AUSTIN, Dec. 18 - The Texas Department of Transportation unveiled new website tools Tuesday, enabling website visitors to interactively examine lists of congested roadways in the state, look up pavement condition ratings and see how the maintenance funds spent in their area will impact their roadways. The tools, which are linked to the department's project tracker, were created at the direction of the Texas Legislature.

The idea of sharing congestion data with the public is not new - the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) at Texas A&M University has long-distributed reports on congestion levels throughout the United States, including those levels in Texas. Sharing the information in such an interactive and state-focused manner is always an appropriate exercise, especially in times of tight funding. TxDOT will work with Metropolitan Planning Organizations across the state to align resources to meet the most pressing needs.

TxDOT coordinated with outside research institutions to ensure the accuracy and impartiality of the methodology used in the new tools. While TxDOT tracks pavement quality scores, the Center for Transportation Research, housed at the University of Texas, provided the information to determine the impact of maintenance expenditures based on a formula developed by their researchers. The list of the top 100 most congested roadways was compiled using information from TTI, which creates an annual list of most congested urban areas in the nation based on their calculation of a Traffic Congestion Index.

The new website tools and the TxDOT project tracker are available.

The Texas Department of Transportation is responsible for maintaining nearly 80,000 miles of road and for supporting aviation, rail and public transportation across the state. TxDOT and its 15,000 employees strive to empower local leaders to solve local transportation problems, and to use new financial tools, including tolling and public-private partnerships, to reduce congestion and pave the way for future economic growth while enhancing safety, improving air quality and preserving the value of the state's transportation assets. Find out more at www.txdot.gov.