Or, Why Transportation Research Is More Important Than Ever It’s hard to tighten your belt when you run out of holes in the leather. But when you can’t afford a new belt, you just have to work with what you’ve got. In a nutshell, that’s what the Texas Legislature is facing in the current budget […]
Volume 47, Number 1
Workshops Bring Local, State Planners Together
Every one of us likes to drive safely and without undue delays. To keep our roads safe and efficient, operators must effectively manage the existing system while simultaneously planning for evolving transportation and land development needs. Corridor management (CM) involves land development, roadway design, access control and traffic operations along existing transportation corridors. In short, […]
Funding Tomorrow’s Transportation in Texas: Not a Question of If…a Question of How
We often take our transportation system for granted. Then something happens — an ice storm, for example — to remind us just how much we depend on that system. Without it, our mobility, our economy, our very lives can become paralyzed. Keeping existing system infrastructure operational and effectively planning future roadways are vital to meeting […]
Rural Transportation Planning: It’s Not Just for Urban Areas Anymore
It’s an unfortunate cliché these days: economic times are difficult. Federal, state and local budgets are shrinking. As communities look for ways to get more bang for their transportation buck, leveraging strengths across agencies becomes ever more important. Metropolitan planning organizations have coordinated local urban planning efforts with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for […]
Enlightening Sign Time: TTI Helps Spread the Word about New National Retroreflectivity Standards
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) publishes the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) establishing national standards for all traffic signs. All agencies that maintain public roadways use the MUTCD to ensure signs and markings are uniform in their design and placement. Until recently, the MUTCD did not address when a traffic sign should be […]
The WSDOT Express Lanes Project: Research into Practice
Congestion is bad and getting worse across the country. Space for new lanes is limited, and funding for new construction is nearly nonexistent. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is familiar with the quandary. Its Interstate 405/State Route 167 corridor is often congested for 10 hours each work day. The high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes […]
Improved Urban Mobility Report Distributed
The Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI‘s) 20th Urban Mobility Report (UMR) presents the most accurate picture yet of how much time commuters in 439 metropolitan areas spend in traffic and how much that congestion costs. Released Jan. 20, the report uses GPS-enabled vehicles and mobile devices to monitor traffic speeds with data from INRIX, a leading […]
Texas Lawmakers Are Increasingly Turning to TTI for Answers to Questions Like These
Is there a hidden cost to better fuel economy? Are there alternative approaches for paying for road construction and maintenance? What does congestion cost the typical Texas household? Are there other ways to move freight across the border? The depth and breadth of Texas Transportation Institute’s expertise in all facets of transportation are valuable assets […]
Walk This Way — and Bicycle Too
CAMPO, TTI Use Pedestrian/Bicycle Counts to Improve Transportation Network The Live Music Capital of the World has one more thing to sing about — its pedestrian and bicycle pathways. The Austin area is committed to environmental protection and has made great strides in incorporating pedestrian and bicycle traffic into its transportation plans. Travelers using nonmotorized […]
Designing Context-Sensitive Solutions for Urban Thoroughfares
Our oldest means of transport — our own two feet — is making a comeback. In the interests of sustainability, transportation planners and engineers are trying to more thoroughly and effectively integrate pedestrians and bicyclists into thoroughfare design. To help guide this effort, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and partners like the Texas Transportation […]
Road Safety Audit Course Offered in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, looks much like urban areas in the United States. And like the United States, traffic safety is a problem. In November, Jeff Shelton, Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) assistant research scientist, traveled to Abu Dhabi to present a certified training course on road safety audits to area […]
Rendell Tells Texas Transportation Forum It’s Time to Act
Worried about the condition of our nation’s infrastructure, Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell delivered a fiery keynote speech to the 1,200 attendees of this year’s Texas Transportation Forum, held in Austin Jan. 3-5. The forum was co-sponsored by Texas Transportation Institute. “We used to be the best at everything,” Rendell said during his speech occurring […]
Maintaining a Strong Foundation: Materials and Pavements Implementation Projects
Tying It All Together — Corridor Analysis Maintaining the existing highway network is one of the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT‘s) top priorities. Many segments on important routes have now exceeded their design lives and are in need of major rehabilitation. To assist in this critical task, TxDOT contracted with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) […]
Awards and More
Hall of Fame Honor Texas Transportation Institute Executive Associate Director John Epps was inducted into the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s Hot-Mix Asphalt Hall of Fame in February at the 56th annual meeting of the association in Orlando, Fla., in February 2011. The hall of fame was “established to recognize and honor individuals who have made […]
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