AUSTIN (AP) - Texas transportation officials are postponing plans to use cameras to catch speeding drivers.

Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson sent lawmakers a letter Friday saying testing of the $2.5 million pilot program was being canceled until at least June 2009.

The project would have begun using cameras to monitor traffic on Texas 6 near College Station and Interstate 10 in Hudspeth County east of El Paso. Speeding drivers would have received warnings but not tickets.

The state plans came months after the Legislature barred local governments from using automated cameras to issue speeding tickets through the mail.

"How hypocritical is it that the state would force the municipalities to cease and desist use of these devices, and then turn around and employ the technology for the same purposes itself," read a letter by state Rep. Vicki Truitt, who represents northeast Tarrant County.

More than 2,000 cameras are used throughout Texas' highway system. They're used to enforce tolls, catch red-light runners and allow citizens to monitor traffic conditions from the Web.

Williamson said he still likes the idea of using cameras and hopes to discuss it in the future with lawmakers.