Bridges (left) with then TTI Director Charley Wootan at the METRO groundbreaking in 1983.

Bridges was first hired by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) in 1967 after receiving degrees in business administration and economics at Texas A&M University. Bridges also pursued doctoral studies at Southern Methodist University. He was an assistant professor of economics at Texas A&M before he began his 40-year career at TTI.

“In many ways, Sadler is responsible for shaping and influencing programs and initiatives within the Institute that helped us develop into a world-class organization,” TTI Director Dennis Christiansen said. “The impact Sadler had on the people and programs at TTI and beyond will secure the G. Sadler Bridges name a rightful place in transportation history. We owe him an enormous amount of gratitude.”

Bridges’ accomplishments are numerous and far reaching. He was an integral part of federal, state and local transportation initiatives, including:

• The landmark National Grade Crossing Inventory Project, a database that contained all known railroad grade crossings in the United States. The database later became a significant component of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s successful railroad safety program.
• Intelligent Transportation Society of America
• National Transportation Studies for Texas
• Southwest Region University Transportation Center
• Mobility 2000 Group

Bridges (far right) at the unveiling of the ALERT vehicle in Phoenix.

Within TTI, Bridges was responsible for the success and innovation of several programs. He was the director of the Intelligent Vehicle Program, which developed ALERTTM, an advanced vehicle project that was recognized by Vice President Al Gore with the National Performance Review Hammer Award.

Bridges is credited with bringing TTI into the computer age by conceptualizing and directing the Institute’s initial implementation of a computer and information systems infrastructure. He was also instrumental in developing TTI’s intelligent transportation system laboratory, TransLink®. During his career, Bridges held several leadership positions at TTI including associate director and interim agency director.

Bridges received the Charley V. Wootan Career Achievement Award in 2004. He retired from TTI in August of 2007 and was named executive associate director emeritus by the Texas A&M Board of Regents the following month.

“Sadler had a profound impact on my career,” says Assistant Agency Director Steve Roop. “Fifteen years ago, he urged me to begin a new rail research group. That ultimately developed into the Multimodal Freight Transportation Program here at TTI and allowed me to develop in ways I otherwise would not have. Sadler provided an option to me, and I know he provided many other individuals at TTI a similar growth opportunity. Maybe most importantly, he was genuinely happy when those he helped along succeeded.”

This Issue

Finding Solutions

Volume 44, Number 1
March 2008
Issue Overview

]]> http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/07/bridges-leaves-legacy-of-excellence-compassion-2/feed/ 0 http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/managed-lanes-research-shows-broad-reach/ http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/managed-lanes-research-shows-broad-reach/#comments Sat, 01 Mar 2008 21:20:19 +0000 s-atchison@tti.servers http://tti.tamu.edu/?p=4119

Speed harmonization display controls at traffic center in Germany.

The managed lanes strategies that maximize existing roadway use and help minimize the need for new construction were first deployed in just four places — two in Texas and two in California. A look at the list today reveals 39 projects nationwide that already exist, are under construction or are in development.

More than 816 miles of roads — and millions of commuters — are either already benefiting or soon will benefit from managed lanes research at TTI under the leadership of Senior Research Engineer Beverly Kuhn and Research Engineer Ginger Goodin.

“When we started the managed lanes project at TTI in 2000, there were only four domestic facilities in operation, and hardly any on

Speed harmonization in a work zone in Copenhagen, Denmark.

the books,” says Kuhn. “Now there’s been an explosion of these facilities. And because of the interest being generated in the subject, a new Managed Lanes Joint Subcommittee was created in 2004 under the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) HOV Systems Committee to address research needs and issues specific to managed lanes.”

TTI Research Engineer Ginger Goodin was first to chair the joint subcommittee.

Strategies from abroad

After nearly a decade of research and crafting the comprehensive Managed Lanes Handbook, the research team looked overseas for additional strategies and best practices.

With sponsorship from the Federal Highway Administration, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, a group of transportation professionals from around the country, including Kuhn, observed managed lane operations and strategies in Denmark, England, Germany and the Netherlands.

“They’ve taken the next step in managing their facilities,” says Kuhn. “They’re managing the entire facility in an active manner. They implement temporary shoulder use, speed harmonization (variable speed limits) and other strategies. As congestion builds on a facility, those strategies can be implemented to better manage the entire corridor.”

Speed harmonization involves an automated system that uses an algorithm for measuring speeds, congestion and other factors to determine the best speeds to set along a corridor to encourage flow, or throughput. Speeds are adjusted ahead of congestion automatically, and drivers see speed limits for roadway sections displayed on changeable signs above the road.

The team observed a work zone in Copenhagen that benefited from this technique — with no increase in accidents during the work zone, a benefit local agencies tied directly to speed harmonization.

“Strategies like this — called active traffic management — represent the next evolution of managed lanes,” says Kuhn. “And the trip where we saw these deployed got me thinking, ‘Why can’t we do this here?’”

TRB’S Managed Lanes Joint Subcommittee Identified:

This Issue

Finding Solutions

Volume 44, Number 1
March 2008
Issue Overview

This Issue

Finding Solutions

Volume 44, Number 1
March 2008
Issue Overview

On this page:

• Teens in the Driver Seat
• Improved Mobility
• Homeland Security
• Highway Crash Cushions
• Border Crossings
• Universal Freight Shuttle
• Managed Lanes
• Intelligent Transportation Systems
• Work Zone Safety
• Ground-Penetrating Radar
• Retroreflectivity
• Motorcycle Safety

]]> http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/12-ways-tti-initiatives-impact-transportation/feed/ 0 http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/saving-lives/ http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/saving-lives/#comments Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:27:45 +0000 s-atchison@tti.servers http://tti.tamu.edu/?p=5121 Living to tell about it — there’s nothing our researchers take more seriously

Nationally, in 2006, there were 5,973,000 police-reported motor vehicle crashes, which killed a total of 42,642 people — 3,475 right here in Texas.

Here are some sobering national numbers from 2006:

• 13,470 people were killed in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes, nearly 32 percent of all crash-related deaths;
• 61,000 pedestrians were injured in traffic crashes; 4,784 pedestrians were killed — down 12 percent from a decade prior; and
• 4,810 motorcyclists were killed — a 5 percent jump in crash fatalities over 2005.

As startling as these statistics are, the numbers were much more alarming 60 years ago. In fact, thanks to the construction of the interstate highway system, the fatality rate on those roads is 60 percent lower than that of the rest of the roadway system. On the safety-research front, projects sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and conducted at the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) have produced numerous life-saving discoveries, such as the “breakaway” sign concept and specifications for improved safety of roadside structures. Through performance of countless crash tests over the last 50 years, Texas has led the way to implementation of safer signs, light and utility poles, medians, mailboxes and guardrails all across the nation.

A low-deflection life saver

Every day portable concrete traffic barriers are saving lives. They’re trucked to construction locations and set up quickly, and before long traffic is flowing in temporary lanes. Oncoming cars are kept safely apart and in their lane of travel.

Depending on the segment length used, the low-deflection precast concrete barrier developed and tested at TTI has only 18 to 24 inches of lateral movement during a design impact, putting it in a class by itself. In full-scale crash testing performed at TTI by the Roadside Safety Program, the low-deflection precast barrier proved exceptional at safely shrugging off the impact of a 4,409-pound pickup truck smashing into it at more than 60 miles per hour and 25 degrees. The barrier successfully contained the pickup, redirected it and kept it upright, all necessary criteria when evaluating safety and impact performance.

According to TTI Research Engineer Bligh, the F-shape barrier showed another characteristic that engineers were eager to achieve — when impacted by a vehicle, the barrier didn’t shove aside, or “deflect,” nearly as much as other portable barriers in common use. In fact, use of an innovative cross-bolt connection provides this new barrier with the lowest design deflection of any approved free-standing portable concrete barrier. This finding allowed researchers to recommend the low-deflection precast concrete barrier for use in restricted construction sites, where quarters are cramped and workers run the risk of being hit by a barrier being shoved into the work zone in a collision.

“The new barrier achieves the objective of low dynamic deflection without sacrificing constructability,” says Bligh. “The low deflections associated with the cross-bolt connection make it ideal for use in restricted work zones where it is desirable to minimize the required buffer space between the barrier and the work activity area. TxDOT has implemented the new F-shape barrier as a state standard, and other state departments of transportation are evaluating the barrier as well.”

And the adaptability of the cross-bolt connection to other barrier shapes makes it versatile as well as functional.

When Charlot Finnigan came to TTI’s Child Safety Seat “checkup” event in December of 2005, she had no idea it would become perhaps one of the most important decisions of her life. The next month, as Finnigan and her husband were driving south on Texas Avenue, a car pulled out from a parking lot, causing a collision that totaled their automobile. Immediately, Finnigan and her husband checked the backseat and the health of their 4-month-old, 11-pound daughter, Jasmine. Inside and secure in her infant child safety seat, she was fine. “Before I went to the safety seat ‘checkup’ event, I didn’t know how to install the seat,” says Finnigan. “Without knowing how to do it right, Jasmine could have been hurt.”

This Issue

Finding Solutions

Volume 44, Number 1
March 2008
Issue Overview

On this page:

• A low-deflection life saver
• For more information

“Safety innovations like the low-deflection barrier make work zones safer for both motorists and construction personnel. Less deflection in an impact translates to more operating space for cars and workers. Ease of installation, inspection and repair reduces exposure of workers and minimizes traffic delays. If a car goes out of control while traveling through a work zone, this barrier is designed to save the lives of both the motorists and any workers in the area behind the barrier. That’s why we do this kind of work.” Roger Bligh, TTI Research Engineer

For more information:

Roger Bligh
(979) 845-4377
rbligh@tamu.edu

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During field studies conducted to validate audio message content, study participants were accompanied by TTI Assistant Research Scientist Nada Trout, to record how they used the message.

Navigating through a construction zone is dicey enough for drivers under the best circumstances, but the stakes rise considerably for pedestrians trying to make their way, even through familiar territory. For visually impaired pedestrians, the challenge can be life threatening.

TTI Assistant Research Engineer Brooke Ullman recently undertook a study, sponsored by TxDOT, to find out how pedestrian traffic is being handled in work zones and to see if any safety improvements can be made for disabled pedestrians.

“The signing that’s available right now for pedestrians may say a sidewalk is closed,” says Ullman. “But, what if it’s not closed for another two blocks? We studied the kind of information pedestrians have said they want and need, and then we took it a step further to consider audio messages that would give information to walkers who are visually impaired.”

The research generated a handbook practitioners can use to consider what signs or audio messages they need using a decision table.

Ullman’s team also identified design points they recommend when verbal safety messages are created to assist in guiding visually impaired pedestrians. For example, “alternate route” messages should clearly state where they are leading the pedestrian, and blocks or landmarks are better indicators of distance than feet or mile measurements.

“If a person who’s visually impaired doesn’t have information about what’s going on in a work zone — even an area they’re familiar with — what’s to stop them from walking into an unsafe area?” asks Ullman. “What if, for some reason, there’s no barricade? It’s important to warn people that conditions are different from what they’re expecting — especially when they’re not able to see that for themselves.”

This Issue

Finding Solutions

Volume 44, Number 1
March 2008
Issue Overview

On this page:

• For more information

For more information:

Brooke Ullman
(979) 862-6636
b-ullman@tamu.edu

]]> http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/the-sound-of-safety%e2%80%94-when-hearing-is-seeing/feed/ 0 http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/innovation-through-research/ http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/innovation-through-research/#comments Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:54:49 +0000 s-atchison@tti.servers http://tti.tamu.edu/?p=5170

by David M. Laney Former Chairman, Texas Transportation Commission Former Chairman, Amtrak Board of Directors

Consider for a moment light bulbs, plastic and transportation. An unusual mix, but they share two important common characteristics.

Each, in some way, impacts every day of our lives, to the point that we can scarcely imagine doing without them. And each evolved from crude beginnings, with the original idea bearing little resemblance to what we know and use today. That’s true because of research.

Research is the reason light bulb filaments burn for hundreds of hours instead of just a few hours, as they did in 1878. Research is the reason “Parkesine” evolved from a primitive, heated and molded rough material to become the plastic we now use for everything from food wrap to medical supplies. And research is the reason transportation is safer, smoother and more cost-efficient than it’s ever been.

The transportation system in America has long been the envy of many nations, but it didn’t turn out that way by chance. It turned out that way because industry leaders knew decades ago that our system would require constant improvements to serve society’s changing needs. They made these improvements through a sustained investment in research and innovation, and the return on that investment has been substantial.

Take for example:

• Refined pavement mixtures help ensure that roadways last longer, which is critical at a time when rising construction and maintenance costs collide with shrinking revenues, creating a perfect financial storm.
• Technology applications make freeway operations increasingly more efficient, saving time for motorists, ensuring more reliable delivery times for shippers and shortening response times for emergency workers.
• Improved guardrail designs now allow drivers and passengers to walk away from crashes that would have been fatal less than a decade ago.

These and countless other scientific success stories have saved untold lives, time and money, but they’ve done so in relative obscurity. That’s largely because the research process, in all its complexity, doesn’t typically involve much fanfare.

Simply put, it goes like this: Identify a problem, find the best practical solution, implement the solution and go on to the next problem. No front page headlines. No TV ads on Super Bowl Sunday. Just do the job. As the saying goes, lightning leaves the credit for the thunder.

Given the staggering transportation challenges we face in the years and decades ahead, our job of problem solving has never been more important. Roads and bridges are aging. Resources are shrinking in the face of growing demand. Our population is booming, especially in already congested urban areas.

These and many more issues leave us faced with very serious questions. How can we continue to provide a transportation system that is safe and efficient, and do so within limited financial resources? How will future energy supplies affect our mobility and the system that makes that mobility possible? How do we ensure that our system supports our economy in a way that protects our position of leadership, locally, regionally and in a fiercely competitive global marketplace?

We don’t yet know the answers, but we do know that the right approach must include sustained, robust research. It’s a familiar and proven approach, the same one that gave us better ways to light our homes, preserve our food and move about more quickly and safely. All of these improvements resulted from a process of almost constant innovation through research.

To be sure, innovation has its price. But so does the absence of innovation — and that’s a price we simply cannot afford to pay.

This Issue

Finding Solutions

Volume 44, Number 1
March 2008
Issue Overview

]]> http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/innovation-through-research/feed/ 0 http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/increasing-efficiency/ http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/increasing-efficiency/#comments Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:53:35 +0000 s-atchison@tti.servers http://tti.tamu.edu/?p=5095 How do we maximize the transportation system we already have?
Through research.

I-394 MnPASS Express Lanes, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

For over 20 years, through support from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), multiple states and metropolitan planning organizations, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association and the U.S. Department of Transportation University Transportation Centers Program, the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) has helped battle the traffic congestion problem by tracking and developing mobility data for major urban areas across the nation. Recent expansion of the study to include all 437 urban areas and an improved methodology have broadened the scope of the work to include recommended strategies for agencies, businesses and commuters to help implement solutions to the congestion problem. Since the 1970s, when it became clear that a single solution of building more roads would not keep pace with the congestion problem, TTI/TxDOT cooperative research has produced advances in freeway operations; lane management; signal timing; intersection, sign and roadway design; and public transportation that have all been implemented in Texas’ major urban areas.

Studying traffic’s big squeeze

Traffic congestion burns enough fuel every year to fill 58 supertankers and erodes enough time to consume 105 million weeks of vacation. Each one of us wastes nearly a week’s worth of time, 26 gallons of ever-more-costly fuel and a whopping $710 — all because of congestion.

TTI Research Engineer Tim Lomax and Associate Research Scientist David Schrank are at the forefront of identifying the mobility-busting characteristics that choke off traffic flow in cities across the country. Their research culminates in widely utilized reports on urban mobility, which identify solutions that maximize the efficiency of existing infrastructure and provide alternatives to combat the multi-headed problem.

A tool used nationwide

“Using the mobility data we gather has proven helpful to planning and transportation agencies in just about every part of the country,” says Lomax. “Reports indicate that our data and performance measures are used in efforts to communicate technical information to the general public in ways that non-technical audiences understand.”

The 2007 Urban Mobility Report contains a number of recommendations to address the mobility problem, including:

• providing more travel options — using the Internet to telecommute, value pricing toll lanes and encouraging increased use of transit;
• adding capacity — adding lanes, buses and new roadways, improving roadway designs, adding rail service, etc.;
• managing the demand — building more “car free” communities and adding more bike and pedestrian options; and
• increasing the efficiency of the system — maximizing timing of traffic signals, managing special events (e.g., sporting or music events), metering freeway ramp, etc.

This Issue

Finding Solutions

Volume 44, Number 1
March 2008
Issue Overview

This Issue

Finding Solutions

Volume 44, Number 1
March 2008
Issue Overview

“The participation of TTI researchers in TRB committees and other activities over the years has been very positive. The contributions of numerous TTI researchers have enriched the multimodal research portfolio, outreach efforts and technology transfer activities at TRB.”Robert K. Skinner,
TRB Executive Director

]]> http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/tti-researchers-active-in-trb/feed/ 0 http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/building-the-system/ http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/building-the-system/#comments Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:43:37 +0000 s-atchison@tti.servers http://tti.tamu.edu/?p=5165

This five-level interchange, known as the Dallas High Five, was completed nine months ahead of schedule.

Between 1953 and 1962, the Texas Highway Department (THD) approved the construction of almost 16,000 miles of highway, bringing the state’s total system to 59,300 miles (more than any other state in the nation), and more than doubling the yearly construction and maintenance budget. Through the Cooperative Research Program and its partnership with THD, the Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI) research contributions in the areas of freeways, prefabricated concrete beams and girders, new asphalt and aggregate testing procedures, and new highway materials provided valuable guidance and technology to the department during this rapid expansion of highways and freeways. Today, with upwards of 80,000 miles supporting a population of 23.5 million¹, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)-sponsored research at TTI has helped save millions of dollars in costs associated with planning, constructing and maintaining Texas’ roads and bridges.

Efficiency matters

Screen shot of the web-based permitting system called Utility Installation Review.

A 2008 survey by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that Texas contains four of the 10 fastest growing cities in the United States with Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex leading the pack.

To accommodate booming growth and soaring travel in the Lone Star State at a time of increasing uncertainty in transportation funding, it has become paramount to find innovative ways to manage, deliver, operate and maintain projects effectively. To address this critical need, researchers in the Infrastructure Management Program at TTI have been engaged in proactive, cutting-edge research to optimize engineering data management procedures during the entire lifetime of a transportation facility.

What does that mean? In simpler terms, it means that building and operating a modern roadway involves collecting and organizing an almost bewildering array of information, from where transportation facilities are planned or designed to honing down the time and effort it takes to review and process permits to accommodate utilities within the right of way. Efficiency at each step of the process can cut timelines and costs alike.

TTI Research Engineer Cesar Quiroga leads research in this area and has pioneered geographic information system (GIS)-based models and systems to manage engineering and supporting documentation in ways that can contribute to significant increases in productivity and reductions in cost. The research has been hailed at both district and division levels alike at TxDOT, and Quiroga is already looking at new ways to improve on this research.

“We know that streamlined project delivery is a critical requirement to achieve the goal of a more efficient transportation system,” says Quiroga. “Many factors can cause delays during project development and construction. For example, transportation agencies produce enormous amounts of engineering data in a variety of formats with varying levels of accuracy and resolution on several types of storage media.”

“Transportation agencies nationwide recognize the need to implement strategies to ensure data usability and integrity. However, the amount of data those agencies use is growing steadily, making effective management of it increasingly difficult. In addition, although transportation officials have a wealth of data at their disposal, frequent lack of data integrity, accessibility, quality control or plain awareness makes it unnecessarily difficult to put the data to good use. These inefficiencies result in redundant collection efforts, contribute to project delays and can make projects more expensive than they should be.”

A portfolio of progress

Quiroga’s research has filled an efficiency gap in the management of transportation data and information. Here are two examples:

• GIS-based model and guidelines for managing engineering design data in the project development process. The model integrates disparate pieces of information into a coherent structure that handles projects, documents, and existing and proposed ground features. As an immediate result of the research, TxDOT made changes to its electronic document management system content library structure (Project 0-5246).
• Web-based permitting system called Utility Installation Review (UIR) for automating the submission, review and approval of utility permits at TxDOT. UIR is currently operational at five TxDOT districts, with plans for expansion to the rest of the state in the short term. Implementing UIR has resulted in dramatic reductions in the amount of paperwork; savings on plan reproduction, courier costs and mailing costs; more reliable utility permit documentation management and archival; and shorter utility permit review and approval times (Project 5-2110-03).

1 http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48000.html

This Issue

Finding Solutions

Volume 44, Number 1
March 2008
Issue Overview

On this page:

• Efficiency matters
• A portfolio of progress
• ET-PLUS Success
• For more information

“We know that streamlined project delivery is a critical requirement to achieve the goal of a more efficient transportation system. Many factors can cause delays during project development and construction.”Cesar Quiroga, TTI Research Engineer

The Challenge to Keep Building the System…
TxDOT estimates that by the year 2030:

• The Texas population will increase by 12 million people.
• Road use will increase by 214 percent.
• Highway freight traffic will increase by 77 percent.

For more information:

Cesar Quiroga
(210) 731-9938
c-quiroga@tamu.edu

]]> http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/building-the-system/feed/ 0 http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/technology-wages-war-on-the-average-commute/ http://tti.tamu.edu/2008/03/01/technology-wages-war-on-the-average-commute/#comments Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:17:23 +0000 s-atchison@tti.servers http://tti.tamu.edu/?p=5156 The morning cell phone beep of an instant message or the chime of an email around quitting time can be a commuter’s best friend when the message is a traffic alert about the drive ahead. That warning — making it possible for you to take an alternate route around a travel snag — can keep you from missing a meeting at work or a hot meal at home.

Mike Vickich, senior systems analyst for TTI’s Research and Implementation Office in the Houston region, developed the software system that gathers speed and congestion data and converts those values into useful travel times. This information is then sent to dynamic message signs on roadways, a traveler information website, and subscriber cell phones and email accounts.

Housed within the sophisticated Houston TranStar traffic management center, TTI-developed software and technology have provided area commuters with vital traveler information since 1995.

“We help develop many of the traveler information components that TranStar provides to the area — the most visible component being the Houston TranStar website,” says Vickich. “The website offers people peace of mind so drivers can plan a route and know what to expect on the roadway, even before they leave.”

Area commuters keep the website servers humming at TranStar. Approximately 375,000 unique visitors click on the site each month to peruse the real-time traffic map and keep an eye on speeds, cameras, freeway signs and lane closures.

“Commuters who travel in Houston a lot and watch the travel times listed on dynamic message signs get to know what those travel times should be under normal conditions,” says Vickich. “If they see a sign that says it’s 10 or 20 minutes longer than it should be, then they have the information they need to make the best travel decisions — which can help lower travel times and reduce congestion. The value of traveler information is to provide the people on the road with the information they need to make the best travel decisions possible.”

This Issue

Finding Solutions

Volume 44, Number 1
March 2008
Issue Overview