T-Squared: Take The Texas Tribune's annual reader survey
Your responses will help us better understand the people consuming our journalism and how they use it — and that will make us better equipped to serve you. Full Story
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![Amanda Elise Salas asks a question to state Senator and Representatives during a panel of The Rio Grande Valley & 86th Legislature event by The Texas Tribune on June 10, 2019 in Edinburg, Texas.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Veronica G. Cardenas for The Texas Tribune -
To fight huge drop in bus riders, North Texas transit agency faces hard choices about who gets service
The new bus layout coming in 2022 might bring more service to high-demand areas, but it could also modify routes that serve people at their doorsteps. Full Story
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![A Dart bus lies idle at a stop near Westmoreland Station in Dallas on Feb. 2, 2020.]()
Credit: Duy Vu for The Texas Tribune -
Texas revoked a Fort Worth man's anti-Trump license plate. See what other vanity plates were rejected.
The state's Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the "JAIL 45" plate after someone complained it was offensive. Full Story
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![The Texas license plate on Jerry Balkenbush’s car. Jan. 6, 2019.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Jerry Balkenbush -
Watch: Conversations on the future of urban Texas
We're livestreaming our two-day event in Houston exploring the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Texas' largest cities. Full Story
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Someone has died on Texas roads every day for 19 years. Here's a look at some reasons why — and ideas for turning the tide.
Ever since Nov. 8, 2000, someone has been killed in a Texas wreck each day. The state's transportation department is spending an additional $600 million on safety — and trying to end all roadway deaths by 2050. Full Story
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![Pedestrians cross the intersection at Congress Ave. and 6th St. in downtown Austin on Nov. 7, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Tenth Talks: Watch four experts predict the future of Texas cities
In this edition of Tenth Talks, The Texas Tribune's yearlong video series on the next 10 years of Texas, top leaders in housing, homelessness and transportation give Texas cities a decade's worth of marching orders. Full Story
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Texas getting ready to move homeless residents camping beneath Austin highways
The Texas Department of Transportation began posting notices Tuesday letting homeless Austin residents know they must leave encampments under state overpasses by early next week. Full Story
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![APD officers speak to people gathered on sidewalk in front of the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, or ARCH, in downtown Austin on Aug. 4, 2019]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Texas' $7 billion plan to remake Houston highways once again targets homes, businesses in communities of color
Historic black neighborhoods like Independence Heights and the Fifth Ward are in the crosshairs of Houston highway plans, decades after expressways separated communities from the rest of the city. Full Story
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![An aerial view of I-45 and Downtown Houston on Sept. 16, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas road congestion is hitting a breaking point. Are voters ready to approve more public transit spending?
As road congestion worsens in Texas cities, public transit authorities are racing to raise money for vast expansions of light rail and buses to transport the state's growing population. Full Story
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![The Northwest Transit Center, a park-and-ride where several bus stops converge in Houston. Feb. 17, 2017.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas raises sentencing for hit-and-run car accidents to equivalent of DWI manslaughter
A new law increased the punishment for failing to stop and render aid to match the sentence for DWI manslaughter. The goal is to deter drunken drivers from leaving the scene of an accident. Full Story
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![Phil Wood was killed in Austin in 2014 by a driver who left the scene of the accident.]()
Credit: Courtesy of the University of Texas Athletics -
Texas' Driver Responsibility Program ends next month. Here's what that means for you.
More than 600,000 Texans will immediately be eligible to have their driver's licenses reinstated after the program's Sept. 1 repeal. The system was widely criticized for adding additional annual fees on top of the price of tickets, but all pending surcharges will soon be waived. Full Story
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![People wait at a driver license reclamation clinic in Austin on June 22, 2018.]()
Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott vetoes bill requiring children under 2 to ride in rear-facing car seats
Abbott said the measure "is an unnecessary invasion of parental rights and an unfortunate example of over-criminalization." Full Story
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![A mom buckles her infant son safely into a rear facing car seat as they get ready to drive somewhere in their vehicle. The baby's mouth is visible with a big smile. Sunlight shines in from behind. Horizontal with copy space.]()
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Texas lawmakers hope an additional $200 million will decrease dreaded wait times at driver's license centers
The money will be used to hire more employees, give a raise to current staffers and open two new driver’s license offices in Angleton and Denton. The Department of Public Safety's management of the offices has drawn criticism, but lawmakers stopped short of moving those duties to another agency. Full Story
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![A line begins to form outside the DPS office in Northwest Austin shortly before it opens at 8 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
Bill to better protect landowners during land condemnations passes Texas House
Although it cut some provisions from the Senate version, the House committee substitute to Senate Bill 421 keeps public meeting requirements and protects against low-ball offers for landowners facing eminent domain actions. Full Story
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![A warning sign indicates where the Exxon Mobile Pegasus pipeline cuts through the Harbor Point Estates neighborhood and into the Cedar Creek Reservoir in Gun Barrel City on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013.]()
Credit: Laura Buckman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers send bill to governor that would eventually outlaw red-light cameras
The legislation includes a provision to allow local governments to continue operating cameras until they finish out any contracts in effect as of May 7. Full Story
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![A red light camera at the intersection of I-35 and 11th St. near downtown Austin on May 6, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate passes bill to kill program that critics say can trap poor people in a cycle of debt
The bill to end the unpopular program, which adds annual surcharges on top of traffic fines — and prompts the suspension of millions of driver's licenses — is headed for Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. If he signs it, pending surcharges will be dropped. Full Story
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![A Dallas police car on patrol.]()
Credit: Cooper Neill for The Texas Tribune -
Texas high-speed rail plans dodge bullet after lawmakers strike provision aiming to delay the project
Legal battles over whether the developer can use eminent domain still loom over the project. Full Story
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![The Japanese Shinkansen is a high-speed train used by JR Central in Japan. A private company is planning to build a rail line between Dallas and Houston using the same trains.]()
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Some see a plan to expand I-35 as a betrayal of Austin’s environmental values
Supporters say the $8 billion plan for one of the state’s most notorious stretches of highway is necessary to fight congestion. But critics say new lanes won’t end traffic — and worry the plan undercuts Austin’s goal to reduce single-occupancy car trips. Full Story
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![I-35 tops the 2015 list of the 100 most congested roadways in Texas compiled by the Texas A&M University Texas Transportation Institute.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Red-light cameras could be removed from Texas intersections after House vote
But an amendment to the bill could keep the devices in place until cities' contracts with vendors expire. Camera proponents say they make intersections safer, but critics say they undermine due process. Full Story
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![A red light camera at the intersection of I-35 and 11th St. near downtown Austin on May 6, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texans could soon know more about how much money toll agencies spend after debt and maintenance costs are paid
The legislation wouldn't remove tolls from roads that have had their construction costs paid off. But its author calls the required disclosure of revenues and expenses an act of transparency. Full Story
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![A toll road in Austin on Dec. 17, 2017.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune