With the Kyle Field expansion project resulting in a 28 percent increase in seating capacity, transportation planners not only wanted to improve traffic flow, but also improve the overall weekend experience for Texas A&M University football fans. Involvement from community organizations throughout Bryan/College Station played a key role in achieving that goal. The Kyle Field […]
Archives for 2014
Self-Reported Survey of Texas Teens Finds Drug-Impaired Driving Surpasses Alcohol-Impaired Driving for First Time
Peer-to-peer program at Concordia targets impaired driving in an effort to improve safety behind the wheel In 2012, for the first time since its creation more than 20 years ago, the Texas Secondary School Survey found that more high school seniors reported driving drug-impaired than those who reported driving alcohol-impaired. One Austin university is doing […]
Video of Latest TTI Crash Test Goes Viral
A dramatic crash test was performed at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Sept. 24 to determine if a newly designed perimeter security device is effective in protecting U.S. embassies and other facilities around the globe. A video of the test showing a 15,000-pound truck crashing into the barrier at 50 miles per hour has […]
Most Texans Support More Funding for Transportation, New Poll Shows
Traffic congestion in Texas continues to worsen each year, but that’s not changing how the vast majority of Texans feel about their cars and trucks. This and a variety of other insights come from the first Texas Transportation Poll, which was conducted by the Transportation Policy Research Center of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. The […]
Fitzpatrick Receives Marsh Award for Distinguished Service
After more than 30 years of having her as a member—including serving on various committees—the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) honored Senior Research Engineer Kay Fitzpatrick of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute with the Burton W. Marsh Distinguished Service Award during its Annual Meeting and Exhibit in August. Named after Marsh, a founder and past […]
International Conference Highlights Women’s Issues in Transportation
The discussion of women’s issues in transportation has come a long way since the first conference on the subject in 1978. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) Women’s Issues in Transportation Committee has been at the forefront, identifying and advancing needed research, facilitating ongoing communication and coordination on key topics, and partnering with other organizations to […]
Carlson Attends FHWA Visibility Workshop
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Engineer Paul Carlson recently attended a workshop in McLean, VA, that focused on roadway visibility. The workshop, sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), was titled “Breakthroughs in Vision and Visibility for Highway Safety” and was held August 13–14. According to Carlson, the workshop was a good opportunity […]
2015 Nominations Underway for Texas Transportation Hall of Honor
The Texas Transportation Hall of Honor board is accepting nominations for 2015 inductees until October 1, 2014. Each individual selected for the Hall of Honor is recognized at an induction ceremony and with a plaque on permanent display in the Hall of Honor located at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute in the Texas A&M University […]
Latest Center for Transportation Safety Newsletter Now Available
The newest issue of the Center for Transportation Safety’s newsletter is available. View Safetynet | 2014, Vol. 1 Issue 2. Sign up to receive Safetynet via email. In this issue: Traffic Safety Conference focuses on teamwork, breaks attendance record Teens in the Driver Seat Summit furthers program’s momentum CTS, AAA Foundation work to improve child safety […]
Good Driving Habits Begin Early
Teens in the Driver Seat Jr. High Program Targets Pre-Driving Teens Before they can drive a car themselves, younger teens can play a significant role in promoting safe driving by their older peers. They can even remind their parents what it means to be a model driver for their children by promoting safe driving as […]
TTI Helps Texas Communities Meet Transportation Challenges
Volume 50, Number 3 (2014) Adobe PDF version Inside This Issue: TTI Helps Texas Communities Meet Transportation Challenges TTI Advisory Council: Advancing the Vision Keeping Texans Informed During Construction Projects TTI Helps Keep Americans Safe at Home and Abroad Helping TxDOT Build Better Bridges Improving Traffic Incident Management Time Is Money: Cutting Shipping Times Without […]
TTI Helps Texas Communities Meet Transportation Challenges
Transportation research is not an end unto itself. It’s a means by which the system we have can be transformed into the system we need. By proposing, testing and refining new ideas that improve and extend our transportation system, we make that system safer, help stretch dollars farther, and better serve the interests of the […]
TTI Advisory Council: Advancing the Vision
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Advisory Council is comprised of a small group of high-level transportation professionals from across Texas and every sector of the transportation world. The council, which meets annually, offers a tremendous service to the Institute by advising on transportation issues and trends and supporting TTI’s research programs and initiatives. TTI […]
Keeping Texans Informed During Construction Projects
The I-35 Expansion Project in Central Texas For travelers and business owners, construction projects — whatever their long-term benefits — can be an annoying, frustrating experience. Exits closed, access limited, traffic slowed down in work zones — mitigating the effects of those necessary evils is what a mobility coordinator does on behalf of the Texas […]
TTI Helps Keep Americans Safe at Home and Abroad
How do you keep a terrorist from bombing an embassy with a fast-moving car or truck fitted with explosives? The terrorist tactic goes back more than 30 years when the U.S. Marine barracks were bombed in Beirut, Lebanon. Today, embassies, consulates, and other facilities and bases here and abroad are protected with bollards and other […]
Helping TxDOT Build Better Bridges
BRIDGE TO THE PAST One often hears the phrase, “They just don’t build ’em like they used to.” It’s true of many things, including bridges. In Fort Worth, Texas, local historic preservation groups expressed concerns that historically significant bridge structures in the area could be endangered due to infrastructure upgrades demanded by modern traffic. In […]
Improving Traffic Incident Management
Have you ever seen the YouTube videos of traffic in China? Pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike approach intersections willy-nilly, with no traffic signals regulating them. Sometimes, only human reflexes and constantly honking horns keep crashes from happening. And even with traffic signals and conscientious attention by drivers, crashes still occur. In American cities, local traffic […]
Time Is Money: Cutting Shipping Times Without Compromising Security
Getting goods to market incurs costs for manufacturers, costs inevitably passed on to consumers. But if manufacturers paid less through expedited shipping practices, consumers could benefit too. Researchers with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research have studied how goods are shipped from maquilas (Spanish for “manufacturers”) in Ciudad Juarez, […]
TTI-Developed Sugar Land Rail-Monitoring System Reestablished
The Sugar Land rail-monitoring system is back in operation, alerting emergency personnel of approaching trains along a 6-mile section of US 90-A. This is the same system that is credited with averting a disaster in 2003 when police dispatchers were able to notify rail officials that a truck containing sodium hydroxide was stalled on a […]
Designing and Maintaining Tougher Roadways for Texas
Oil and gas production has increased dramatically in Texas in recent years, and every indication is that this trend will continue into the foreseeable future. The state now has 48 percent of all active drilling rigs in the United States. Many of these rigs are in the Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas. Recent […]