The REAL Plan: Future-Proofing Transportation Planning by TxDOT

TxDOT REAL Plan – a visionary, innovative, data-driven, and scalable comprehensive plan presenting a long-term vision where next-gen infrastructure and emerging technologies are integrated and deployed systematically to move people and goods more efficiently throughout Greater Houston. This is a dynamic and adaptable plan to help stakeholder agencies and local governments better understand the planned future of the State's system, thus enabling better coordination and collaboration.

 Visionary -

The REAL Plan envisions an interconnected multimodal transportation system that connects Greater Houston through a network of limited access lanes (the REAL lanes) connected to and accessed exclusively via mobility hubs and freight villages. The goal is to integrate our region’s transportation, transit, and freight system into an efficient, equitable, flexible, and seamless multi-modal mobility network, integrating future infrastructure and technology innovations.

 Innovative -

The REAL Plan is powered by various innovative tools, including SWIFT (Sustainable Ways to Integrate Future Transportation) – a data-driven, performance-based scenario planning tool to study and evaluate future uncertainties in land use, travel behavior, mobility policies, and emerging technologies at a regional scale.

Data-Driven -

The REAL Plan is delivered as the REAL Digital Book, an interactive online portal containing all data, analyses, and findings of the REAL Plan in one place, including two sections – Explore REAL and Deploy REAL – to help REAL users understand and apply the REAL concept in their studies/plans/projects.