 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Transportation in Texas" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
.jpg)
.jpg)
TheTexas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is agovernmental 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 immensehighway system, the agency is also responsible foraviation in the state and overseeingpublic transportation systems.
Texasfreeways havebeen heavily traveled since their 1948 beginnings with a several-mile stretch ofHouston'sGulf 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 throughHigh-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 itsfrontage 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 waysHouston has tried to control the potential side effects of convenience.
Another common characteristic found near Texas overpasses are theTexas 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.
TheDallas–Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), located nearly equidistant fromdowntownDallas anddowntownFort 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 forAmerican Airlines.
Texas's second-largest air facility is Houston'sGeorge 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 forUnited 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 onlyAtlanta Hartsfield with 250 destinations.
Southwest Airlines, the largest domestic carrier in the United States began its operations atDallas Love Field and is still headquartered in Dallas, Texas.[2] It is the largest airline in the United States by number of passengers carried domestically per year and thefourth largest airline in the world by number of passengers carried.[3]
Some of the other airports that are served by airlines includeDallas Love Field, HoustonHobby 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, andValley International Airport inHarlingen, TX.
Part of the state'scowboy legends are based oncattle drives wherelivestock was herded from Texas torailroads in Kansas. The first railroad in Texas completed in 1872, theMissouri-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 thanCorsicana as planned.[4] 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.[5] The state's oldest regulatory agency, theRailroad Commission of Texas, originally regulated the railroads, but in 2005, the state transferred these duties to TxDOT.[6]
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 threeAmtrak trains serve Texas:
There are three mass transportation agencies in theDallas–Fort Worth metroplex:Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART),Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA), andTrinity Metro (known as the Fort Worth Transportation Authority from 1983 to 2018). DART is a public transportation authority providing buses, rail, andHOV lanes to 13 municipalities primarily inDallas County, with portions extending intoCollin andDenton counties. DART began operating the firstlight rail system in theSouthwest United States in 1996, with expansion into the surrounding counties through the 2010s. DART maintained the only light rail system in Texas untilMETRORail opened in Houston in 2004. Since beginning service in 1996, DART and Trinity Metro have conjointly operated theTrinity Railway Express (TRE) commuter rail line, connecting downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth since 2001. Trinity Metro servesTarrant 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 andTEXRail. DCTA serves Denton County through three member cities, Denton, Lewisville, and Highland Village with bus andA-train commuter rail service. The city ofArlington remains the largest city in the United States not served by a public transportation system, instead using a ride-share service since 2017.
TheMetropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO) operatesbus,lift bus,light rail, andbus rapid transit service inHarris County, which includesHouston. METRO also operates bus service to two cities inFort 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) fromDowntown Houston to theTexas Medical Center andReliant 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.
TheCapital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro) operates bus service throughout the city of Austin and also operates theCapital MetroRail commuter rail line.
TheBrownsville Urban System operates bus service throughout the city ofBrownsville, Texas.
Over 1,000seaports dot Texas's coast with over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) ofchannels.[7] Ports employ nearly one-million people and handle and average of 317 millionmetric tons.[8] Texas ports are connected with the rest of the US Atlantic seaboard in theGulf section of theIntracoastal Waterway.[7] Until the deadliest hurricane in US history of1900, the state's primary port, wasGalveston. ThePort of Houston replaced Galveston and today is the busiest port in the United States in foreign tonnage, second in overall tonnage, andtenth worldwide tonnage.[9] TheHouston 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.[10]
The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC), officially canceled in 2011,[11] was to have been composed of a 4,000-mile (6,000 km) network ofsupercorridors up to 1,200 feet (370 m) wide to carry parallel links oftollways,rails, andutility lines.[12] 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 amongfreight,commuter, andhigh-speed rail. The Texas Department of Transportation intended to "charge public and private concerns for utility, commodity or data transmission" within the corridor,[13]in essence creating atoll road for services such aswater,electricity,natural gas,petroleum,fiber optic lines, and othertelecommunications services.
Providing safe, effective and efficient movement of people and goods.
Austin (capital) | |
| Topics | |
| Society | |
| Regions |
|
| Metropolitan areas |
|
| Counties | |
