Texas A&M Transportation Institute Executive Associate Director and past Chair of the TRB Technical Activities Council Katie Turnbull wrote an article that was published in the February 2015 issue of TR News. The story, titled “Expanding Partnerships and Collaboration: TRB, National Parks, and Federal Lands,” is about the the Standing Committee on Transportation Needs of National […]
Archives for March 2015
TTI Receives AAPT’s W.J. Emmons Award
Members of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Flexible Pavements Division were honored with a best paper award by the Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists (AAPT) during its Annual Meeting in March. Research Engineer Fujie Zhou, Associate Research Engineer Sheng Hu, and Senior Research Engineer Tom Scullion received AAPT’s W.J. Emmons Award for their paper, […]
Motorcycle Survey Responses Requested
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s Look Learn Live motorcycle safety program is conducting a survey on reasons why riders do and do not wear protective gear. If you have a moment, please take the survey which will ask you about your riding history and gear use. The purpose of the study is to develop recommendations […]
National Work Zone Awareness Week 2015—Expect the Unexpected
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 […]
U.S. DOT’s Texas Transportation by the Numbers Profile
The US Department of Transportation’s (US DOT’s) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has released its State Transportation by the Numbers Profiles 2014 – two-page collections of transportation statistics for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Highlights from US DOT’s Texas Transportation by the Numbers two-pager point to several efforts recently completed […]
Former Transportation Secretary LaHood to Headline ConocoPhillips White House Lecture Series
On March 25, Ray LaHood, former United States Secretary of Transportation, will be at the Bush School to give the 2015 ConocoPhillips White House Lecture. Known as a bipartisan leader and skilled conciliator, LaHood will speak on the challenges to governing in a highly partisan political environment. LaHood will also receive the Good Governance Award […]
Patching the Oil Patch: The Cost of Progress
Volume 51, Number 1 (2015) Adobe PDF version Inside This Issue: Research Is Another Resource Texans Can Rely On Filling In Knowledge Potholes: TTI Correlates Trends in Energy Developments and Pavement Conditions Dredging Up Business: TxDOT Considers Maintenance Options for the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Texas A Recipe for Road Rehabilitation TxDOT, TTI Team Up […]
Research Is Another Resource Texans Can Rely On
Texas is a resource-rich state. Blessed with oil and natural gas reserves, Texas has been a principal supplier of natural resources for the nation for more than a century. Although resource development is always welcome — and a boon to the state’s economy — planning for it can be challenging. New discoveries of oil and […]
Filling In Knowledge Potholes: TTI Correlates Trends in Energy Developments and Pavement Conditions
The truth is, nobody likes potholes. But when you’re responsible for the integrity of your roadways, finding the funds to proactively plan maintenance is difficult when limited resources are already stretched to the limit. Add to that challenge new energy developments bringing hundreds of heavy trucks to two-lane roads, and it doesn’t take long for […]
Dredging Up Business: TxDOT Considers Maintenance Options for the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Texas
The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) stretches 1,100 miles, from St. Marks, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas. The waterway’s 379-mile Texas portion (the GIWW-T) links 11 deep-draft ports and 13 shallow-draft ports and handles two-thirds of the entire waterway’s traffic. In 2012, 90 percent of GIWW-T freight was classified as petroleum and chemical related. Maintaining the GIWW-T […]
A Recipe for Road Rehabilitation
Roads in South and West Texas are taking a pounding from energy-sector traffic. The affected roads are most often narrow farm-to-market (FM) roads with thin-asphalt surfaces. They’re now carrying 20 to 50 times more truck traffic than they were designed for. Weigh-in-motion data indicate that many of these trucks are also overloaded. The Texas Department […]
TxDOT, TTI Team Up to Address Roadway Damage Resulting from Energy Development
The energy sector is having a dramatic positive economic impact on Texas and the nation. But many Texas roadways have experienced accelerated pavement degradation due to heavy truck loads and increased traffic. An interagency agreement between the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) seeks to give districts the necessary […]
Researchers Test Emergency Exit Signs for Tunnels
About 15 years ago, several catastrophic, deadly highway tunnel disasters occurred in Europe. As a result, researchers began to evaluate methods to more effectively help stranded motorists reach emergency exits. The green “running man” sign — an international symbol for “emergency exit” — was adopted to help communicate with motorists. The United States has yet […]
Transportation Is Primary Focus of Area 41 Think Tank at Texas A&M
The Lone Star State is facing future challenges that cut across traditional lines of thinking and require cross-cutting solutions as well. The Texas A&M University System has created the Area 41 Institute to help solve these multidisciplinary problems. The Institute’s name is a nod to the military installation called Area 51, which is known for […]
Sharing Information Is Key to Solving Transportation Problems
Workshop Facilitates Information Sharing Among State, Local Agencies The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) hosted the Transportation and Energy Sector Development Workshop on May 6–7, 2014, in Arlington, Texas. The workshop was co-sponsored by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Upper Great Plains Transportation […]
Looking for Lessons Learned: TTI Examines Strategies Other States Use to Cope with Energy Development
One way or the other, the oil and gas industry seems to be ever-present in the minds of Texans. Through last summer, oil prices over $100 per barrel were fueling a boom in drilling activity across the state, especially in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale formations. Texas was supporting 48 percent of all […]
TTI, TxDOT Team Up to Test Connected-Vehicle Technology
Connected vehicles are coming. The transportation industry is already working on standards and prototypes. And part of developing them is testing to ensure the future of transportation is as safe, efficient and reliable as possible. A portion of I-35 could soon become a national test bed for connected-vehicle research, thanks in part to a four-year […]
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 […]
Walton, Holmes Inducted into Texas Transportation Hall of Honor
C. Michael Walton and Ned S. Holmes were recognized for contributions to Texas transportation in December at separate Texas Transportation Hall of Honor induction ceremonies in Austin. Walton was inducted as the Hall’s 40th member Dec. 1; Holmes was inducted as the 41st member Dec 18. “We have a state that has been blessed to […]
TTI Researchers and Students Recognized, Honored at TRB
The Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting is the world’s largest gathering of transportation professionals. Each year, numerous Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers and students attend the Washington, D.C., event. The 2015 annual meeting was Jan. 11–15. Turnbull Honored with TRB’s Carey Award TTI Executive Associate Director Katie Turnbull was presented with TRB’s W. […]