Volume 50, Number 2 (2014) Adobe PDF version Inside This Issue: An Old Notion, A New Future: We’ve Been Automating Vehicles Right from the Start TTI Study Examines Policy Implications of Automated Vehicles TTI Successfully Tests Algorithm as Part of USDOT Prototype Development Project Testing Connected Transportation Innovations Starts with First Creating the Test Itself […]
Archives for 2014
An Old Notion, A New Future: We’ve Been Automating Vehicles Right from the Start
When we talk about automating vehicles today, it sometimes sounds very futuristic. Relinquishing driving duties to a computer is a scary thought for some. But one thing to remember is that automating vehicles isn’t a new idea. It began over a hundred years ago with the notion of tying automation to safety. You probably know […]
TTI Study Examines Policy Implications of Automated Vehicles
The widespread presence of self-driving vehicles is still many years away. To manufacturers, those years represent a long and anxious wait to get their products to market. Government decision-makers, on the other hand, might view the wait as a good thing, since they will need all the time they can get to work through the […]
TTI Successfully Tests Algorithm as Part of USDOT Prototype Development Project
Thanks to a successful prototype demonstration, researchers with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) contributed to the growing evidence that a roadway can indeed become one big communications system. Vehicles, the roadside and traffic management centers (TMCs) can communicate with one another, seamlessly and nearly instantaneously. The demonstration was conducted May 6–7 in Columbus, Ohio, […]
Testing Connected Transportation Innovations Starts with First Creating the Test Itself
Before the new era of connected vehicles can become a reality, researchers must first find a way to test each proposed component and application under a variety of conditions that mimic real-world scenarios. For example, can the hardware inside a connected vehicle successfully receive and correctly interpret a queue warning, even with driving environments that […]
Accelerating Texas into the Future
Development of Smarter Transportation is a Critical Component of the 21st Century System The ever-changing landscape of transportation needs and new technologies — as well as funding issues and a rapidly growing population — have created a complex set of transportation issues for the state of Texas. The future of the transportation system is rooted […]
TTI Developing New Automated and Connected Transportation Test Bed
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) shares an industry vision where vehicle collisions are eliminated. Vehicles will interact — through technology — with other vehicles, drivers, the infrastructure, pedestrians and bicyclists to prevent crashes. The entire transportation system will be connected in a way that transforms how people live, work and interact. Achieving this vision […]
TTI Develops Advanced Traveler-Information Map for I-35 Expansion Project
It’s being called the most advanced traveler-information map in the nation. And it was made possible thanks to feedback from motorists who travel Interstate 35 (I-35) in the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT’s) Waco District. The new map went live Feb. 17, 2014, and vastly improves the information drivers can access before traveling the corridor. […]
ATLAS Center Created with $1.4 Million Grant from USDOT
The nation’s two largest university-based transportation research institutes have joined forces to form a unique university transportation center (UTC) designed to improve safety through a multidisciplinary system approach to research. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) — which leads the effort — form the UTC, called […]
TTI Advisory Council
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 […]
TTI News
Briaud Elected President of FedIGS Jean-Louis Briaud, the Buchanan Chair of the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University and manager of TTI’s Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Program, has been elected president of the Federation of International Geo-engineering Societies (FedIGS). The four-year term lasts through 2018. FedIGS was formed 10 years ago in an […]
TTI Publications
Research Videos Access the research topics listed below via the URLs shown. Connected Cars, Smarter Roads, Safer Texas: https://vimeo.com/97270483 Research Into New Rapid-Flash Beacon Shows Positive Results: http://vimeo.com/98577802 TTI’s Center for Railway Research Studies Our Country’s Aging Railway System: http://vimeo.com/96822544 TTI’s Sediment and Erosion Control Laboratory: https://vimeo.com/74722165 TTI Research on the U.S.-Mexico Border: https://vimeo.com/66665274 TTI […]
Villa Presents on Trade Growth, Border Issues at NAFTANEXT Summit
On January 1, 1994, a landmark free-trade agreement known as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Canada and Mexico took effect. One of the main objectives of the free-trade agreement was to eliminate tariff barriers, as well as non-tariff barriers, on goods and services within 15 years. NAFTA created the […]
ARTBA Women Leaders Council Featured in U.S. DOT’s Public Roads Magazine
The American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) Women Leaders Council was recently featured in U.S. DOT’s Public Roads magazine – the article “Making Inroads for Women in Transportation” is co-written by Susan Kurland, Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs. Created in 1902, ARTBA is a federation with the primary goal of aggressively growing […]
Safetynet | 2014, Vol. 1 Now Available
The newest issue of the Center for Transportation Safety’s newsletter is available. Sign up to receive Safetynet via email. In this issue: Texas drivers report improvements in some safety behaviors Meet Mike Manser CTS researcher teaches child passenger safety in Puerto Rico CTS expands research opportunities through new ATLAS Center Register for the 2014 Traffic Safety Conference
TTI Researchers Identify Elusive Relationship Between Safety and Pavement Marking Brightness
In what is described as a key breakthrough regarding safer nighttime driving, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers have identified a technique for developing safety-based retroreflectivity criteria for pavement markings. The technique, described in a Transportation Research Board paper submitted by TTI Senior Research Engineer Paul Carlson and TTI Associate Research Scientist Raul Avelar, quantifies […]
New Study: “Other Drivers” Are a Bigger Threat on the Road
Three-fourths of Texas drivers in a recent survey say they have talked on a cell phone behind the wheel within the past month, about the same number as those who reported speeding. Nearly half say they have texted while driving, slightly more than the number who ran a stop sign or red light. Financial services […]
Business Aviation, Airport Marketing Key Topics at Texas Aviation Conference
Spreading the word about the importance of business aviation and airport marketing were key topics at the 2014 Texas Aviation Conference. This year’s conference had over 500 attendees, and for the first time in its 32-year history, was held in Dallas. Conference participants included airport sponsors, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) employees, consultants, contractors and […]
National Work Zone Awareness Week Focuses on Speed
Roadway work zones are hazardous both for motorists who navigate through lane changes and slowed speeds and for the dedicated workers whose office is often mere feet away from moving vehicles. Each year in April, National Work Zone Awareness Week is held to bring national attention to motorist and worker safety and mobility issues in work zones. […]
Early Registration Extended For the 2014 Traffic Safety Conference
The early registration period for the 2014 Traffic Safety Conference has been extended through Friday, April 11. This year’s conference, held at the Westin Riverwalk – San Antonio, will include three workshops, 16 breakout session and student poster presentations on safety research. The breakout sessions will be on a variety of topics, including: Teen driving Motorcycle […]