Infrastructure & Transportation

With its massive transportation network and its central location in the continent, Texas is superbly positioned for its role as the nation’s No. 1 state for foreign trade. Each day, hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of goods and raw materials flow in and out of the state on wings, rails and wheels.

Over the past century, Texas has created a transportation system with few rivals.

Road and Rail

• According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Texas has seven of the top 50 water ports in terms of total tonnage in the U.S.
• Texas has more than 10,000 miles of railroad tracks, more than any other state. In 2002 (most recent data available), Texas rail lines conveyed about 271 million tons of freight, or 12.5 percent of the national total.
• In addition, the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex and the city of Houston both maintain light rail systems, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO) of Harris County.

Airports

• Texas has 23 commercial service airports and 303 public-use airports, with hundreds more private airports and airstrips. More than 61,000 Texans work in aviation, earning about $2.5 billion in annual salaries. Aviation generates nearly $8.7 billion in the Texas economy each year.
• More than 91 percent of the state’s population lives within 50 miles of a commercial airport. In 2005, commercial carriers had more than 66.4 million enplanements in the state (that is, persons boarding a plane in Texas).
• Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport handle most of the air cargo in Texas. DFW handles almost 65 percent of all international air cargo in Texas. In 2006, 281,486 tons of air cargo moved through DFW.

Water Ports

• Texas’ ports provide shipping access to international destinations such as Mexico and Central and South America, as well as Europe, Asia and Africa.
• Texas has 28 seaports, of which three—Houston, Beaumont and Corpus Christi—ranked among the top ten U.S. ports for total cargo tonnage in 2006.
• In that year, Texas ranked first among states in the total tonnage of products imported by waterway or seaport, with about 500 million tons of cargo or about 20 percent of the U.S. total.
• Texas’ marine and intermodal transportation (transportation of goods from ports to their eventual destinations) generates nearly $65 billion in economic activity annually, equivalent to 10 percent of the gross state product. Each year, Texas ports generate almost $5 billion in local and state tax revenue and support nearly a million jobs.
• The Port of Houston is the Gulf Coast’s largest container port (that is, standardized containers that can be transferred directly from ships to trucks or trains). In addition, Texas ports generate $9 billion in federal import tax revenues each year.
• The Gulf Intercoastal Waterway (GIWW) connects Texas ports with the rest of the U.S. In Texas, the GIWW moves more than 73 million tons of cargo each year. This cargo is carried on about 40,000 barges with capacity equivalent to more than 3 million large trucks or 570,000 rail cars.