's budget mess in a weeklong series, Hamilton looks at whether Bill White is or was a trial lawyer, M. Smith finds experts all over the state anxiously watching a court case over who owns the water under our feet, Aguilar reports on the battle between Fort Stockton and Clayton Williams Jr. over water in West Texas, Ramshaw finds a population too disabled to get on by itself but not disabled enough to get state help and Miller spends a day with a young man and his mother coping with that situation, Ramsey peeks in on software that lets the government know whether its e-mail messages are getting read and who's reading what, a highway commissioner reveals just how big a hole Texas has in its road budget, Grissom does the math on the state's border cameras and learns they cost Texans about $153,800 per arrest, and E. Smith interviews Karen Hughes on the difference between corporate and political P.R. — and whether there's such a thing as "Obama Derangement Syndrome." The best of our best from April 19 to April 23, 2010. Full Story

The Road Funding Hole

By Elise Hu April 21, 2010

It's no secret the Texas Department of Transportation is broke. Texas Transportation Commission Chair Deirdre Delisi tells the Tribune's CEO/Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith just how broke the agency is. Full Story

TribBlog: Car2Going Public

By Elise Hu April 13, 2010

Car2Go is a pilot program no more. The innovative Austin-based car-sharing cooperative is opening its memberships to the public starting on May 21. Full Story

TribBlog: TxDOT in the Paint

By Matt Stiles April 12, 2010

Burnt orange and Aggie maroon are out, for now, at the Texas Department of Transportation. Full Story

TxDOT employee Mark Morales uses masking tape in preparation to repaint a pole outside the department's Austin headquarters. — Credit: Elise Hu

Road to Nowhere

By Elise Hu April 12, 2010

It's a transportation funding crisis: Congestion on Texas highways is only going to get worse with our population growing, but the state lacks the billions needed to combat it. Lawmakers trying to find a way to break through the gridlock are issuing a stern warning: There's no something-for-nothing solution. Full Story

Go On a Ride With Car2Go

By Elise Hu April 9, 2010

Leaders in Austin are hoping the next big thing in transportation comes in a tiny Smart car. Watch as an Austin Car2Go user demonstrates how the program works. Full Story

Driven to Share

By Elise Hu April 9, 2010

Austin is hoping the next big thing comes in a tiny car: It's the first North American city to pilot a car-sharing program promising the possibility of less congestion and lower emissions. Full Story

TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Ross Ramsey March 20, 2010

Grissom on the 1.2 million Texans who've lost their licenses under the Driver Responsibility Act and the impenetrable black box that is the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Ramshaw and Kraft on nurses with substance abuse problems and rehabilitation that can get them back to work, M. Smith finds it's not easy being Rick Green, Stiles on counting Texans (and everybody else), Rapoport on the State Board of Education's war with itself and the runoff in SBOE District 10, Thevenot's revealing interview with a big-city superintendent on closing bad schools, Aguilar on the tensions over water on the Texas-Mexico border, Hamilton on the new Coffee Party, Hu on Kesha Rogers and why her party doesn't want her, Philpott on the runoff in HD-47, Ramsey on Bill White and the politics of taxes, and E. Smith's conversation with Game Change authors Mark Halperin and John Heleimann: The best of our best from March 15 to 19. Full Story

TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Ross Ramsey Feb. 27, 2010

Ramshaw on the state's quiet sharing of infant blood samples with the military and on the things Rick Perry's opponents aren't saying about him, Grissom on Farouk Shami's surprising popularity in El Paso, Philpott on the political advantages of a job creation fund and how Debra Medina's supporters are reacting to her "truther" comments, Hu on Debra Medina in the latest installment of Stump Interrupted, Thevenot on how the kids feel about the federal option of closing bad high schools, Rapoport on the newest mutation of the state's pay-as-you-go transportation philosophy, and our roundup of party primaries in the last week before the election: Rapoport on HD-7, Ramsey on HD-11, Aguilar on HD-36 and HD-43, Philpott on HD-47, Thevenot on HD-52 and SD-5, Kreighbaum on HD-105 and one Supreme Court race, M. Smith on another, and Hamilton on the colorful Democratic candidates for Agriculture Commissioner. The best of our best from February 22 to 26, 2010. Full Story

TribBlog: Acceptable Road Conditions

By Abby Rapoport Feb. 26, 2010

The North Texas Tollway Authority board just accepted the Transportation Commission's deal for building State Highway 161 by a vote of eight to one. The state commissioners offered the deal on Wednesday that allows NTTA to effectively borrow TXDOT's credit rating in making deals. Full Story

Road Conditions

By Abby Rapoport Feb. 25, 2010

Sensible people in the Metroplex may have given up long ago on Southwest Parkway and State Highway 161, two huge projects first proposed back in the 1960s. Now they're toll roads — one incomplete, one not yet started — and the money to build them may finally be available. There is, of course, a catch. Full Story