Celebrating 60 Years of Innovation: A history of saving lives, time and resources The original 1950 charter of the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), given by the Texas A&M Board of Directors, charged the Institute with enlisting the broad resources of the college in all forms of transportation research, while giving students the opportunity to study […]
Texas Transportation Researcher
Shipping to the Future
Business and individual needs for product delivery continue to evolve due to technological advancements, economic globalization, increasing competitiveness and changing market demand. The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) is investigating innovative solutions that support the use of multiple modes of transportation, facilitate freight transfer, reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality, and provide alternative fuel and funding […]
What Goes Around Comes Around: Transportation drives economic prosperity
Money makes the world go ’round. In the classic 1873 Jules Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days, Phileas Fogg races the clock, traveling by boat, rail, hot-air balloon, stage coach and elephant in hopes of winning £20,000. Today’s rapidly changing technology is making virtual world travel an everyday occurrence. But as long as […]
The Big Squeeze: The future of congestion management
Gone are the days when we simply build new roads or more lanes to ease traffic congestion. Funding is limited, and — in many areas — the space is no longer available. As a result, there’s been a shift from building new highways to managing the roads we have. Mobility analysts examine problems associated with […]
A Horse of a Similar Color
Things change. Technologies, economies, living conditions — thanks to human ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit, they change over time. And yet there’s also truth in the axiom that the more things change, the more they stay the same. So what makes both of these seemingly contrasting ideas true? In his well-known article in The Freeman in […]
TTI’s Research Umbrella: Safer Transportation in the Storm
Volume 46, Number 2 (2010) Adobe PDF version Inside This Issue: Editorial TTI Has You Covered — Weather You’re Coming or Going Operations and Design SPOTLIGHT: The Visibility Research Laboratory Planning, Policy and Environment Time Measured in Raindrops: TTI Software Predicts River Migration Patterns Using Bluetooth Technology to Aid in Hurricane Evacuation Materials and Pavement […]
Removing Excess Asphalt: Initial test of ultra-high-pressure water blasting a success
Summertime in Texas means rising temperatures, long days and the emergence of maintenance forces ready to take on approximately 186,000 lane miles of roadways. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) spends over $2 billion annually to maintain the state’s roadways, and seal coats are an important part of TxDOT‘s preventative maintenance program. But what happens […]
Using Bluetooth Technology to Aid in Hurricane Evacuation
In August and September 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita created many disturbing realities for Gulf Coast states, including the need for safely evacuating large numbers of coastal residents. Five years later, planning and implementation of improved hurricane evacuation information systems using Bluetooth® technology are emerging in Texas. After these storms highlighted areas for improvement in […]
Time Measured in Raindrops: TTI Software Predicts River Migration Patterns
Most of us know the time of day by glancing at our watches or cell phones. But another way to tell time is to watch nature itself. For example, you know winter is just around the corner when you see birds flying south. Would it surprise you to learn that rivers migrate too? While that […]
SPOTLIGHT: The Visibility Research Laboratory
“A dark and stormy night” is more than a clichéd way to introduce a story — it’s a dangerous driving scenario when the visibility of road signs becomes critical for safe passage. Nighttime traffic fatality rates are three times higher than their daytime equivalents. While fatigue and alcohol play important roles in nighttime crashes, Texas […]
TTI Has You Covered — Weather You’re Coming or Going
There’s an old joke in Texas: if you don’t like the weather here, wait five minutes. Texas weather varies greatly across the 268,820 square miles of the state. We have five distinct regions, conveniently named North, South, East, West and Central Texas, and each one is known for a unique weather aspect — frozen roads […]
Available reports and products
Technical Reports “Development of Decision-Making Support Tools for Early Right of Way Acquisitions,” by Paul Krugler, 0-5534-2, May 10, 2010. “Development of the Texas Revenue Estimator and Needs Determination System (T.R.E.N.D.S.) Model,” by David Ellis, 0-6395-TI-1, May 12, 2010. “Evaluation of Barriers for Very High Speed Roadways,” by Roger Bligh, 0-6071-2, March 26, 2010. “Guidelines […]
Awards and more
TTI and IBM Partner for Intelligent Transportation Solutions In a collaboration that could lead to future transportation improvements in Texas and around the globe, leaders from the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) and IBM signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) during a ceremony in Austin April 1. “This agreement is a starting point that allows us […]
THEN: TTI’s Contributions to Pavement Marking Started Early
The Hot-Melt Plastic Stripe as a Pavement Marking Material By Charles J. Keese (Excerpted from Bulletin No. 130, Texas Highway Department, March 1953) “PAINT IS THE STRIPING MATERIAL FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES OF STREETS AND HIGHWAYS. However, its resistance to wear and weathering is so poor, that frequent maintenance of stripes is necessary. Such maintenance […]
NOW: Marking the Way: Research project improves performance of raised pavement markers
The worst of driving conditions calls for the best of roadway markers. And with their reflective properties, retroreflective raised pavement markers (RRPMs) have guided many nervous drivers safely to their destination on rainy nights. That’s why RRPMs‘ durability and performance are of critical importance to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). A few years ago, […]
Cracking under Pressure: How Moisture and Heat Affect ASR and DEF Structures
Texas weather runs the gamut — cold winters in some areas, occasionally heavy rains, times of drought and always baking summer heat. Concrete structures are built to last, but it’s the little things that get you sometimes. Little things like moisture and heat over time can trigger reactions in concrete structures that cause cracking and […]
Supporters Turn Out for State Headquarters and Research Building Grand Opening
The grand opening celebration for the Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI‘s) first state headquarters building March 26 not only highlighted the past accomplishments of the Institute’s 60-year history but also the crucial work yet to be done. “Quite frankly, this new facility is clearly the envy of our peers,” Agency Director Dennis Christiansen told the 200 […]
Available reports and products
Technical Reports “Assessment of a Traffic Monitoring System for a Major Traffic Generator to Improve Regional Planning: Technical Report,” by Todd Carlson, 0-5531-2, November 4, 2009. “Considerations for Rigid vs. Flexible Pavement Design When Allowed as Alternate Bids: Technical Report,” by Andrew Wimsatt, 0-6085-1, November 5, 2009. “Corrosion Performance Tests for Reinforcing Steel in Concrete: […]
Awards and more
Bligh, Little Join Elite A&M System Group TTI Research Engineer Roger Bligh and Senior Research Fellow Dallas Little were honored in December with two of the highest tributes awarded by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents. Bligh was named one of only 71 Regents Fellows by the A&M System Board of Regents as […]
TTI at TRB
When Assistant Professor and Assistant Research Engineer Dominique Lord received word that he had won a major award that would be presented at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) 89th Annual Meeting, it was a big surprise. After all, he didn’t know he was in the running. Without his knowledge, Associate Professor and Research Engineer Gene […]