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Photo for visual interest. A sports utility vehicle (shown from the rear) waits in front of a construction worker holding a stop sign in the middle of the roadway. A semi trailer waits on the other side of the man. In the background is construction equipment.

Operations and Design Division

Description

The Operations and Design Division has an active program of research in the traditional and innovative areas of traffic engineering. This division has a long history of producing valuable and implementable research results that advances the state-of-the-art and provide practitioners with the type of information they need to improve many aspects of the transportation system.

Expertise

The research team in the Operations and Design Division has experience in the following areas of transportation research:

  • Transportation engineering,
  • Human factors,
  • Sociology,
  • Traffic signal control,
  • Highway design,
  • Surveying,
  • Systems engineering,
  • Traffic operations,
  • Interchange ramps,
  • Saturation flow,
  • Highway safety,
  • Nighttime visibility,
  • Traffic control devices,
  • Geometric design,
  • Speed data,
  • Video,
  • Traffic classifier data collection,
  • Pedestrian safety, and
  • Data management.

Research Initiatives

The core areas of research are signs, markings, signals, work zones, and highway design. These areas are focused on by the division's four programs, which include the following:

Researchers have evaluated many different performance measures in these areas, including operational considerations, safety impacts, driver behavior, visibility, and many others. Their research efforts have a strong emphasis on the application of theoretical principles to the solution of real-world challenges. One of their strengths is developing solutions that can have immediate implementation value.

The division's staff are its most important resource. They are some of the leading experts in their respective areas of expertise and their work has been published in key journals. The research facilities are some of the best in the country and provide capabilities that few can match.

Cooperative Relationships/Sponsors

The Operations and Design Division maintain cooperative relationships with the following sponsors:

  • TxDOT,
  • NCHRP,
  • FHWA, and
  • National Academy of Sciences.

For More Information

Paul Carlson
Operations and Design Division
Texas Transportation Institute
Texas A&M University System
3135 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3135
ph. (979) 845-6004 · fax (979) 845-6006
paul-carlson@tamu.edu

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