The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) publishes the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) establishing national standards for all traffic signs. All agencies that maintain public roadways use the MUTCD to ensure signs and markings are uniform in their design and placement. Until recently, the MUTCD did not address when a traffic sign should be […]
Archives for 2011
The WSDOT Express Lanes Project: Research into Practice
Congestion is bad and getting worse across the country. Space for new lanes is limited, and funding for new construction is nearly nonexistent. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is familiar with the quandary. Its Interstate 405/State Route 167 corridor is often congested for 10 hours each work day. The high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes […]
Improved Urban Mobility Report Distributed
The Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI‘s) 20th Urban Mobility Report (UMR) presents the most accurate picture yet of how much time commuters in 439 metropolitan areas spend in traffic and how much that congestion costs. Released Jan. 20, the report uses GPS-enabled vehicles and mobile devices to monitor traffic speeds with data from INRIX, a leading […]
Texas Lawmakers Are Increasingly Turning to TTI for Answers to Questions Like These
Is there a hidden cost to better fuel economy? Are there alternative approaches for paying for road construction and maintenance? What does congestion cost the typical Texas household? Are there other ways to move freight across the border? The depth and breadth of Texas Transportation Institute’s expertise in all facets of transportation are valuable assets […]
Walk This Way — and Bicycle Too
CAMPO, TTI Use Pedestrian/Bicycle Counts to Improve Transportation Network The Live Music Capital of the World has one more thing to sing about — its pedestrian and bicycle pathways. The Austin area is committed to environmental protection and has made great strides in incorporating pedestrian and bicycle traffic into its transportation plans. Travelers using nonmotorized […]
Designing Context-Sensitive Solutions for Urban Thoroughfares
Our oldest means of transport — our own two feet — is making a comeback. In the interests of sustainability, transportation planners and engineers are trying to more thoroughly and effectively integrate pedestrians and bicyclists into thoroughfare design. To help guide this effort, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and partners like the Texas Transportation […]
Road Safety Audit Course Offered in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, looks much like urban areas in the United States. And like the United States, traffic safety is a problem. In November, Jeff Shelton, Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) assistant research scientist, traveled to Abu Dhabi to present a certified training course on road safety audits to area […]
Rendell Tells Texas Transportation Forum It’s Time to Act
Worried about the condition of our nation’s infrastructure, Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell delivered a fiery keynote speech to the 1,200 attendees of this year’s Texas Transportation Forum, held in Austin Jan. 3-5. The forum was co-sponsored by Texas Transportation Institute. “We used to be the best at everything,” Rendell said during his speech occurring […]
Maintaining a Strong Foundation: Materials and Pavements Implementation Projects
Tying It All Together — Corridor Analysis Maintaining the existing highway network is one of the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT‘s) top priorities. Many segments on important routes have now exceeded their design lives and are in need of major rehabilitation. To assist in this critical task, TxDOT contracted with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) […]
Awards and More
Hall of Fame Honor Texas Transportation Institute Executive Associate Director John Epps was inducted into the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s Hot-Mix Asphalt Hall of Fame in February at the 56th annual meeting of the association in Orlando, Fla., in February 2011. The hall of fame was “established to recognize and honor individuals who have made […]
Available Reports and Products
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TRB’s Skinner Named Research Champion
Robert Skinner, the executive director of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) was honored by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) during the Institute’s reception in Washington, D.C., Jan. 23 – which takes place each year on Sunday night of TRB’s Annual Meeting. The TTI Director’s Research Champion Award was presented to Skinner for his support of […]
By Popular Demand, Crash Reporting Changes Underway
If you want safer roads, you have to have accurate and effective accident reporting. That’s why traffic safety experts and researchers — but especially Texas law enforcement officers — are cheering a proposed new accident-reporting form. The new form was the result of a collaboration between TTI and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) designed […]
Annual Study on Nationwide Traffic Congestion to be released January 20
The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) will distribute the findings of its annual Urban Mobility Report at 12:01 a.m. CDT on Thursday, January 20, 2011. Sponsors of the study, established in 1982, include the Texas Transportation Institute, the University Transportation Center for Mobility, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association – Transportation Development Foundation, and the […]
Leading the Distracted Driving Research Effort
TTI’s Center for Transportation Safety (CTS) is positioning itself to become the go-to source in Texas for research related to distracted driving – a growing safety concern for policy makers in the state and around the country. Enter Joel Cooper, an assistant research scientist hired by CTS last summer. Already, he has testified twice before […]
Hydrogen Fuel Tanks Tested at TTI
The Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Roadside Safety Program is helping to determine the crashworthiness and safety of vehicles equipped with hydrogen fuel tanks in a series of unusual crash tests at the Riverside Campus. The tests will help provide data toward the development of federal motor vehicle safety standards when hydrogen becomes an alternative fuel […]