Transportation Law

• Federal Laws
• Texas Laws
• Laws of Other States
• Admiralty Law

Federal Laws

Guide to Law Online: Transportation and Infrastructure (Library of Congress)

A list of compilations of transportation related laws harvested from the Internet Archive.

Government and Legal (Federal Transit Administration)

Gathers legislative and regulatory information for transit issues.

U.S. Code, Title 49: Transportation (Office of the Law Revision Counsel)

The official compilation of U.S. transportation statutes. See also Title 23: Highways, Title 45: Railroads, Title 46: Shipping.

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

News of current transportation legislation under consideration by Congress.

Report on Significant Rulemaking (U.S. Dept. of Transportation)

A monthly summary of significant regulatory actions by the various agencies within the Dept. of Transportation.

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines for Transportation Vehicles

Contains the Access Board's accessibility guidelines for vehicles which are codified in 36 CFR Part 1192.

TEA-21: Moving Americans into the 21st Century (Federal Highway Administration)

The Transportation Equity Act of 1998 provides the framework for most aspects of transportation in America, including funding, safety, highway, rail and transit programs, metropolitan planning, ozone and particulate matter standards for air quality, and even includes provisions for the development of recreational trails, and facilities for bicycling and pedestrians.  At this site you can find fact sheets on all these programs, plus reports of progress being made under the auspices of this legislation. See also Reauthorization of TEA-21 and the Surface Transportation Policy Project's updates for current information.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (U.S. Department of Transportation)

Established by the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1999 and charged with improving truck and bus safety. 

Surface Transportation Board (U.S. Department of Transportation)

After the Interstate Commerce Commission ceased operation, in 1995, this entity was established as a "decisionally independent, bipartisan"  body  that "adjudicates disputes and regulates interstate surface transportation through various laws pertaining to the different modes of surface transportation."

Regulations and Policies (Federal Aviation Administration)

Links to current regulation, rulings, and agency policies related to aviation.

Texas Laws

Texas Constitution (Texas Legislature Online)

Article 8, Section 8, Railroad Companies: Assessment and Collection of Taxes,  Article 10: Railroads, and Article 16, Section 24: Roads and Bridges and Section 25: Drawbacks and Rebatements to Shippers are particularly relevant.

Texas Statutes (Texas Legislature Online)

Access the full text of Texas statutes, including the Transportation Code.

Texas Department of Transportation - Legislative Information

Recent Federal and State legislation that bears upon transportation issues in Texas.

Texas Register (Texas Secretary of State)

The weekly notice bulletin of state agency rulemaking, including invitations for public comment.

Texas Administrative Code (Texas Secretary of State)

A compilation of all adopted regulations that are in effect in the State of Texas. Title 43 comprises transportation-related rules from the Texas Department of Transportation.

Motor Vehicle Registration and Titling (Texas Department of Transportation)

Information concerning the Texas lemon law, placement of disabled person parking placards, vehicle registration forms, and similar consumer-oriented subjects and resources.

Laws of Other States

Streets and Highways (Cornell University. Legal Information Institute)

Based at Cornell University, this page provides links to state statutes having to do with streets and highways.

Admiralty Law

Admiralty (Wex)

This site offers a concise definition of admiralty law, as it has been established in the United States, with links to relevant provisions of the U.S. Constitution, statutes, regulations, court rulings, treaties, and state laws.

AdmiraltyLaw.Com (Christopher J. Giaschi)

This site is about maritime law, admiralty law, shipping law, marine law, the law of marine insurance and the law of the sea, ships, shipping, fisheries and offshore oil and gas. The primary focus is presently Canadian maritime law and Canadian admiralty law. There is also an extensive collection of links to other sites that also contain information relating to shipping, maritime law and marine insurance.

Oceans and Law of the Sea (United Nations)

The UN Division for Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea sponsors this site, useful for keeping up with developments in relation to the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Sections of particular interest to shipping include Part II, Section 3 (innocent passage in the territorial sea), Part III (straits used for international navigation), Part IV (archipelagic states and sea lanes), Part VII (freedom of the high seas) and Part XII, Section 5 (protection of preservation of the marine environment, including rules regarding pollution and dumping from vessels). A site-wide search engine is available.

Transportation Research Thesaurus: Maritime Law (National Transportation Library)

Compilation of documents related to maritime law, including a compilation of laws of the sea.