January 16, 2026 - TRA Newswire -

Texas lawmakers will hold what they call 'Interim Charge Hearings' in the upcoming months, to review legislation that passed during the 2025 session and determine what should be studied leading into the next gathering in 2027.

Here's how it works: Each committee Chair of the Senate submits their interim suggestions to Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and House committee Chairs send their interim requests to Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows. 

This month, the Texas House Transportation Committee and the Senate Transportation Committee are in process of submitting their respective interim hearing requests. Texas Rail Advocates is urging transportation committee members and their chairs to include the recently released Texas Department of Transportation Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan to their interim dockets.

The SMTP is the first comprehensive plan developed by the transportation agency that addresses the long-sought need for a rail and bus network to connect Texas cities. 

The TxDOT plan shows that Texas continued to grow and that Texans want more options to travel.

According to the SMTP, The Texas Demographic Center (TDC) forecasts a 40% increase in population and a 33% increase in employment between 2020 and 2050 across the state. Most of this anticipated growth is projected to occur within the Texas Triangle megaregion, which includes Houston, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Austin, and San Antonio.

According to the 2023 statewide TxDOT Transportation Visioning Survey, in addition to roadways, 86% of respondents say it is important to improve public transit in Texas. Texas SMTP, looking ahead for the next 25 years, provides a framework for developing the improvements Texans want and many others need. The plan recommends a set of near-term initial priority steps along with high-level cost estimates for implementing a rail and bus transit vision. 

"Transit supports economic growth and opportunity so one of the key questions that legislators need to determine is what kind of of role does to state play in a statewide transit network," according to Texas Rail Advocates President Peter LeCody. "it's going to cost the state something compared to what can be obtained through available federal grants, so what is a comfortable percentage number that the state supplies in funding. What kind of governance is needed so that there is a seamless transit system. There's a lot of questions and the Interim Charges are a good place to start this conversation." 

Texas Rail Advocates agrees that there are three strategies that need to be advanced for Intercity connectivity;

1. Identify a statewide route and hub network based on current and future rail and intercity bus forecasts

2. Develop a governance framework for statewide and regional intercity services

3. Implement technology to enable seamless travel statewide

We urge our elected leaders to take intercity rail and transit connections as an Interim Charge and develop how transportation policy advanced in the 2027 legislative session can lead to better travel option outcomes for Texans.