Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Texas

Will Old Transit Systems Eat Up All the New Starts Grants?

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 17, 2013 | 8 Comments

One of MAP-21’s many mixed blessings was the New Starts Core Capacity program. It expanded eligibility for New Starts grants — normally reserved as capital assistance for new transit lines — to existing corridors. To qualify, the system just had to show that the improvements would expand the capacity of the line by at least […]

Texas Teen Sentenced to Probation for Killing Four While Driving Drunk

By Angie Schmitt | Dec 11, 2013 | 9 Comments

Ethan Couch, a 16-year-old who killed four people and injured nine others in a drunk driving crash last June, won’t serve any jail time, after a decision handed down by a Texas judge yesterday. In a case that is stirring national outrage, State District Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Couch to 10 years probation. Couch’s blood alcohol level was […]

TIFIA-Backed, Privately-Operated Texas Toll Road Flirts With Default

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 23, 2013 | 8 Comments

It’s been nothing but headaches for Texas State Highway 130. The road — or rather, SH 130 Concession Company LLC, which operates the road — got a credit downgrade to junk bond status in April, and now it’s been deemed even junkier with another downgrade from Moody’s last week. Traffic projections for the road failed […]

Desperate to Keep Highway Money Flowing, Texas Foists Costs Onto Cities

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 21, 2013 | 26 Comments

Faced with an impending budget crisis, the Texas Department of Transportation has decided not to rethink its $5.2 billion plan for a third outerbelt through undeveloped grasslands around Houston. Instead, the agency has developed a proposal to basically shift a big part of its costs to the state’s major cities. The Houston Business Journal reports that […]

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