November 10, 2025 - TexasTribune.com, Joshua Fechter - 

As the state’s population grows, more travel options are needed in rural and smaller urban areas and between major cities, according to a draft of the first-of-its-kind plan.

The state agency in charge of building Texas’ massive highways says Texans need more ways to get around if the state’s going to continue to grow — a stunning acknowledgment in car-dominant Texas.

A draft of the first-of-its-kind Texas Department of Transportation plan released in October outlines the need for boosted public transportation in rural and smaller urban areas as well as a greater array of travel options, including rail, between the state’s major urban centers.

Texas, the report acknowledges, needs a variety of ways for people to get around the state without a car to help absorb that growth. Texas is projected to add more than 9 million residents by 2050. The number of drivers on the road has vastly outpaced the state’s ability to build highway capacity. Meanwhile, there’s generational forces afoot. Millennials and Zoomers in the state’s major urban areas want more transit options, while older Texans in rural parts of the state may increasingly need it owing to the rising cost of car ownership.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/10/texas-public-transit-plan/

Photo credit: TxDOT, Mineola Station