Cheap gasoline has Texans driving more, indicating that efforts to promote mass transit or bicycle commuting are falling short, a new statewide poll suggests.

As folks hit the road, though, they are increasingly supportive of investment in transit and bike safety, even if perhaps they'd rather see others try it first.

"It's one of those things where everybody thinks it is a good idea, but nobody seems to be using it," said Tina Geiselbrecht, a co-author of the report and leader of the public engagement planning program at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

The poll, released Tuesday, is the first update to the Texas Transportation Poll since its creation in 2014. In those two years, car-centric Texas became even more devoted to driving, based on responses of more than 4,300 drivers, including more than 1,000 in the Houston region. Among the findings:

93 percent of drivers rely on an automobile as their primary way to travel, up from 91 percent in 2014. Vehicle ownership is also up statewide.

Roughly 1 in 7 Texans, 14 percent, had used public transit in the past month, compared to 25 percent of those polled two years ago. Fewer reported bicycling, walking and carpooling as well.

Gasoline prices, which have remained low in the state, were far less of a factor for drivers. Less than 30 percent of drivers were traveling less because of fuel prices, compared to 61 percent who said they were cutting back in 2014.

Geiselbrecht noted fuel prices in 2016 were about two-thirds what they were when pollsters asked people their opinions two years ago. Opinions on many things remained roughly the same, such as the interest people have in increased transportation spending, despite many thinking public officials squander some of the money.

"While people think there should be increased funding for transportation … nobody wants it to come out of their pocket," Geiselbrecht said.

While racking up more miles and looking for others to pony up money for roads and buses, however, drivers around the state are becoming more savvy and reaching out for information to deal with their own congestion woes. Seventy percent of drivers polled - a jump of 19 percentage points from 2014 - said they had used a smartphone app to check traffic or plan a trip. Researchers also reported a large increase in people visiting a website to check road conditions, which some commuters have said is practically a necessity.

"You never know when there will be an accident on (Loop 610) or something along the way," Diane Mickelthwait said of her commute to Uptown each day from the Oak Forest area north of Loop 610.

No clear path

The poll is one of the most extensive looks at the habits and preferences of drivers around the state, which researchers divided into 12 zones. The Houston region included Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend, Galveston, Brazoria and Waller counties.

In the Houston area - though bursting with congested freeways - drivers reported traveling fewer miles than their peers around the state, but felt as though more of those miles were in heavy traffic that slowed them down.

Houston-area travelers were also slightly more likely to choose alternative modes, such as transit, walking and bicycling.

The usefulness and popularity of providing those options diminishes with population density, however. "We don't have a lot of pedestrian and bicycle projects," said Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta, chairman of the Houston-Galveston Area Council's transportation policy council. "We're spread out. When things are closer together, you can do that kind of thing."

Regionally, he said communities will likely have their own needs, and should have discretion to advance them. Houston's density and urban neighborhoods, he said, have distinctly different improvements planned compared to Pearland.

Urban residents, meanwhile, are waiting for local elected officials to get on board options other than freeways.

"Commuter rail, commuter rail, commuter rail," said Terence Jacobi, 26, when asked his own top transportation priority. Jacobi, who was not interviewed in the recent poll, said local decisions over the past years have discouraged investment in meaningful transit projects.

"Now they say it's not working, like that proves something, when they fought it in the first place," Jacobi.

Overwhelmingly, Texans still love to drive, something that also influences many - but not all - of their preferences. Asked who should influence transportation policy, the top choice was "auto drivers," with private corporations, bicyclists and environmental groups the least-popular options. Elected political officials also were down the list, ranking seventh of 10 options.

State control resisted

Yet, many respondents also said there is not enough investment in public transportation, especially in the Houston area, where 53 percent agreed congestion in the region is caused by under-investment in public transportation.

Slightly fewer, 48 percent, said traffic suffered from a lack of road spending. The results differed from the statewide responses, which favored road spending over bus and train investment, despite the last two infusions of money for Texas transportation - Prop. 1 in 2014 and Prop. 7 last year - specifically requiring all of the spending to focus on highways. None of the estimated $3 billion the two voter-approved referendums steered to roads can be used for transit or toll projects.

For the first time in the new poll, researchers also asked respondents about transportation network companies such as Uber, which have emerged as both a competitor to local cab companies in a growing number of Texas cities and a political debate pitting state lawmakers against city regulators.

Many cities, notably Austin and Houston, have resisted state control, saying they are better suited to set rules for cabs and the new smartphone-based companies.

In the aftermath of a messy referendum battle in Austin - which led Uber and Lyft to leave town rather than comply with the city's new rules - lawmakers promised they'd seek state control of the companies during the upcoming legislative session.

Based on responses to the transportation poll, Texans also favor a statewide set of rules. Asked on a scale of 1 to 10 how much they supported state rules, respondents averaged a 6.7, in support of Texas taking control from the cities.

In the Houston area, where the city has regulated the companies since 2014, those polled were only slightly less supportive, still scoring a 6.6 out of 10.