Texas receives national transportation award

ITS America has awarded the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) a Smart Solution Spotlight Award for a new web-based tool that allows truck owners to self-issue the permits and routes they need to move oversize and overweight loads on the state’s highway system. The Smart Solution Spotlight award is made to companies and organisations that use innovative technology to create a safer, cleaner, more efficient and sustainable transportation system. The
September 6, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
560 ITS America has awarded the 6524 Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) and the 375 Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) a Smart Solution Spotlight Award for a new web-based tool that allows truck owners to self-issue the permits and routes they need to move oversize and overweight loads on the state’s highway system.

The Smart Solution Spotlight award is made to companies and organisations that use innovative technology to create a safer, cleaner, more efficient and sustainable transportation system.

The Texas Permitting and Routing Optimization System (TxPros) earned the award in recognition of its use of “smart” technology to improve service, save time and resources and keep loads and motorists safe.

Trucks carrying loads that are taller, longer, wider or heavier than legal limits must get a permit and, for many loads, a route from the TxDMV that avoids obstacles such as low overpasses, or bridges and roads that could be damaged by the load. TxPros is the first system to generate a route in real time using GIS, along with a map and turn-by-turn driving instructions, customised to the size and weight of the load.

TxPros allows trucking companies to apply for oversize/overweight permits, pay the fees, and route their trucks on the best roads for a load’s size and weight, all online, 24/7. The system is said to be the first of its kind in the US and so easy to use that customers have self-issued more than half of all permits since its launch in August 2011.

Related Content

  • August 12, 2014
    Bluetooth travel information aids waiting times at US-Mexico border
    With drivers sometimes waiting up to several hours to cross the US-Mexico border, the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) is partnering with the city of El Paso to provide real-time traffic updates so drivers can plan accordingly and avoid long waits. Using Bluetooth and radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, wait times will be available to motorists and commercial shippers so they can modify travel plans as needed. As Bluetooth devices in passenger vehicles and RFID transponders in com
    Read More
  • September 8, 2014
    Rapid growth makes Texas an incubator for tolling innovation
    As the IBTTA’s annual meeting and exhibition heads for Austin, Mitchell Beer, president of Smarter Shift, considers the role of Texas in the development of tolling strategies and technology. The State of Texas has always prided itself on being ‘larger than life’. From the sprawling geography of the state itself with its wide open skies, to its entrepreneurial ‘get-it-done’ attitude, Texas exudes an impatient restlessness that pushes businesses and public agencies to deliver faster, better results. More ofte
    Read More
  • April 25, 2012
    Houston TranStar wins 'Best of Texas' award
    Houston TranStar has been awarded "Most Innovative Use of Technology" by the Centre for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government, for its cutting-edge Bluetooth-based travel time information system. The new deployment, extending north more than 200 miles along the I-45 North corridor to Dallas, gives TranStar the capability to monitor and manage traffic conditions on this major evacuation route.
    Read More
  • August 1, 2023
    Transportation’s electrifying future
    Climbing out of our silos will be vital to create the frameworks and networks needed to decarbonise transport, if we are serious about mitigating climate change, says Colin Sowman
    Read More

Highlighted Content