How will it affect me?

By now you may be wondering, rightly, what's this got to do with me? Why should I be interested in what's happening with Texas transportation? Well, we're glad you asked.

No matter what part of the state you live in—urban or rural, suburban or exurban—we have plans to make your transportation experience better, more efficient, safer and more reliable than ever before.

If you live in a congested urban center, we're working to find ways to build new capacity to help reduce traffic and save you time. And unlike in the past, we'll be able to finish many of these projects years—sometimes even decades—ahead of what has been considered typical.

Just think of all the ways you can spend the time you normally spend stuck in traffic: working in your garden, watching your child's soccer game, seeing a movie with your friends. The possibilities of what you can do with that time are endless, especially when you're no longer faced with endless traffic.

But let's say you live in a rural area. You may be thinking, "Why should I care about congestion? I live in the country for a reason—to get away from all those city problems." And it's true that many of our state's less densely populated regions don't suffer from the choking congestion that our major urban centers do. But you still depend on the delivery of goods to your area, many of which must travel through major cities to get to you. Or you produce goods and products that you want to get out to the marketplace.

And though your area may not experience congestion, more vehicles are on your roads, causing them to deteriorate at a quicker pace. Lately, funds for maintenance have been getting tight, and our plan can help keep your roads better maintained. Also, many rural areas lack trade corridors that could help bring jobs and economic opportunity to the inhabitants of the region. With an improved transportation system, the preservation and prosperity of towns otherwise threatened by economic obsolescence will be possible.

Statewide Benefits

Many of the effects of our transportation plan will benefit the state as a whole.

For example, improved infrastructure will aid any Texan in the event of an emergency evacuation, be it from a hurricane, wildfire or other catastrophe. When large numbers of people need to move, the reliability and capability of the transportation system is priority number one.

Cleaning the air not only improves life for the residents of cities, but protects the environment and the interconnected ecosystems of our great state.

When local and regional officials get the authority to make transportation decisions for their areas, regions get what they need most and can then generate their own sources of funding for future improvements in the area. This is a much better system than giving Austin all the power to make all the transportation decisions for every corner of Texas.

Safety will continue to improve, with every project that rehabilitates, maintains or constructs new infrastructure functioning as a safety project. Plus, we will have more flexibility to implement special safety initiatives around the state.

A Better Future

So how does our work at the Texas Department of Transportation affect you? Well, if you enjoy safer, less congested roads, increased job opportunities, cleaner air and a more efficient, more reliable transportation system, then our plan means we'll all be better off.