Beverly Silas, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board Member (left) presents Cinde Weatherby with the WTS Woman of the Year Award. The evening’s theme was “The Roaring Twenties.”

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute has been named Employer of the Year by the Heart of Texas Chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar. The organization also honored as its Woman of the Year, Cinde Weatherby, Director of TTI’s Strategic Transportation Solutions Center.

The Chapter’s Employer of the Year award each year goes to a business or agency that has enhanced the transportation industry through its commitment to excellence and quality, established an outstanding record of affirmative action in hiring and promoting at all employment levels, supported continuing education of its employees, and encouraged women students to enter the transportation field.

In its recognition of TTI, WTS notes that the agency’s workforce is 47 percent female and that over the past decade, female employment has jumped by 86 percent in executive and managerial positions, by 100 percent in research administration, and by 160 percent in senior research positions. The organization cites TTI’s expansive professional development offerings, and also notes that female staff members at TTI serve on the boards of numerous national organizations.

“We are, of course, honored that the WTS Heart of Texas Chapter has recognized TTI as its Employer of the Year, and we’re also delighted to share the spotlight with Cinde Weatherby and her Woman of the Year award,” said TTI Director Dennis Christiansen. “We applaud the organization’s work, and we remain committed to the common goals and purpose that we share with them.”

Beverly Silas presents Dennis Christiansen with the 2013 WTS Employer of the Year award.

In her 35-year career in transportation, Weatherby has held increasingly responsible positions at the North Central Texas Council of Governments, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the South West Transit Association, and TTI.  She is a graduate of Leadership Texas, a veteran member of numerous Transportation Research Board committees and currently serves on the WTS International Board of Directors. In its citation, the Chapter notes that Weatherby “has not only been an excellent professional, but also a mentor and friend to many, exhibiting a high degree of professionalism, courtesy, kindness and collegiality.”

The WTS Heart of Texas Chapter is dedicated to the advancement of women in the transportation industry throughout Central Texas. With the support of more than 100 members and corporate partners, the chapter offers numerous professional programs, networking opportunities, and unparalleled access to industry and government leaders in and around Austin.

Consider these facts:

• In 2012, motorcyclists accounted for 14% of all traffic-related deaths in Texas.
• 460 motorcyclists were killed in traffic crashes.
• A vehicle was involved in 50% of these fatal motorcycle crashes.
• In over two-thirds of fatal vehicle-motorcycle crashes, the vehicle struck the front of the motorcycle while turning left, usually at an intersection.
• The driver either did not see the motorcyclist or didn’t see the motorcyclist in time to avoid a crash.

Read the rest of this story at LookLearnLive.org.

Steve Roop

Texas A&M Transportation Institute Assistant Agency Director Steve Roop was honored by the Texas A&M Office of Technology Commercialization for three patents he received as part of the Freight Shuttle System, an innovative freight-movement system.

The annual Patent and Innovation Awards Luncheon was held Friday, April 26, at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center at the George Bush Presidential Library. Roop and numerous other Texas A&M University System employees were recognized for a total of 38 patents issued during the 2012 calendar year.

Roop’s 2012 patents represent various elements of the Freight Shuttle, including the guideway and the rotating loading dock.

“We are in the process of protecting the various features of the Freight Shuttle, and several other patents have been applied for,” Roop explains. “There have been numerous recent developments that indicate the construction of a prototype will be the next step.” Roop says he expects a prototype will be built over the next 24 months, with a system projected to be operational over the next 3 to 5 years.

The Freight Shuttle will move freight with a series of transporters that operate on a specially designed guideway. The propulsion system includes a linear-induction-motor assembly with virtually no moving parts. The transporters use flangeless steel wheels that run on a steel running surface. Designed to reduce energy consumption, congestion and pollution while delivering cargo more securely and faster, the Freight Shuttle could be used at border crossings or shipping ports. The patent for the overall Freight Shuttle concept was issued in 2010.

TTI researchers are leading a commodity-flow study across eight counties in the Eagle Ford Shale region.

In 1849 Sacramento Valley, California, it was gold. In 1901 Spindletop, Texas, it was black gold. And now, thanks to advances in hydraulic fracturing (commonly called “fracking”) of rock formations to enable access to crude oil and — the Eagle Ford Shale region of South Texas is already producing another energy boom for the Lone Star State.

According to the Texas State Historical Association, Spindletop ultimately produced some 153 million barrels of oil. But the overnight boom strained the little town of Beaumont, Texas, from 10,000 to 50,000 residents, with some 500 Texas corporations doing business in Beaumont by 1902. Total expected production for Eagle Ford is at least several times that amount, making it one of the hottest energy resource plays in the world.

While local economies undoubtedly benefit from boom times, a Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) study conducted in 2012 estimated that around $40 billion will be needed over the next 20 years to fix roads overworked and degraded by heavy-truck traffic related to the energy boom. Maintenance for many of those roads is handled by rural towns and counties, placing a greater financial burden on local communities to get the work done. But rapid development can have other consequences beyond increased maintenance costs. In addition to traffic impacts, installing wells and moving the resources produced from them involves materials and chemicals that can be hazardous to health, safety and the environment.

“Our primary goal is to help local communities to plan and prepare for heavy truck traffic and hazmat transportation incidents,” explains TTI Associate Research Scientist David Bierling. He and TTI Research Specialist Debbie Jasek are leading a commodity-flow study across eight counties in the Eagle Ford Shale region. Funding for the project is administered by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM).

The study identifies the movement of trucks and hazardous materials in and through communities as developers bring wells online and ship recovered resources to refineries. By knowing the types, locations and ways that potentially dangerous materials are transported, local emergency planning committees (LEPCs) and emergency responders can better prepare for incidents like hazardous material spills.

“When something like that happens, first responders have to know what they’re dealing with,” explains Jasek. “For example, if emergency responders roll up on an incident without the right kind of training or equipment, they could be the first casualties. And if they go down, who’ll help the general public?”

In several of the counties, community volunteers are working with their LEPCs to help collect data; industry has also expressed interest in supporting the project.

“We’re excited about the commodity flow study and have several volunteers from across the county who are participating. We plan to use information from this project to specify training needs for our volunteer fire, EMS, and law-enforcement departments, and identify the equipment needed to respond safely. The study will also help us identify high impact routes for future road improvements and support the need for additional roadway funding at local and state levels,” states Wilson County Emergency Management Coordinator LeAnn Hosek.

In addition to hazmat transport information, the project team is collecting information about different types of truck traffic and overall traffic volumes. Researchers are seeing numbers of trucks in the Eagle Ford Shale area that far exceed the design capacities of rural and state roads, resulting in extensive damage to roads and bridges. The growth in traffic may also limit the effectiveness of evacuation routes during a natural disaster like a hurricane, and increased safety hazards for drivers and pedestrians in communities are also being felt.

“We are very concerned about oilfield-related traffic, and higher road speed limits in our county have not made things safer. The Eagle Ford play is welcome in our county, but I wish our new oilfield neighbors would slow down,” says Atascosa County Commissioner Lonnie Gillespie.

The commodity flow study is scheduled for completion in September 2013. Since 2008, TDEM and TTI have worked with local communities to conduct hazmat commodity flow studies in more than two dozen counties across Texas.

The Visibility Research Laboratory features a 125-foot-long dark tunnel, which is used to test materials for traffic signs and pavement markings. The facility also has capabilities to measure vehicle headlamps, sign lighting and roadway lighting.

When you drive at night and your headlights illuminate a lane marking, it makes you feel safer, right? After all, bright pavement markings are designed to help you stay in your lane and prevent you from running off the roadway.

Called retroreflectivity, special materials in edge lines and lane lines create the brightness. With age and wear that brightness deteriorates. Although we assume there’s a correlation between pavement marking retroreflectivity and safety, up until now researchers have not been able to prove it.

“It’s a hard thing to measure,” says Paul Carlson, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Research Engineer, who is also the head of the Institute’s Operations and Design Division. Carlson is known for his pavement marking research and leads TTI’s unique Visibility Research Laboratory. “For one thing, in order to gather good information about safety you would have to know the level of brightness, or retroreflectivity, a pavement marking had at the time someone ran off the roadway.”

As it turns out, Carlson had a near perfect opportunity to conduct a study, thanks to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).

For years, MDOT has measured the brightness of its pavement markings on individual roadways. Carlson realized that he could compare those brightness levels with the crashes occurring on those roadways.

“Michigan DOT is very serious about keeping its pavement markings maintained. If measurements show pavement markings were dull, they would be replaced. Comparing both dull and bright pavement markings with crash information, we were in a good position to determine if those retroreflectivity characteristics played a role in safety.”

So, Carlson’s study, An Investigation of Longitudinal Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity and Safety, got underway. Sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), he gathered crash data and retroreflectivity measurements from 2002 through 2008. He compared the measurements with certain types of crashes: single vehicle, nighttime crashes that occurred during dry conditions and non-snow time months.

After a lengthy and tedious process, Carlson completed the research in July 2012. He determined that fewer crashes occurred when pavement markers were brighter and newer.

“The evidence is pretty compelling,” Carlson says of the research. “It demonstrates that maintenance of pavement markings retroreflectivity can have a positive effect on safety. I’m confident of the results — brighter pavement markings mean safer roadways.”

In the meantime, Carlson has been working with FHWA as it comes up with a retroreflectivity standard, which would help DOTs across the country know when pavement markings should be replaced.

Lance Bullard and John Holmgreen inspect a vehicle’s new adaptive equipment as part of TTI’s long-running contract with the Department of Rehabilitative Services.

For the last 28 years, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) has been quietly improving the lives of people suffering from a myriad of life-changing illnesses — from debilitating arthritis to paralysis — that prevent them from driving. The four-member TTI team from the Riverside Campus responsible for improving mobility for this population has just learned that the long-running contract with the Texas Department of Rehabilitative Services (DARS) has been renewed for another two years.

“I would have to say that this project is the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my career,” says Lance Bullard, head of TTI’s Safety and Structural Systems Division. He is also the DARS project engineer. “To see the tears of joy from these people gives us the satisfaction of knowing that we helped change their lives for the better. It’s a great feeling.”

Since 1985, TTI has been an integral part of making sure that disabled individuals are able to drive. TTI’s role is multi-faceted and includes inspecting the adaptive equipment prescribed for individuals. The equipment, from various manufacturers, includes hand-control devices, pedal modifications, restraint systems, wheelchair ramps, lifts, and driver-seat adaptations.

“We have two inspectors who review the paperwork to make sure that, on paper at least, the prescribed equipment matches an individual’s needs,” says Associate Research Specialist Rebecca Haug. “They make sure the order is fairly priced and it meets DARS standards.”

Once the new adaptive equipment is installed, the vehicle and its new components are inspected. And, just as importantly, TTI ensures the DARS customer can operate the equipment safely and easily.

The Institute maintains an equipment database and reviews new products to make sure they are acceptable for the DARS program. Bullard and Research Technician Eric Bradley will also visit the products’ manufacturers to make sure quality-control measures are being met.

But the most rewarding part of the job is meeting with the customers as they get into their newly equipped vehicle for the first time.

“They suddenly realize that, finally, they will be on the road again,” says Bullard. “Being able to drive means a return of their independence and freedom. No longer will they have to rely on someone else for transportation. For them, it’s a turning point in their lives.”

Texting drivers may believe they’re being more careful when they use the voice-to-text method, but new research findings suggest that those applications offer no real safety advantage over manual texting.

The study was sponsored by the Southwest Region University Transportation Center and conducted by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). SWUTC is a part of the University Transportation Centers Program, which is a federally-funded program administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration.

The study is the first of its kind, as it is based on the performance of 43 research participants driving an actual vehicle on a closed course. Other research efforts have evaluated manual versus voice-activated tasks using devices installed in a vehicle, but the TTI analysis is the first to compare voice-to-text and manual texting on a handheld device in an actual driving environment.

Drivers first navigated the course without any use of cell phones. Each driver then traveled the course three more times performing a series of texting exercises – once using each of two voice-to-text applications (Siri® for the iPhone and Vlingo® for Android), and once texting manually. Researchers then measured the time it took each driver to complete the tasks, and also noted how long it took for the drivers to respond to a light which came on at random intervals during the exercises.

Major findings from the study included:

• Driver response times were significantly delayed no matter which texting method was used. In each case, drivers took about twice as long to react as they did when they weren’t texting. With slower reaction times, drivers are less able to take action in response to sudden roadway hazards, such as a swerving vehicle or a pedestrian in the street.
• The amount of time that drivers spent looking at the roadway ahead was significantly less when they were texting, no matter which texting method was used.
• For most tasks, manual texting required slightly less time than the voice-to-text method, but driver performance was roughly the same with both.
• Drivers felt less safe when they were texting, but felt safer when using a voice-to-text application than when texting manually, even though driving performance suffered equally with both methods.

Christine Yager, a TTI Associate Transportation Researcher who managed the study, says the findings offer new insight, but only a part of the knowledge that’s needed to improve roadway safety. “Understanding the distracted driving issue is an evolving process, and this study is but one step in that process,” she says. “We believe it’s a useful step, and we’re eager to see what other studies may find.”

The study’s results are being published during National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Numerous agencies, including the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) are sponsoring public awareness campaigns to highlight the dangers of driving distractions, particularly those associated with cell phone use.

Another TTI study now underway is examining the motivations and attitudes of distracted drivers. Results from the focus groups and a 3,000-driver survey are expected in late summer, and will include a look at which demographic groups are most affected by the distracted driving issue.

Additional Resources:

• Voice-to-Text study video
• SWUTC study
• Story on Center for Transportation Safety website

Texas A&M Transportation Institute Research Scientist Jeff Borowiec coordinates the conference program for the Texas Department of Transportation’s Aviation Division.

“Among the approximately 500 conference participants include managers and decision makers representing general aviation airports throughout the state,” says Borowiec. “Over a dozen of these regional airports have air traffic control towers or future construction plans. Certainly they will want to interact with colleagues or attend sessions which may provide guidance while longer-term funding solutions are being evaluated.”

Another major topic at this year’s conference is business aviation and the role it plays in the economic development of communities. A panel discussion with industry leaders in business aviation will highlight the opening morning’s activities.

“Businesses of all sizes utilize airports across our state. Doing so allows them to operated more cost-effectively and efficiently,” says Borowiec. “While that is one component, there is a larger picture of general aviation airports that are equipped with modern facilities to handle business aviation traffic becoming large economic drivers for their community.”

For more information about the Texas Aviation Conference including registration information, visit the conference registration website.

Each year in April, National Work Zone Awareness Week is held to bring national attention to motorist and worker safety and mobility issues in work zones. Since 1999, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has worked with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the American Traffic Safety Services Association to coordinate and sponsor the event. This year’s theme is “Work Zone Safety: We’re All In This Together.”

Researchers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) are dedicated to improving motorist safety, worker safety and traveler mobility in all types of highway work zones. “Each year in Texas, there are approximately 15,000 crashes and more than 100 people killed in highway construction and maintenance zones,” says TTI Work Zone and Dynamic Signs Program Manager Jerry Ullman. “Among the leading causes are excessive speed and the failure to remain alert while driving.”

According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Texas has seen a decline in work zone fatalities for two consecutive years because of increased safety measures and public outreach efforts.  While work zone fatalities and crashes have declined significantly, there is still work to do.

• Four out of every five work zone fatalities are motorists traveling through the work zone.
• Forty-five percent of all work zone fatalities for 2010 were 35 years old or younger.
• In 2010, 61 percent of work zone fatalities were male.
• Of the 100 work zone fatalities in 2010, 54 were drug and alcohol-related.

Texas motorists encounter a large number of work zones in place across the state.  One prime example of these types of efforts is the massive rebuilding effort of 90 miles of Interstate 35 through the TxDOT Waco District in central Texas.  TTI researchers are working closely with TxDOT and contractors in developing ways to maximize safety and mobility within this corridor during reconstruction.

TTI also maintains the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse, which is the largest online resource for roadway construction safety. The clearinghouse is a joint effort of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, FHWA and TTI.

Visitors to the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse website “are expected to find a wealth of information related to work zone safety including crash data, expert contacts, laws and regulations, safety standards, agency practices, news articles, research publications, training courses, videos, and safety products,” says TTI Research Librarian Hong Yu, who maintains the website. “If they do not find what they need on our website, they can also contact us for a customized research service or post a question on our clearinghouse listserv.”

Since the site went online in 1998, the clearinghouse has assisted more than 1.3 million users from every state and 33 countries with a variety of topics related to safety issues in work zones.

“Certainly the decreased in work zone fatalities is encouraging,” says Ullman. “We have all come together to make a real difference in continuing to make work zones safer.”

Katie Turnbull

Texas A&M Transportation Insitute (TTI) Executive Associate Director Katie Turnbull participated in a Special Forum on Women in Transportation sponsored by the White House Office of Public Engagement and the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) on April 4, 2013. Turnbull was one of approximately 60 women leaders from industry, public agencies, professional organizations, universities and other groups gathering at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with top-ranking personnel from the White House and the U.S. DOT to discuss increasing opportunities for women in transportation.

“It was a privilege to participate in the forum and to interact with the dynamic group of women,” notes Turnbull. “The combination of presentations and small-group discussions provided an excellent method for sharing information, experiences, ideas and follow-up activities.”

The opening session featured Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to the president and chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Susan Kurland, U.S. DOT assistant secretary for aviation and internal affairs. Speakers in the second session highlighted the diverse jobs women hold throughout the transportation industry, the business case for women in transportation and recent research on retaining women in the workforce and developing women leaders.

“We broke into small groups focusing on educating, recruiting, retaining and developing leadership among women throughout all facets of transportation,” states Turnbull. “We discussed issues and opportunities, and identified action steps to move the objectives forward. We also identified two individual action steps to pursue over the next six months.”

The forum results will assist with the U.S. DOT’s participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Women in Transportation initiative. “I look forward to assisting with the action steps,” says Turnbull. “We are going to develop a short video on women in TTI as part of the effort.”