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Every Growing City Should Heed Austin’s New Parking Law
One of America's fastest-growing cities has eliminated parking minimums citywide, sending a clear message that a flood of new residents doesn't have to be followed by a flood new asphalt or congestion upon it.
May 16, 2023
Opinion: What Two Massacres in Texas — One With a Car, One With a Gun — Reveal About America’s Culture of Violence
American news outlets exploded with headlines about two eerily similar mass killings in Texas over the weekend. Both assailants killed eight people each. Both used weapons that advocates have fought for years to regulate because they are uniquely capable of killing large numbers of people in moments: the AR-15 rifle and the SUV.
May 9, 2023
Highway Boondoggles: LBJ East Expansion in Dallas, Texas
16 lanes. A $1.6 billion price tag. More traffic. Less transit. Yep, it's a boondoggle.
June 27, 2018
Texas DOT Aims for More People to Get Killed in Traffic
Texas is still planning for more traffic and more asphalt, and as a result, its forecasts still expect a growing number of people to lose their lives in traffic crashes.
February 9, 2018
How Houston’s Sprawl Makes It Harder to Cope With Storms Like Harvey
While any city would be overwhelmed by so much rain in so little time, land use in the Houston region has made a difficult situation worse.
August 28, 2017
The Human Toll of Normalizing Distracted Driving
Nowhere is the culture of permissiveness more apparent, or deadly, than in Texas, where about 3,500 people lose their lives in traffic every year. It is one of just four states that doesn't ban texting and driving.
April 19, 2017
Private Toll Road Backed By $430 Million in Federal Funds Goes Bust
From the beginning, there were plenty of reasons to suspect that Texas 130 -- a private toll road between San Antonio and Austin -- was a bad idea.
October 18, 2016
A “Dutch Junction” With Glow-in-the-Dark Bike Lanes Now Exists — in Texas
It's America's first unsignalized "Dutch Junction" -- a type of intersection with protected space for cycling. It even has solar luminescent bike lanes. And here's the kicker -- it's in the heart of Texas.
October 7, 2016
The Hilarious 1960s Vision for the Underbelly of a Houston Highway
Ah, the best paid plans. As Texas DOT considers tearing down the Pierce Elevated Freeway on the east side of downtown Houston, it's instructive to look back at what people were thinking when they made this eyesore.
June 30, 2016
Caption Contest: TxDOT’s Shiny Happy People Sucking in Highway Exhaust
This rendering of State Highway 45 Southwest in Austin -- one of 12 highway boondoggles singled out by U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group this year -- inspired some mockery on Twitter:
January 22, 2016