Texas Transportation

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Texas Transportation

Texas Transportation Introduction

The geography of Texas is marked by a large size and rough terrain, but still Texas boasts of having America's largest highway and the longest railway systems. It also has the largest number of airports in the country.

The Texas Department of transportation regulates the highway system and the public transportation systems of Texas including the aviation.

Texas, being located at the centre of North America, is a major transportation hub of America. It has 33 foreign trade zones (FTZ) and more than $298 billion of goods pass through these Texas FTZs.
Here is a summarized picture of the transportation of Texas:

Texas Airports

Texas has the largest number of airports than any state in the USA. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in Texas is the second largest airport in the nation by area. It is also the fourth largest airport in the world with an area stretching above 18,076 acres. Even in terms of traffic, the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is the busiest and biggest airport in the state, fourth in the United States, and sixth in the world with 26,663,984 passengers every year.

The American Eagle which is the largest airline in the world regards DFW as the main hub. The Southwest Airlines, which is the largest airline in the United States by number of passengers carried domestically per year and largest in the world by the number of passengers, is also headquartered in Dallas.

The George Bush Intercontinental Airport is also in Texas. The other major airports of the state are: Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, William P. Hobby Airport, San Antonio International Airport, and Dallas Love Field. The smallest airport in the state is Del Rio International Airport.
  

Texas Ports

Transportation through waterways and ports are also an integral part of Texas transportation. Nearly one-million people are employed in the ports of Texas. The U.S. Atlantic seaboard with the Gulf section of the Intracoastal Waterway is connected through the ports of Texas.

The busiest port is the Port of Houston, with the Houston Ship Channel currently spanning 530 feet (160 m) in width by 45 feet (14 m) deep by 50 miles (80 km) in length.

Texas Railroads

Dallas and Houston, both have light rail systems. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is known to have built the first light rail system of its kind in the Southwest United States. The Trinity Railway Express (TRE) is the commuter rail service linking Fort Worth and Dallas has been built by the Fort Worth Transportation Authority. The Capital MetroRail in the Austin area provides service to the northwestern suburbs.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO) has its service in the Houston area.

Amtrak offers its service in limited intercity passenger rail service.

The routes are:

• The daily Texas Eagle (Chicago–San Antonio)
• The daily Heartland Flyer (Fort Worth–Oklahoma City).
• The tri-weekly Sunset Limited (New Orleans–Los Angeles) with stops in Texas

Texas Highways

In 2005, there were 79,535 miles (127,999 km) of roadways across Texas. It has 17 toll roads, and many are still lined in the proposal list. The Interstate 10 and Interstate 20 are the major highways of the state. They have speed limits of 80 miles per hour (130 km/h), which is the highest in the USA.

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)

List of Airports in Texas