A classroom, a roadside, even a cow pasture — you can call any space where a critical thinker tests a theory a laboratory. Any tool, handheld or electronic, can be considered technology when applied to a given task. But it takes a special kind of laboratory, with the right tools wielded by qualified experts, to […]
Volume 51, Number 2
TTI’s SEC Lab: A Quarter Century of Product-Testing Excellence
Since 1989, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Sediment and Erosion Control Laboratory (SEC Lab) has generated an Approved Products List (APL) for the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT’s) use of erosion-control products. Some 25 years later, the SEC Lab continues to be the nation’s premier facility for performance evaluation of roadside environment management. TTI’s […]
Research in All Kinds of Weather: TTI’s Environmental and Emissions Research Facility
When researchers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) need a place to test vehicle emissions, they don’t have to go far — one of the largest drive-in environmental chambers in the United States is housed at Texas A&M University’s Riverside Campus. But the Environmental and Emissions Research Facility (EERF) does more than just emissions […]
TTI Upgrades Driving Simulator to Produce More Reliable Results
Researchers these days are using computer simulations rather than actual testing environments to evaluate driving behavior. Why? For the most part, simulations are more cost effective and safer. However, reliably capturing reality in a simulated environment can be challenging. In an effort to increase the realism of its driving simulator, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute […]
TTI’s High-Bay Structural Testing Facility Brings Real-World Conditions to a Lab Setting
Standing outside of the Wisenbaker Engineering Building on the Texas A&M University campus, you’d never guess inside is one of the largest, most modern and best-equipped facilities of its kind — the High-Bay Structural Testing Facility. The High-Bay Lab enables researchers to perform full-scale tests on structural systems using different types of loads that simulate […]
TTI Enhances Its Proving Ground with New Research Facilities
The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 introduced a new concept to motorist safety: the forgiving roadside. A year before that act was implemented, engineers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Proving Ground Research Facility developed and crash-tested breakaway sign supports — just one example of the new philosophy then being […]
McNew Laboratory: Venerable Roadway Material Testing Lab Remains the Go-To Place for Pavement Evaluation
The bottom line for the driving public is safer, smoother rides on better roads at a lower cost. The facilities at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) McNew Laboratory allow sponsors to access some of the most advanced, state-of-the-art equipment to help achieve those goals. Located behind the Civil Engineering/TTI Building at Texas A&M University, […]
Visibility Research Laboratory: One-of-a-Kind Facility Changes with the Times
In 2009, when the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) added a Visibility Research Laboratory (VRL) to its collection of world-class research facilities, TTI Senior Research Engineer Paul Carlson had a vision for what the lab could accomplish. “Before the lab opened, when we needed to take controlled photometric measurements in order to tie those into […]
TTI Hosts Accelerate Texas Inaugural Meeting
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) hosted the inaugural meeting of Accelerate Texas, a center founded by TTI and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to focus on economic development to help position Texas as a leader in the commercialization of connected and automated vehicle (CV/AV) technologies. On March 22 and 23, representatives from 19 […]
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 […]
TTI News
Former TTI Research Associate Becomes NTSB Member A former TTI research associate has been sworn in as the newest member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, who worked at TTI from 1997 to 2000, was sworn in March 23 following her presidential nomination and congressional approval. Dinh-Zarr was then designated as […]
TTI Publications
Research Videos Access the research topics listed below via the URLs shown. TTI Enhances Its Proving Ground with New Research Facilities: https://vimeo.com/131557369 Assessing the Effectiveness of Wrong-Way Driving Countermeasures: https://vimeo.com/127093778 TTI’s Air Quality Program: https://vimeo.com/123978706 TTI’s Flexible Pavements Program: https://vimeo.com/118643727 What Texans Think About Their Transportation System: https://vimeo.com/114683447 Connected Transportation Is Just Up the Road: […]