Years of rapid economic growth and a population growing at about double the national rate present Texas with infrastructure challenges. Working to mitigate these strains, Americans have been driving fewer miles per capita since 2006, as the Internet brings shopping, entertainment, and personal communications into homes.
The chart below shows that lawmakers boosted funding for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) over two sessions in 2013 and 2015. Proposition 1 resulted in $1.7 billion being allocated for transportation in 2015. However, due to lower oil and gas prices, Proposition 1 transfers are likely to be more modest than forecast. Proposition 7 amended the Texas Constitution to allocate revenue to the State Highway Fund from state sales taxes starting in 2018 and a portion of motor vehicle sales taxes in 2020. Further, some $1.3 billion in diversions out of the Fund 6 account for non-transportation purposes was ended in the 2016-17 budget.