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Statewide Podcasts

TxDOT produces a weekly Statewide Podcast to keep you updated on the latest transportation news and issues. New podcast episodes are produced every Friday and are posted here and are also available on iTunes.

Note: You may subscribe to the RSS feed for TxDOT Statewide Podcasts.

Date	Description	Format
11/01/13	Best of the TxDOT Podcast - Hiemstra: Tomorrow's 'Drivers' May Choose Not To - For most of us, looking into the future is a murky proposition at best. For others, though, like Glen Hiemstra, the owner and founder of futurist.com, the future is a familiar - and hopeful - place where, as he told me, transportation needs and methods look very different from today. Read more from Mr. Hiemstra on his blog, www.futurist.com. This episode originally posted in February 2013.
10/25/13	Phase 1 of I-35E Managed Lanes project kicks off - Interstate 35 between Dallas and San Antonio through Central Texas is one of the most heavily traveled sections of roadway anywhere in the United States. Just south of the DFW Metroplex, the Interstate splits in to I-35E, which serves Dallas, and I-35W, which serves Fort Worth. North of the Metroplex, the two come back together near Denton before heading into Oklahoma. Starting next week, the 27-mile segment of I-35E between I-635 in Dallas and US 380 in Denton is getting a major facelift. For more information about the project, I spoke with TxDOT's Varuna Singh. For more on the I-35E Managed Lanes project, log on to www.keepitmovingdallas.com/projects.
10/18/13	Best of the TxDOT Podcast - Smith on Electric Vehicles: En-Route Charging Eliminates Big Battery Needs - While many are scratching their heads about today's electric vehicles and wondering when the battery technology might finally catch up, Wesley Smith, CEO of Wireless Advance Vehicle Electrification (WAVE), is taking an entirely different approach that's already receiving rave reviews. And as the Star Trek fan noted proudly, helping one vehicle in particular to go where none had gone before. For more information on WAVE, log on to http://www.waveipt.com. This episode originally posted in March 2013.
10/11/13	Study: American Attitudes on Risky Driving Changing ... For the Worse - A recent survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety showed that in the past four years, many Americans' attitudes about drunk driving, drowsy driving, distracted driving and aggressive driving have begun to change?and not for the better. For more, I spoke with AAA Texas spokesman Doug Shupe. For more information on this study, log on to AAAFoundation.org.
10/04/13	Colorado recovery may bring renewal, improvements as well - The state of Colorado has been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the past few years, including epic battles with widespread wildfires and subsequent torrential rains and mudslides that have wiped out roads and bridges in 17 counties. And as Colorado Department of Transportation spokesperson Amy Ford told me, while it may take Colorado and its department of transportation years to recover, as recovery begins, so will improvements that may not have been possible without the recent devastation.
09/25/13	Munoz: 'Tackling Challenges Head-On' - With the economy slowly shifting into recovery and consumer spending on the rise, Texas' ports and commercial border crossings are getting busier by the day. As South Texas grows, so will the traffic at the border, which could affect prices and delivery times for the things Americans buy. With three ports of entry in his Hidalgo County district, State Representative Sergio Munoz Jr. has been at the forefront of the movement to improve Texas' ports of entry, as well as channeling that traffic along a predetermined heavy-traffic corridor, which he established with the passage of House Bill 474 in the last legislative session.
09/20/13	Best of the TxDOT Podcast: TxDOT's fleet getting smaller, younger - In the past 10 years, TxDOT has become a leaner, more efficient agency which has embraced new methods and new technology to keep up with the times. Aside from money spent to build and maintain TxDOT's 80,000-mile system, one of the department's biggest expenditures comes from maintaining its fleet of 16,000 vehicles and pieces of heavy equipment. But that, too, maybe about to change. For more, I spoke with Lauren Garduno, TxDOT's Chief Procurement Officer.This episode originally posted in July 2013.
09/13/13	Guerra: 'We need to Be Prepared' - Last November, lifelong Rio Grande Valley resident Bobby Guerra was sworn into office to finish an uncompleted term in the 41st District of the Texas House of Representatives. Ten months and four legislative sessions later, Rep. Guerra has received a crash course in lawmaking in general, and transportation in particular. In addition to the explosive growth in the region, representing the Rio Grande Valley means representing the area through which a majority of Texas freight must pass en route from the border ports of entry. And that, as the Representative told me, makes the ongoing I-69 project more important than ever.
09/06/13	Study: Fewer Litterers 'Messing with Texas' - Besides being one of the state's most popular slogans, Don't mess with Texas® also is proving to be effective as an anti-littering message. Established by the Texas Department of Transportation in 1986, Don't mess with Texas® has helped reduce visible litter by 34 percent on TxDOT-maintained roadways between 2009 and 2013, according to TxDOT's 2013 Texas Litter Survey.
08/30/13	Best of the TxDOT Podcast: NHTSA Survey: Distracted Driving Awareness High, Behavior Unchanged - There may not be a clear beginning of distracted driving as a phenomenon in the United States, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is working to find the end. A recent survey by NHTSA showed that while a majority of Americans know distracted driving is dangerous, that hasn't stopped them from driving while distracted. For more on this dichotomy, I spoke with NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. This episode originally posted in May 2013.