Over the past year, TTI experts answered tough questions on a variety of state and national transportation issues. Over 2,500 newspaper articles, broadcast television spots and professional journals — with a potential reach of over 725 million readers and viewers nationwide — mentioned the Institute or its experts. Here are a few excerpts of TTI‘s media coverage over the last fiscal year.
The Wall Street Journal
Sept. 10, 2010, “Deaths in crashes decline amid gains in car safety”
“The focus on engineering and enforcement has taken us to this point,” said Quinn Brackett, a safety researcher with the Texas Transportation Institute. Now, he added, “We need to focus on a paradigm shift away from occupant protection toward crash avoidance.”
Austin-American Statesman
June 13, 2010, “Going, going, going, going green: Impact is multiplied when entire fleets embrace alternative fuels, improved efficiency”
“Due to economic competition and the perpetual drive to reduce operating costs, freight shippers and carriers already have significant incentive to minimize fuel costs and thereby (greenhouse gas) emissions, which are second only to labor costs and increasingly volatile,” said Annie Protopapas, an associate research scientist with the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University. “In the long term, they do realize substantial cost savings.”
Reader’s Digest
Oct. 1, 2009, “Unlocking gridlock”
“We can’t get rid of traffic, but we can shorten commutes by operating our roads better ‘ clearing wrecks faster and timing lights more efficiently.”
Tim Lomax,
Texas Transportation Institute
Kansas City Star
Aug. 14, 2010, “Wrecks point up work-zone risks”
About a third of all work-zone crashes in Missouri can be attributed to inattentive driving, and the second-leading contributing factor is following too closely. Both were cited in last week’s bus crash. … “It’s one of the very reasons that it’s hard to guard work zones against serious crashes,” said Gerald Ullman, senior research engineer at the Texas Transportation Institute. “We can put up all the signs we want, and all the bells and whistles,” Ullman said. “What we can’t control is did they see it. That’s why we’re so concerned about distracted driving in work zones.”
The Washington Post
Feb. 7, 2010, “Racking up miles? Maybe not.”
Within a few years, a driver who pulls up to the gas pump may pay two bills with a single swipe of the credit card: one for the gas and the other for each mile driven since the last fill-up. … But getting the public and its elected officials to accept that idea maybe a tough sell. …
“Technology is not the limiter,” said Ginger Goodin, a senior research engineer at the Texas Transportation Institute who did a major study on pricing. “The decision is in the policy arena. It’s entirely up to lawmakers and their constituents.”
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 19, 2010, “HAWK lights to help reduce pedestrian deaths in metro Phoenix”
The Texas Transportation Institute has done two studies of the HAWK (High Intensity Activated Crosswalk) system and found they work. Last year, the institute studied Tucson HAWK lights and found there were 69 percent fewer accidents involving pedestrians and 29 percent fewer crashes overall at the HAWK sites, said Kay Fitzpatrick, a senior research engineer with the institute.
