Traffic congestion in Texas is choking our highways and choking our economy, making it harder to buy what we need and harder to keep or find a job. Congestion in cities not only costs Texans billions in lost time and wasted fuel, but also robs us of time we would rather spend with our family and friends. In 2011, the Texas Legislature set aside $300 million to get the state’s highest-priority roadway projects moving. As part of that effort, the Legislature directed the Texas Transportation Institute to help TxDOT and local agencies advance projects that can do the most to improve mobility and strengthen local economies and identify the most publicly-acceptable options to pay for the state’s most urgent congestion-relief projects.

Through this effort, TTI identified dozens of mobility improvement strategies to address congestion using both time-tested and innovative methods. There is no quick-fix for traffic congestion, and while the size of the congestion problem in the largest metropolitan areas is more significant than any one strategy will be able to address, each strategy does represent a part of the solution.