Current Projects

Rider 42: Mobility Investment Priorities

In May, the 82nd Texas Legislature set aside $300 million to “acquire right of way, conduct feasibility studies and project planning, and outsource engineering work for the most congested roads in each of the four most congested regions of the state.” As part of that goal, the Texas Legislature directed Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) to be a facilitator and coordinator of studies designed to:

  • determine which projects will offer the greatest results in congestion relief, economic benefits, user costs, safety and pavement quality;
  • identify funding options to support the projects and suggest the best use of future revenues for the projects;
  • ensure that the best practices in traffic management and demand management are getting the most efficient possible use of the current roadway system;
  • ensure open and transparent public participation; and
  • make recommendations to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) at major decision points. http://tti.tamu.edu/2011/12/01/rider-42/
  • http://mobility.tamu.edu/mip/
  • For funding strategies see: http://mobility.tamu.edu/mip/strategies.php#funding

TRENDS Model

The TRENDS model is designed to provide transportation planners, policy makers, and the public with a tool to forecast revenues and expenses for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for the period 2010 through 2035 based on a user-defined level of transportation investment. The user, through interactive windows, can control a number of variables related to assumptions regarding statewide transportation needs, population growth rates, fuel efficiency, federal reimbursement rates, inflation rates, taxes, fees, and other elements. The output is a set of tables and graphs showing a forecast of revenues, expenditures, and fund balances for each year of the analysis period based on the user-defined assumptions.

Since the inception of the TRENDS model, there has been a desire to incorporate the ability to estimate the economic impacts of transportation improvements, allowing decision-makers and the public to have a more defined portrayal of the potential economic and performance improvement outcomes associated with investment decisions. TTI is currently working on developing an economic impact model producing economic and mobility results at the MPO level, allowing the “local-option” function of the TRENDS model to be joined with an economic impact assessment tool.

High Speed Rail

The Institute has signed a three-year interagency contract with TxDOT to study high-speed rail to help determine its viability in Texas. As part of the TTI/TxDOT contract, team members will produce a high-speed rail compendium that will be regularly updated. Once completed, the document will be available on the web for public consumption.

Innovative Finance Strategic Research Project

In 2012, TTI will be assisting TxDOT to identify new and innovative transportation finance mechanisms to explore. TTI will conduct a comprehensive review of the state of practice of funding/financing mechanisms and identify mechanisms that show potential application in Texas. This research approach will utilize both a panel of transportation industry experts and a survey of best practices to prepare a final executive summary for TxDOT.