Transportation in Texas

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Cycle Track Ribbon Cutting-Rio Grande Street, Austin,Texas (7651054306).jpg
Austin Transport (33568572718).jpg
Transportation in Texas
Cycle track, Austin, Lime scooters, Austin

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is a governmental agency and its purpose is to "provide safe, effective, and efficient movement of people and goods" throughout the state. [1] Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with maintenance of the state's immense highway system, the agency is also responsible for aviation in the state and overseeing public transportation systems.

Contents

Highways

I-10 and I-45 interchange in Houston 45intoI-10 2.jpg
I-10 and I-45 interchange in Houston
State Highway 45, the first of several toll roads in Central Texas, under construction Texas45.jpg
State Highway 45, the first of several toll roads in Central Texas, under construction

Texas freeways have on heavily traveled since their 1948 beginnings with a several-mile stretch of Houston's Gulf Freeway, and are often under construction to meet the demands of continuing growth. As of 2005, there were 79,535 miles (127,999 km) of public highway in Texas (up from 71,000 miles (114,000 km) in 1984). Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) planners have sought ways to reduce rush hour congestion, primarily through High-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes for vans and carpools. The "Texas T", an innovation originally introduced in Houston, is a ramp design that allows vehicles in the HOV lane, which is usually the center lane, to exit directly to transit centers or to enter the freeway directly into the HOV lane without crossing multiple lanes of traffic. Timed freeway entrances, which regulate the addition of cars to the freeway, are also common. Houston and San Antonio have extensive networks of freeway cameras linked to transit control centers to monitor and study traffic.

One characteristic of Texas's freeways are its frontage roads (also known as service roads, feeder roads, and access roads). Texas is the only state that widely constructs frontage/access roads along its highways even in the most remote areas.Frontage Roads - What are Frontage Roads and Why Does Texas Have So Many? Frontage roads provide access to the freeway from businesses alongside, such as gas stations and retail stores, and vice versa. Alongside most freeways along with the frontage roads are two to four lanes in each direction parallel to the freeway permitting easy access to individual city streets. A TxDOT policy change now limits the frontage road construction for new highways, but the existing frontage will remain. New landscaping projects and a longstanding ban on new billboards are ways Houston has tried to control the potential side effects of convenience.

Another common characteristic found near Texas overpasses are the Texas U-turns which is a lane allowing cars traveling on one side of a one-way frontage road to U-turn into the opposite frontage road (typically crossing over or under a freeway or expressway) without being stopped by traffic lights or crossing the highway traffic at-grade.

Most roads, such as rural two-lane roads, rural divided expressways and interstates, and urban interstates are posted at 75 mph (121 km/h), but some rural freeways and interstates have 80 mph (130 km/h) speed limits, and one toll road, Texas State Highway 130, has an 85 mph (137 km/h) speed limit, the highest in the United States.

Traffic safety considerations

Texas and California are comparable being the two largest states in the contiguous United States. This perhaps explains why these two states experience higher traffic fatalities than other states. [2]

There were more traffic fatalities in California than in Texas till 2007. Since 2017, there have been more fatalities in Texas than in California. [2]

The fatality rate by travelled distance and by population is worse in Texas than in the USA.[ citation needed ]

Fatalities in TexasFatalities in Texas by zone
Fatalities in Texas by VMTFatalities in Texas by population
Sources: https://cdan.nhtsa.gov/SASStoredProcess/guest

(Eurostat/CARE for comparison to France and Germany)

Airports

The DFW airport on July 1, 2022; taken from the International Space Station with north oriented to the left. ISS067-E-170867 Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and vicinity.jpg
The DFW airport on July 1, 2022; taken from the International Space Station with north oriented to the left.

The Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), located nearly equidistant from downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth, is the largest airport in the state, the second largest in the United States, and fourth largest in the world. The airport is the headquarters for American Airlines.

Texas's second-largest air facility is Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The airport is the tenth-busiest in the United States for total passengers, and nineteenth-busiest worldwide. The airport is the largest hub for United Airlines, with over 600 daily departures. A long list of cities within Texas, as well as international destinations, are served directly from this airport. With 30 destinations in Mexico, IAH offers service to more Mexican destinations than any other U.S. airports. IAH currently ranks second among U.S. airports with scheduled non-stop domestic and international service (221 destinations), trailing only Atlanta Hartsfield with 250 destinations.

Southwest Airlines, the largest domestic carrier in the United States began its operations at Dallas Love Field and is still headquartered in Dallas, Texas. [3] It is the largest airline in the United States by number of passengers carried domestically per year and the fourth largest airline in the world by number of passengers carried. [4]

Some of the other airports that are served by airlines include Dallas Love Field, Houston Hobby Airport, San Antonio International Airport, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, El Paso International Airport, Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport, Midland International Airport, Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport, and Valley International Airport in Harlingen, TX.

Railroads

METRORail in Houston METRORail 5.jpg
METRORail in Houston

Part of the state's cowboy legends are based on cattle drives where livestock was herded from Texas to railroads in Kansas. The first railroad in Texas completed in 1872, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, diminished the need for these drives. The desire for the benefits of railroads was so strong that Dallasites paid $5,000 for the Houston and Central Texas Railroad to shift its route through its location, rather than Corsicana as planned. [5] Since 1911, Texas has led the nation in railroad length. Texas railway mileage peaked in 1932 at 17,078 miles (27,484 km), but since has dwindled to 14,006 miles (22,540 km) in 2000. [6] The state's oldest regulatory agency, the Railroad Commission of Texas, originally regulated the railroads, but in 2005, the state transferred to these duties to TxDOT. [7]

Passenger railroads

El Paso, Texas station with the westbound Sunset Limited Elpasostation.jpg
El Paso, Texas station with the westbound Sunset Limited

Passenger rail service in Texas is at this moment[ when? ] extremely limited from both network viewpoint (with only three routes) and frequency viewpoint (only daily or tri-weekly service), and is certainly to be considered below par for a developed state.

Currently three Amtrak trains serve Texas:

Mass transportation

METRORail in Downtown Houston METRORail 7.jpg
METRORail in Downtown Houston
Dallas-Fort Worth Rail Dallas-Fort Worth Rail.svg
Dallas-Fort Worth Rail

There are three mass transportation agencies in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex: Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA), and Trinity Metro (known as the Fort Worth Transportation Authority from 1983 to 2018). DART is a public transportation authority providing buses, rail, and HOV lanes to 13 municipalities primarily in Dallas County, with portions extending into Collin and Denton counties. DART began operating the first light rail system in the Southwest United States in 1996, with expansion into the surrounding counties through the 2010s. DART maintained the only light rail system in Texas until METRORail opened in Houston in 2004. Since beginning service in 1996, DART and Trinity Metro have conjointly operated the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) commuter rail line, connecting downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth since 2001. Trinity Metro serves Tarrant County through 3 member cities, providing bus and rail service DCTA that was created by the Texas Legislature in 2001 and approved by Denton County voters in 2002, providing a bus and commuter rail service, including the TRE and TEXRail. DCTA serves Denton County through three member cities, Denton, Lewisville, and Highland Village with bus and A-train commuter rail service. The city of Arlington remains the largest city in the United States not served by a public transportation system, instead using a ride-share service since 2017.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO) operates bus, lift bus, light rail, and bus rapid transit service in Harris County, which includes Houston. METRO also operates bus service to two cities in Fort Bend County. METRO began running light rail service (METRORail) in Houston on January 1, 2004. Currently the track is rather short, running only 8 miles (13 km) from Downtown Houston to the Texas Medical Center and Reliant Park. However, construction begun in 2008 on a 30-mile (48 km) extension of the light rail system that was completed in 2013.

VIA Metropolitan Transit (VIA for short) operates bus service in the San Antonio area. VIA is expected to add bus rapid transit service to the area by 2012.

The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro) operates bus service throughout the city of Austin and also operates the Capital MetroRail commuter rail line.

The Brownsville Urban System operates bus service throughout the city of Brownsville, Texas.

Ports

Over 1,000 seaports dot Texas's coast with over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of channels. [8] Ports employ nearly one-million people and handle and average of 317 million metric tons. [9] Texas ports are connected with the rest of the US Atlantic seaboard in the Gulf section of the Intracoastal Waterway. [8] Until the deadliest hurricane in US history of 1900, the state's primary port, was Galveston. The Port of Houston replaced Galveston and today is the busiest port in the United States in foreign tonnage, second in overall tonnage, and tenth worldwide tonnage. [10] The Houston Ship Channel is currently 530 feet (160 m) wide by 45 feet (14 m) deep by 50 miles (80 km) long and continues to be expanded. [11]

Trans-Texas Corridor

The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC), officially canceled in 2011, [12] was to have been composed of a 4,000-mile (6,000 km) network of supercorridors up to 1,200 feet (370 m) wide to carry parallel links of tollways, rails, and utility lines. [13] The tollway portion would have been divided into two separate elements: truck lanes and lanes for passenger vehicles. Similarly, the rail lines in the corridor would have been divided among freight, commuter, and high-speed rail. The Texas Department of Transportation intended to "charge public and private concerns for utility, commodity or data transmission" within the corridor, [14] in essence creating a toll road for services such as water, electricity, natural gas, petroleum, fiber optic lines, and other telecommunications services.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 45</span> Interstate Highway in Texas

Interstate 45 (I-45) is a major Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. While most Interstate routes which have numbers ending in "5" are cross-country north–south routes, I-45 is comparatively short, with the entire route located in Texas. Additionally, it has the shortest length of all the interstates that end in a "5". It connects the cities of Dallas and Houston, continuing southeast from Houston to Galveston over the Galveston Causeway to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County is a major public transportation agency based in Houston, Texas, United States. It operates bus, light rail, bus rapid transit, HOV and HOT lanes, and paratransit service in the city as well as most of Harris County. It also operates bus service to two cities in Fort Bend County, and to Conroe in Montgomery County. The Metro headquarters are in the Lee P. Brown Administration Building in Downtown Houston. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 60,121,300, or about 225,600 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">METRORail</span> 22.7-mile (36.5 km) light rail system in Houston, Texas

METRORail is the 22.7-mile (36.5 km) light rail system in Houston, Texas. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 12,176,700, or about 44,300 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023. METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th most-traveled light rail system in the United States, and has the highest ridership per mile for light rail systems in the Southern US. METRORail is operated by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Houston</span> Metropolitan area in Texas, United States

Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Coast in Southeast Texas. With a population of 7,122,240 in 2020, Greater Houston is the second-most populous in Texas after the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex</span> Conurbation in Texas, United States

The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, encompassing 11 counties. Its historically dominant core cities are Dallas and Fort Worth. It is the economic and cultural hub of North Texas. Residents of the area also refer to it as DFW, or the Metroplex. The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area's population was 7,637,387 according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 census, making it the most populous metropolitan area in both Texas and the Southern United States, the fourth-largest in the U.S. and the tenth-largest in the Americas. In 2016, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex had the highest annual population growth in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Metro</span> Transit agency for Forth Worth and Tarrant County, Texas

Trinity Metro is a transit agency located in and serving the city of Fort Worth, Texas and its suburbs in surrounding Tarrant County, part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. Since 1983, it was previously known officially as the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (FWTA), and branded itself as The T. As of January 29, 2018 the Board of Directors has voted to rebrand bus services as Trinity Metro, replacing the previous and long standing name. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 4,761,100, or about 17,900 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas State Highway 360</span>

State Highway 360 is a 28-mile (45 km) north–south freeway in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in the U.S. state of Texas. It runs north from an at-grade intersection with US 287 in Mansfield, near the Ellis-Johnson county line to a partial interchange with SH 121 in Grapevine, near Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The highway serves as a local north–south route running through the center of the metroplex, linking together the southern and northern suburbs to the core. Between US 287 and Camp Wisdom Road/Sublett Road, SH 360 follows a pair of frontage roads along a four-lane tollway known as the 360 Tollway, a tollway operated by the NTTA. Between Camp Wisdom Road/Sublett Road and SH 121, SH 360 follows a toll-free freeway maintained by TxDOT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas State Highway Beltway 8</span> Highway in Texas

Beltway 8 (BW8), the Sam Houston Parkway, along with the Sam Houston Tollway, is an 88-mile (142 km) beltway around the city of Houston, Texas, United States, lying entirely within Harris County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas state highway system</span> Highway system of Texas in the United States

Texas state highways are a network of highways owned and maintained by the U.S. state of Texas. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is the state agency responsible for the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the system. Texas has the largest state highway system, followed closely by North Carolina's state highway system. In addition to the nationally numbered Interstate Highways and U.S. Highways, the highway system consists of a main network of state highways, loops, spurs, and beltways that provide local access to the other highways. The system also includes a large network of farm to market roads that connect rural areas of the state with urban areas and the rest of the state highway system. The state also owns and maintains some park and recreational roads located near and within state and national parks, as well as recreational areas. All state highways, regardless of classification, are paved roads. The Old San Antonio Road, also known as the El Camino Real, is the oldest highway in the United States, first being blazed in 1691. The length of the highways varies from US 83's 893.4 miles (1,437.8 km) inside the state borders to Spur 200 at just 0.05 miles long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in Virginia</span> Overview of land sea and air transport systems in Virginia

Transportation in the Commonwealth of Virginia is by land, sea and air. Virginia's extensive network of highways and railroads were developed and built over a period almost 400 years, beginning almost immediately after the founding of Jamestown in 1607, and often incorporating old established trails of the Native Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westpark Tollway</span>

The Westpark Tollway, also Fort Bend Westpark Tollway, is a controlled-access toll road in Texas, serving western Houston and Harris County, and northeastern Fort Bend County. Construction on the facility began in 2001 and portions of the road were opened to traffic in May 2004. Construction of the roadway was completed in August 2005. The Westpark Tollway begins on Westpark Drive just past the South Rice Avenue intersection in the Uptown District of Houston and runs approximately 22 miles (35 km) west to Farm to Market Road 1093 just past Farm to Market Road 723 in Fulshear, Texas. It runs roughly parallel and to the south of Westheimer Road in Harris County and concurrently with FM 1093 in Fort Bend County.

The Harris County Toll Road Authority maintains and operates a 103-mile (165.8 km) toll road system in the Greater Houston area of Texas, United States. Its headquarters are located in Houston's Fairbanks/Northwest Crossing neighborhood.

Central Expressway is a north–south highway in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in Texas (USA) and surrounding areas. The best-known section is the North Central Expressway, a name for a freeway section of U.S. Highway 75 between downtown Dallas and Van Alstyne, Texas. The southern terminus is south of the Woodall Rodgers Freeway at exit 284C of "hidden" Interstate 345. From there, Central Expressway becomes the South Central Expressway, the northernmost portion of which was renamed César Chávez Boulevard on April 9, 2010.

Transportation in Sugar Land, Texas includes multiple highways and an airport. There is no mass transit system, but it has been a possible candidate for expansion of Houston's METRORail system by means of a planned commuter rail. Since many of Sugar Land's residents work in Houston, thus creating routine rush hour traffic along the city's main thoroughfare, Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59, there has been large support in the area for such a project.

This article is about transportation systems in and around Dallas, Texas (USA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in Pittsburgh</span> Transportation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Transportation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is different than in many other major American cities. A large metropolitan area that is surrounded by rivers and hills, Pittsburgh has an infrastructure system that has been built out over the years to include roads, tunnels, bridges, railroads, inclines, bike paths, and stairways; however, the hills and rivers still form many barriers to transportation within the city.

This is a documentation of the routes, highways, parking requirements, or anything related to transportation in Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 10 in Texas</span> Section of Interstate Highway in Texas, United States

Interstate 10 (I-10) is the major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. In the U.S. state of Texas, it runs east from Anthony, at the border with New Mexico, through El Paso, San Antonio, and Houston to the border with Louisiana in Orange. At just under 880 mi (1,420 km), the Texas segment of I-10, maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation, is the longest continuous untolled freeway in North America that is operated by a single authority. It is also the longest stretch of Interstate Highway with a single designation within a single state. Mile marker 880 and its corresponding exit number in Orange, Texas, are the highest numbered mile marker and exit on any freeway in North America. After widening was completed in 2008, a portion of the highway west of Houston is now also believed to be the widest in the world, at 26 lanes when including feeders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 35 in Texas</span> Section of Interstate Highway in Texas, United States

Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major north–south Interstate Highway that runs from Laredo, Texas near the Mexican border to Duluth, Minnesota. In Texas, the highway begins in Laredo and runs north to the Red River north of Gainesville, where it crosses into Oklahoma. Along its route, it passes through the cities of San Antonio, Austin, and Waco before splitting into two branch routes just north of Hillsboro: I-35E heads northeast through Dallas, while I-35W turns northwest to run through Fort Worth. The two branches rejoin in Denton to again form I-35, which continues to the Oklahoma state line. The exit numbers for I-35E maintain the sequence of exit numbers from the southern segment of I-35, and the northern segment of I-35 follows on from the sequence of exit numbers from I-35E. I-35W maintains its own sequence of exit numbers.

References

  1. "Texas Department of Transportation" . Retrieved August 4, 2007. Providing safe, effective and efficient movement of people and goods.
  2. 1 2 Walden, Troy D.; Ko, Myunghoon; Wu, Lingtao. "Comparative Analysis of Fatal Crashes in Texas vs. California and Implications for Traffic Safety in Texas" (PDF). Texas A&M Transportation Institute via Texas Department of Transportation.
  3. "We Weren't Just Airborne Yesterday". Southwest Airlines. May 2, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  4. International Air Transport Association. "Scheduled Passengers Carried". Archived from the original on April 30, 2007. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
  5. East Dallas, TX from the Handbook of Texas Online accessed May 7, 2008
  6. "Texas-Transportation". Advamag, Inc. 2007. Retrieved May 4, 2006.
  7. "Former Rail Division". Texas Railroad Commission. October 1, 2005. Archived from the original on November 20, 2007. Retrieved May 4, 2008.
  8. 1 2 "About Texas Ports". Texas Ports Association. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
  9. "Benefits of Texas Ports". Texas Ports Association. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
  10. "General Information". The Port of Houston Authority. March 31, 2008. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
  11. "Welcome to the Houston-Galveston Navigation Channel Project Online Resource Center" (description), USACE, December 2005, webpage: "USACE Galveston - Houston-Galveston Navigation Channel Project Online Resource Center". Archived from the original on January 9, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2008. USACE-HGNC]
  12. "Texas Legislature Online - 82(R) History for HB 1201". capitol.texas.gov.
  13. Crossroads of the Americas: Trans Texas Corridor Plan Report Summary Archived April 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  14. "Crossroads of the Americas: Trans Texas Corridor Plan". February 27, 2008.