Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Research Scientist Bob Brydia recently wrote an article for the ITS International magazine about the traveller information system for the I-35 project. TxDOT is using an advanced construction traveller information system to keep the public informed and enhance safety and mobility during the multiple years of construction. TTI was contracted to […]
Archives for 2014
Event Aims to Educate College-age Students on Preventing Impaired Driving
The U in the Driver Seat program and Texas Department of Transportation teamed up on March 28 and 29 for the inaugural Peer-to-Peer Impaired Driving Prevention Symposium at Texas State University. The event aimed to educate college-aged students about the impaired driving problem and introduce peer-driven efforts that can be used at colleges and universities […]
Carpool Ridesharing App Project Underway
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), with support from the Federal Highway Administration’s Value Pricing Pilot Program, recently began a multi-year study to test the use of real-time ridesharing technology to verify the occupancy of a vehicle and to evaluate the effects of toll discounts. The project is being conducted jointly with the Central Texas […]
TTI Advises Traveling Public to Utilize Information Available for 96-mile Construction Zone Between Hillsboro and Salado
The I-35 corridor is getting an overhaul between Hillsboro and Salado. There is new traveler information available to you. Frequent night time lane closures in this span of construction could cause some travel delay to Dallas, Austin and San Antonio I-35 commuters who travel through this area. As motorists who regularly travel I-35 through Central […]
Yesterday’s Inventions, Tomorrow’s Innovations
Volume 50, Number 1 (2014) Adobe PDF version Inside This Issue: Building on the Past to Plan the Future Happy Birthday to Texas Transportation Researcher: 50 Years of Informing, Sharing and Promoting TTI Research and Implementation Texas Drivers Report Improvements in Some Safety Behaviors TTI’s Advanced Traffic Forecasting Helps Austin Prepare for 2035 Comprehensive Compaction […]
Building on the Past to Plan the Future
Research is a Bridge. In its simplest form, research involves taking what we know and building on it. The empirical process is how we explore possibilities, test new theories about old assumptions, and ultimately, through innovation, create a roadmap to a better future. But new ideas have to come from somewhere. At the Texas A&M […]
Happy Birthday to Texas Transportation Researcher: 50 Years of Informing, Sharing and Promoting TTI Research and Implementation
The Texas Transportation Researcher, or Researcher, is the flagship publication of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). In its current form, the quarterly magazine is intended to promote interest and inquiry into TTI‘s research, technology transfer and education; encourage research implementation and application; and increase awareness of the diversity of TTI research, divisions, centers and […]
Texas Drivers Report Improvements in Some Safety Behaviors
Survey also tracks awareness of safety programs, campaigns TEXAS DRIVERS in 2013 were slightly less inclined to report they exceeded speed limits or talked on a cell phone while driving than they were the previous year, according to recent research. In the study, funded annually by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) since 2010, the […]
TTI’s Advanced Traffic Forecasting Helps Austin Prepare for 2035
ACCORDING to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), 180,000 vehicles per day drive I-35 between US 183 and SH 71, the 10-mile central artery for travel and commerce in Austin. The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) estimates the city’s population will almost double over the next 20 years. Considering that 85 percent of current […]
Comprehensive Compaction Monitoring System: TTI Develops 3-Step Process to Measure the Quality of New Asphalt Pavement
Construction defects in new asphalt layers often cause early pavement failures. Imagine a time when these are eliminated. “I think that time is here,” says Tom Scullion, manager of the Flexible Pavement Program at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). Scullion is speaking of a three-step process (detailed in this article) that uses technologies developed […]
Do Road-User Charges Make Sense for Texas? More States Are Exploring Alternatives to the Motor Fuels Tax
When we pay for electricity, the charge is based on the number of kilowatt hours we use. For natural gas, we pay for the number of cubic feet we use. For cell-phone service, it’s typically the number of minutes we use. If we think of transportation as another utility service, does it make sense to […]
TTI Researchers Contribute to the 2014 TRB Annual Meeting
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers joined nearly 12,000 attendees from around the world at the 93rd annual meeting of the National Academies’ Transportation Research Board (TRB) Jan. 12–16 in Washington, D.C. This year’s attendance set a new record. “TTI researchers continue to play leadership roles in all aspects of TRB,” notes Katie Turnbull, TTI […]
TTI-UMTRI Partnership: LINK Alliance
It’s the best of both worlds as the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) join forces in redefining transportation for a connected and automated world. The recently formed initiative, named the LINK Alliance, is a combined effort to collaborate on new transportation research connecting people, vehicles and […]
TTI Director Emeritus Herb Richardson Inducted into Texas Transportation Hall of Honor
Herb Richardson, director emeritus of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), was inducted as the 39th member of the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor during a Feb. 19 ceremony at TTI. Established in 2000 to recognize those individuals who played significant roles in the development and advancement of Texas transportation, the Hall of Honor is […]
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
Carlson Honored with Regents Fellow Service Award The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents has presented Paul Carlson, research engineer and head of TTI‘s Operations and Design Division, with the Regents Fellow Service Award. The award is presented annually “to recognize and honor service, extension and research professionals who have provided exemplary professional service […]
TTI Publications
Research Videos Access the research topics listed below via the URLs shown. The Comprehensive Compaction Monitoring System: https://vimeo.com/88664312 Decision Time: Addressing the Urgency of Texas’ Growing Mobility Problems: https://vimeo.com/87572769 Mileage-Based User Fees: https://vimeo.com/71848261 TTI Investigates Intercity Passenger Rail: https://vimeo.com/70408029 TTI Research on the U.S.-Mexico Border: https://vimeo.com/66665274 Women Leaders at TTI: https://vimeo.com/77974866 Technical Reports Application of […]
Rural Roadway Signage: When Brighter Is Not Always Better
Ever since agencies started using uniform traffic signs, the conventional thinking concerning nighttime visibility is that brighter is better. But a recent Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) research project revealed that signs along rural highways can be so bright that they cause disability glare to the point of reduced hazard detection distances, which can be […]
TTI Director Emeritus Herb Richardson Inducted into Texas Transportation Hall of Honor
Herb Richardson, director emeritus of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) was inducted as the 39th member of the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor during a Feb. 19 ceremony at TTI. Established in 2000 to recognize those individuals who played significant roles in the development and advancement of Texas transportation, the Hall of Honor is […]
Probation Officers Receive Ignition Interlock Device, Alcohol Training
Alcohol use plays a factor in nearly half of all crimes committed in Texas. Maury Dennis, senior research scientist with the Center for Alcohol and Drug Education Studies at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), cites this as one reason Texas probation officers have such a heavy workload. Dennis is beginning his third year organizing […]