Editorial policy

This policy applies to every page on tmohouston.net. It was published on Oct. 8, 2026, and any change to it will be dated on this page.

Sources, in order of weight

Texas Mobility Outlook gives the most weight to the original public record and labels everything else by type.

1. Official records. Agency tables and reports from TxDOT, NHTSA, FMCSA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Port Houston, the Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA), the City of Houston, Harris County and H-GAC. Rule text from the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, the Federal Register, the Texas Administrative Code and the Texas Register.
2. Research institutions. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), the University of Houston, Rice University’s Kinder Institute and federal research programs, with the study years stated.
3. News reports. Used for events, statements and counts that no agency publishes, and named in the sentence (“according to the Houston Chronicle”).
4. Commercial and marketing studies. Rankings from law firms, insurers and personal-finance sites are reported only when they shape public claims. The sentence says what the publisher is, and the page never presents them as official.

Every figure is cited

A figure carries a numbered citation right after the sentence that uses it. The note at the foot of the page gives the publisher, document title, date and link. Each data page also states the data date: TxDOT’s 2025 crash tables, for one, reflect reports processed as of April 7, 2026.

Calculated figures are labeled

Shares, sums, percent changes and rankings that Texas Mobility Outlook works out from published tables are labeled as Texas Mobility Outlook’s arithmetic the first time they appear on a page. Downloadable tables mark computed columns in their notes.

Missing data is marked, not estimated

When a figure the page needs has not been verified, the page shows a marked box that reads “Verified data required” and says what is missing. Texas Mobility Outlook does not estimate, interpolate or round from memory to fill a gap.

Conflicting figures are shown

Agencies revise their own numbers and sometimes publish two figures for the same thing. TxDOT counted 4,150 Texas traffic deaths for 2024 in its April 2025 edition and 4,159 in its April 2026 edition.^1,2 When that happens, the page gives both, names each source and says which one it uses.

Updates and corrections

Pages are updated when an agency releases new data or revises old data. The “Updated” date changes, and the data record shows the new data date. A substantive change, such as a revised year or a removed claim, gets a dated note on the page.

Errors are corrected under the corrections policy.

Rules and regulations

Rules explainers describe what a regulation says, cite its section and give the date it took effect. They do not tell readers how a rule applies to their own situation. Nothing on the site is legal advice.

Photographs

Photographs are documentary images, credited to their photographers and used under the license shown in each credit. Captions give the place and, where known, the date. A photo of one road is never captioned as another. Texas Mobility Outlook does not use staged or generated images to depict real places.

Independence

No agency, company, law firm or advocacy group reviews or approves pages before publication, and Texas Mobility Outlook does not accept payment to include, change or remove a figure. Any material produced with a partner would carry a label at the top naming the partner, and partners would have no say over data pages, research notes or corrections.

Enquiries about data reuse and partnerships go through the contact page.

Bylines

Pages are published under the Texas Mobility Outlook Editorial byline. The sources and methodology page explains how the data behind them is compiled.