Volume 46, Number 4 (2010) Adobe PDF version Inside This Issue: Editorial Making Goode Sense: The Way Ahead with TTI Environment Keeping Tabs on the Elements: TTI’s Environmental Research Focuses on Water, Air Standards The Sky’s the Limit Infrastructure The Right Time and the Right Place: Taking Care of Our Infrastructure Security Security Is More […]
Texas Transportation Researcher
Making Goode Sense: The Way Ahead with TTI
Last year the David R. Goode National Transportation Policy Conference published Well Within Reach: American’s New Transportation Agenda. The bipartisan conference, cochaired by former Secretaries of Transportation Norman Mineta and Samuel Skinner, suggested that without a fundamental change in direction, our nation’s transportation system simply will not meet our future needs. The Goode report recommends […]
Keeping Tabs on the Elements: TTI’s Environmental Research Focuses on Water, Air Standards
Seeing a smoking vehicle traveling down the highway makes us think about the air we’re breathing. When rainfall causes the road to be slick from tire residue and engine spills, we don’t often think of what happens when the pollutants wash off the road. But what the roadside does with the polluted water and how […]
The Sky’s the Limit
The Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI‘s) new Environmental and Emissions Research Facility (EERF) is officially open for research. Joe Zietsman, director of the Center for Air Quality Studies, describes this facility as a “researcher’s dream come true.” The EERF was made possible by a competitive grant award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Houston […]
The Right Time and the Right Place: Taking Care of Our Infrastructure
Texas’ transportation system has allowed the state to successfully compete in a global market. An efficient transportation network allows companies to move their goods efficiently and effectively, offering just-in-time service to their customers. In the current economic climate, the agencies that oversee our transportation system must make every dollar count. This renewed focus means using […]
Security Is More Than a State of Mind
“9/11 changed everything.” Nearly a decade after the deadliest foreign attack on American soil in our nation’s history, that phrase is almost a cliche. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make it any less true. In medieval times, the main gate, or portcullis, was the most important part of a castle’s security. If the gate was breeched, enemy […]
Learning by Teaching: Developing Transportation Professionals for Today and Tomorrow
A proverb says that by learning you will teach, and by teaching you will learn. In its mission to educate transportation professionals, the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) has certainly learned from its students. What we take away is that together we can improve the transportation industry — a vital part of everyday life that touches […]
TTI in the Media
Over the past year, TTI experts answered tough questions on a variety of state and national transportation issues. Over 2,500 newspaper articles, broadcast television spots and professional journals — with a potential reach of over 725 million readers and viewers nationwide — mentioned the Institute or its experts. Here are a few excerpts of TTI‘s […]
Short Course Long on History, Achievements
With the theme “one DOT,” the 84th Annual Transportation Short Course attracted more than 1,800 professionals for the two-day event at Texas A&M University Oct. 12–13. Rich with history — the first Short Course occurred when President Calvin Coolidge occupied the White House — Short Course is cosponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) […]
Texas Transportation Pioneer Inducted into Hall of Honor
With a long list of Texas and national transportation accomplishments to his name, the former chairman of both the Texas Transportation Commission and the National Rail Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), David Laney, was inducted into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor Oct. 6. With numerous colleagues and well-wishers in attendance, the induction ceremony took place at […]
Advisory Council Addresses Challenges of Texas Transportation
With the state’s transportation concerns a main focus of their annual gatherings, members of the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) Advisory Council had much to consider when they met in College Station Sept. 16. Discussions centered on a number of tough issues, including the lack of federal and state funding for road projects and the impact […]
Awards and More
TDS Honored by National Safety Council, Gains Partner The National Safety Council (NSC) has recognized the Teens in the Driver Seat (TDS) program with its Teen Driving Safety Leadership Award. This is the fourth national award the TDS program has received. For most of its nearly 100-year history, NSC has focused on workplace and transportation […]
Available Reports and Products
Technical Reports “Alternative Methods for Developing External Travel Survey Data,” by Steve Farnsworth, 0-6583-1, October 15, 2010. “Analysis and Recommendations on Protecting Waterways from Encroachment,” by Joan Mileski, 0-6225-1, July 30, 2010. “Bioretention for Storm Water Quality Improvement in Texas: Pilot Experiments,” by Ming-Han Li, 0-5949-2, July 28, 2010. “Development, Calibration, and Validation of Performance […]
Available reports and products
Technical Reports “Analysis and Recommendations on Protecting Waterways from Encroachment,” by Joan Mileski, 0-6225-1, July 30, 2010. “Bioretention for Stormwater Quality Improvement in Texas: Pilot Experiments,” by Ming-Han Li, 0-5949-2, July 28, 2010. “Development, Calibration, and Validation of Performance Prediction Models for the Texas M-E Flexible Pavement Design System,” by Fujie Zhou, 0-5798-2, August 13, […]
Solving the Transportation Puzzle
Volume 46, Number 3 (2010) Adobe PDF version Inside This Issue: Editorial A Horse of a Similar Color Mobility The Big Squeeze: The future of congestion management Economics What Goes Around Comes Around: Transportation drives economic prosperity Freight Movement Shipping to the Future Institute Legacy Celebrating 60 Years of Innovation: A history of saving lives, […]
Awards and more
U.S. State Department Signs Major Contract with TTI In one of the largest contracts ever awarded to Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), the Crashworthy Structures Program has received a U.S. Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security pact that will provide up to $7 million in work over a five-year period. The contract calls for TTI […]
Planning for the Future: TTI’s Center for Strategic Transportation Solutions
Where are we going? How will we get there? These questions aren’t just philosophical…they’re strategic. In February 2009, the Texas Transportation Commission adopted the 2030 Committee Texas Transportation Needs Report, which was developed by the Texas Transportation Institute and the Center for Transportation Research. The report identifies that Texas will need some $315 billion to […]
Virtual survey crew ahead: Radiusmeter takes guesswork out of signs, markings for horizontal curves
Consistency is an important principle in roadway safety. It ensures that roadways conform to recommended guidelines and promote safety to drivers. The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) has developed the Radiusmeter to help improve consistency on horizontal curves. “A large percentage of crashes occur on horizontal curves on two-lane highways,” says Paul Carlson, head of TTI‘s […]
The Forgiving Roadside: TTI research, facilities are vital to protecting your loved ones
It’s five times safer to travel on our nation’s roadways today than it was five decades ago. For every 100 million miles Americans traveled in 1960, five people died. Today, the rate has dropped to just over one death per 100 million miles. “As a nation 50 years ago, we decided that killing tens of […]
Factoring in the Human Equation
During the 1930s, several states proposed laws to prohibit the use of radios while driving. According to automobile historian Michael Lam, “Opponents of car radios argued that they distracted drivers and caused accidents, that tuning them took a driver’s attention away from the road, and that music could lull a driver to sleep.” While technologies […]