0 - TxDOT REAL Plan – Next-Gen Infrastructure System to Move People and Goods Towards the Future

Houston, We Have a Problem:
Houston, the fourth- largest and second-fastest growing city in the nation, faces an unprecidented challenge: the rapid expansion of its population and emplyment, which is driving an increasing demand for both passenger and freight mobility. However, Houston's current transportation systems and plans are fragmented and lack of integration, rendering them inadequate to meet this growing demand.

Our Solution: The REAL PLan
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Houston District has developed the Regional Express Access Lanes (REAL) Plan. TxDOT REAL Plan is a visionary, innovative, data-driven, and scalable comprehensive plan. It presents a long-term vision where next­gen infrastructure and emerging technologies are integrated and deployed systematically to move people and goods more efficiently throughout Greater Houston. It's 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.
The REAL plan is:
1. Visionary:
The REAL Plan envisions an interconnected multi modal 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. The REAL System is an agile, resilient, and scalable multi modal transportation system adaptable to future growth and technology innovations. The REAL system is composed of the REAL lanes, mobility hubs, and freight villages.
2. Innovation
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; CPT (Corridor Prioritization Tool) & CET (Corridor Evaluation Tool) - corridor analysis tools to streamline and automate the corridor prioritization and evaluation processes.
3. 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. The REAL Plan is designed to be a living tool that will constantly improve and evolve together with the REAL Plan, with capabilities to update data and results dynamically.
4. Scalable
TxDOT Houston Division has concluded the development of the REAL Plan in 2022, and is currently implementing the REAL Plan in the Brookshire-Katy area in Houston, an area witnessing fast and significant growth in population, employment, and freight demand. The implementation plan will identify needs, evaluate trends, and include a list of strategies and projects to improve safety, mobility, resiliency, and accessibility for both people and goods movement in the study area. The implementation plan will serve as an SOP to implement the REAL concept in other study areas in Houston and other regions.