Texas tolls: how to maintain

Files: /srv/toll/draft/TX, last built 2026-10-10 08:58 ET · the TX toll page · map test · facts below are read from the files each time this page is built (python3 /home/geo1/system/handbuilt/maintain_pages.py TX)

Procedure for this state

Texas, built in parts (tx_state.py runs tx_ntta.py, tx_houston.py, tx_central.py, tx_other.py, tx_bridges.py, tx_express.py). Accepted tags: TxDOT's area pages ('TxTag, EZ TAG, TollTag, KTAG, PIKEPASS, ExpressToll, and SunPass').

• NTTA: positions and 2-axle fares from NTTA's own GIS layer (ntta_toll_locations), all classes from the rate tables PDF (ntta_toll_rate_tables, effective July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027); the builder asserts both agree.
• Roads HCTRA bills (HCTRA, FBCTRA, MCTRA, BCTRA, TxDOT's Grand Parkway, SH 130, SH 45, Loop 1, SH 249): HCTRA's map layer (hctra_tolling_points): positions, direction, tag / other-tag / no-tag and 3-8 axle rates; matches TxDOT's 2026 tables and mysh130's SH 130 Segments 5-6 Class A/B.
• CTRMA (183A, 290, 71, 45SW, 183 Toll): 'Toll Rates' 2026 (ctrma_toll_rates); no official positions: each entry at its named crossing, with the OSM gantries nearest it.
• Toll 49 (NET RMA chart image, read by hand: netrma_rate_chart_2025), SH 550 (ccrma_toll_rates), DFW International Parkway pass-through ($12 TollTag / $15 card; a trip from one plaza to the other).
• International bridges: collected going into Mexico; operator schedules (El Paso, Eagle Pass, Laredo, McAllen, Pharr, Donna, Cameron County) and, for Del Rio, Roma, Starr-Camargo, Progreso and Brownsville & Matamoros, TxDOT's 'Texas Border Crossings' layer.
• Optional lanes (TEXpress, Katy, SH 288, MoPac Express, METRO HOV/HOT): told, never charged.

When to check

• January 1: TxDOT (CPI escalation: CTTS, Grand Parkway, SH 249, SH 288), CTRMA, MCTRA, BCTRA; NET RMA every two years (next January 2027); Laredo's bridges (Ordinance 2026-O-114, 'Effective January 1, 2027', not yet read).
• November 11, 2026: SH 130 Segments 5-6 new rates (mysh130.com); re-fetch HCTRA's layer after.
• NTTA: July 1, 2027.

Rebuild

bash chain.sh TX (long: 4.3 million ways).

Watch out

• A generic Texas account is priced at the other-tag rate on HCTRA roads; the EZ TAG discount is a plan row.
• FBCTRA's page says tag only, invalid transactions at twice the tag rate; HCTRA's map gives tag + $0.25 (used).
• Three OSM ramp gantries on 183 Toll near Ed Bluestein Blvd match no CTRMA entry (untied: told as unpriced).
• San Luis Pass (Vacek) Toll Bridge: no official toll amount (gap).

The chain every state shares

Hosts: geo1 (192.168.50.220) holds the sources, builders, drafts, map and API; b100 (192.168.50.14) is the test client. All times are Eastern.

1. Refresh a source

1. Fetch into a new dated folder: python3 /home/geo1/system/handbuilt/fetch_list.py TX [name ...] (no names = every line of urls.txt). A new source: add a line to urls.txt first, then fetch it by name.
2. A site that refuses geo1 (HTTP 403) or scripts: fetch it on b100 in headless Chrome with node ~/apitest/fetch_b100.mjs <out> <name>=<url> ..., then rsync -a <out>/ geo1@192.168.50.220:/home/geo1/maps/toll/TX/sources/. Its meta.json records that it came from b100.
3. Compare the new file with the previous dated one (diff, pdftotext -layout for PDFs). Same content: nothing to do. Changed amounts or a new effective date: rebuild (step 2) and update the expected amounts of the affected regression trips from the operator's own figures.

1b. The corpus (NJ, PA, VA start from it; DE is published from it)

python3 /home/geo1/maps/toll/bin/tollup.py TX update fetches the adapter's sources (bin/adapters/tx.py), stores a document only when its content changes, writes one rate file per version under /home/geo1/maps/toll/TX/rates/ and appends every price change to history.csv (every run to runs.log). TOLL_WEB=/home/geo1/maps/toll/corpus python3 /home/geo1/maps/toll/bin/publish.py TX writes the corpus /home/geo1/maps/toll/corpus/TX from it (DE: plain publish.py DE writes /srv/toll/DE). Never hand-edit either. Then rebuild the draft (step 2) so it picks up the new rates.

2. Rebuild

• Amounts or schedules changed, toll points unchanged: cd /home/geo1/system/handbuilt && python3 tx_state.py
• The full chain in one command: bash /home/geo1/system/handbuilt/chain.sh TX (logs in /tmp/tx1.log ... tx6.log; it prints the points, any point on no road and the untied count). The builders written since October 2026 share state_kit.py (sources, booths, terms, rows, write) and own_state.py (keeps a state's untied list to toll nodes inside the state, by the local geocoder; cache osm/node_state.json).
• Toll points added, moved or renamed, or a new OSM extract: the full chain (about 2-4 minutes):
  cd /home/geo1/system/handbuilt; H=$(ls osm/tx_highways_*.geojsonseq); J=$(ls osm/tx_junctions_*.geojsonseq)
python3 tx_state.py && python3 osm_streets.py TX $H $J && python3 tx_state.py && python3 osm_snap.py TX && python3 toll_ways.py TX && python3 tx_state.py
• Read the end of toll_ways.py's output: nodes claimed by two points: {} and points on no road: [] must both be empty.
• A point whose booth is an OSM way (OSM way <id>) needs that way in osm/tx_lane_ways.json (the builder writes it). A point on a road priced entry to exit needs gantry in its location name, or toll_ways.py treats it as a position-only exit marker.
• Rebuilding NY changes osm/ny_not_toll_nodes.json (congestion-zone gantries that are not tolls); every state's untied list leaves those out, so rebuild NJ and PA after NY.

3. Load it into the API and test from b100

1. The API reads the toll pages and tolls.js when it starts. Restart it: cd /home/geo1/maps/api && kill $(cat logs/test.pid); (nohup /home/geo1/maps/node/bin/node server.mjs > logs/server.log 2>&1 & echo $! > logs/test.pid) (it is started by hand, not a service).
2. From b100 only: python3 ~/apitest/run.py ~/apitest/site/cases.json. Every trip must be OK. Add a trip for every rate or rule you change, with the amount taken from the operator's own source.
3. Engine change (tolls.js): edit /home/geo1/maps/web/tolls.js, check with /home/geo1/maps/node/bin/node --check, copy to /srv/maps/tolls.js with sudo install -o www-data -g www-data -m 644, restart the API, run the trips.

4. OpenStreetMap refresh (all states at once)

The builders match toll points to the OSM way ids the router drives, so the extracts here must come from the same us-latest.osm.pbf the router (Valhalla, /home/geo1/maps/valhalla_data) was built from (now 2026-09-27). New OSM data means: rebuild the router tiles, then for each state cut the box, rebuild its OSM inputs and run the full chain, then compare untied_toll_nodes.csv and the estimated positions below. The box for TX and the cutting commands are in the state's procedure above; the toll-node and way index comes from python3 tollnode_ways.py TX.

5. Publish

A rebuild writes the draft (/srv/toll/draft/TX); the published page (/srv/toll/TX) does not change. python3 /home/geo1/maps/toll/bin/promote.py review TX lists the draft for review: the map and the API then read it instead of the published page. Run the regression trips from b100. After approval, python3 /home/geo1/maps/toll/bin/promote.py publish TX copies the draft to /srv/toll/TX (the previous page is kept under /home/geo1/maps/toll/TX/published/<time>/) and takes it off the review list. After a change, update the coverage line for TX in the API page (/api.html, generator /home/geo1/maps/api/doc/api_page.py) and rebuild this page: python3 /home/geo1/system/handbuilt/maintain_pages.py TX.

Sources (28)

Each fetch is kept in its own dated folder under /home/geo1/maps/toll/TX/sources/<name>/; the builder always reads the newest one, so a new fetch takes effect at the next rebuild and the old one stays for comparison.

Facilities (71)

Positions placed by estimate (5): re-check when OpenStreetMap or the operator changes

Decisions by rule

HCTRA's: 1, R1: 512, R2: 39, R2a: 11, R3: 5, direction: 1, next: 1, no: 12, not: 5, optional,: 11, parking,: 1, plan: 1, southbound: 1, told,: 1 (all in decisions.csv).

Open gaps (1)

Untied OSM toll nodes: 3

Toll booths / gantries mapped in OpenStreetMap on or near this state's roads that no toll point claims; a route through one lists it under unpriced. After an OSM refresh, look at new ones here (untied_toll_nodes.csv): a new gantry on a priced road means a point is missing.

Regression trips for TX (0)

Run from b100 (never on geo1): python3 ~/apitest/run.py ~/apitest/site/cases.json. Every trip must come back OK; a changed amount is either a rate change (update the expected amount from the operator's own source) or a fault.

No regression trips yet for this state.