In June 2004, a chlorine spill from a rail tank car caused three deaths in San Antonio. While other similar incidents have occurred around the country, railcars are still the primary method for transporting this chemical used by water treatment plants to make drinking water safe. In order to address concerns about hazardous materials (hazmat) […]
Texas Transportation Researcher
Bringing Safety Home
Volume 44, Number 4 (2008) Adobe PDF version Inside This Issue: Editorial Moving toward a culture of safety Safe Communities Houston versus the hurricane Pay Attention!: Enhancing visibility to improve safety on Houston’s “Red Line” Texas safe communities: National results begin at home Safer routes, healthier kids School zones as safety zones: Helping motorists reduce […]
Texas Transportation Hall of Honor 2008 Inductees
The Texas Transportation Institute is proud to announce the 2008 inductees into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor. They will be formally inducted in a ceremony in the fall of 2008. The Hall of Honor is located in the main conference room in the Texas Transportation Institute’s Gibb Gilchrist Building in the Texas A&M Research […]
Awards and more
ITE honors TTI with awards, positions After 18 years as a member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), Gary Thomas, director of the Center for Professional Development and Fellow of ITE, has been elected to the ITE Board of Directors, representing the Texas District (TexITE). Thomas joins 15 other board members who will help […]
Clean fuel from landfills in India
Researchers work to capture landfill gases in India for use as an alternative fuel The thriving province of Maharashtra is one of the most populous and prolific industrial centers in India. With a population of over 96 million residents, it is particularly vulnerable to energy demands and pollutant emissions. The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) is […]
Available reports and products
Technical Reports “Enhancements to PIA System for Real-Time Control at Isolated Traffic Signals: Technical Report,” by Nadeem Chaudhary, 0-5507-1, May 2, 2008. “Construction Details and Initial Performance of Two High-Performance Base Sections,” by Tom Scullion, 5-4358-01-1, May 2, 2008. “Verification of the Load-Thickness Design Curves in the Modified Triaxial Design Method,” by Emmanuel Fernando, 0-4519-1, […]
SCHOOL’S IN, but are commuters paying attention?
Stop-arm violations put school bus drivers on alert Riding the bus to school. For many of us, it’s a pleasant memory full of children’s laughter, a bumpy (but fun) ride and the reassuring hiss of airbrakes. While some commuters only have to decide if they’ll drive their car to work or not, parents have other […]
Putting the “ICM” in team
Interagency cooperation through integrated corridor management Transportation agencies do an outstanding job of operating their transportation networks with limited staff and fiscal constraints, but we still have congestion. Ideally, every agency in a region would have tools to allow collaboration in operating the entire transportation system for the greater good. With the help of the […]
It’s a New Game: Moving Beyond One Driver, One Car
Volume 44, Number 3 (2008) Adobe PDF version Inside This Issue: Editorial There are many alternatives Transportation Options One person, one vote, one car? Saving your breath Share and share alike? Putting the “ICM” in team Clean fuel from landfills in India Navigating work zones: The pedestrian perspective Making room for the railroad SCHOOL’S IN, […]
There are many alternatives
Even without record gas prices, the days of heavy dependence on “one driver, one car” are numbered. Many can no longer afford the luxury. Across much of the state, there are simply too many people, with too many vehicles, attempting to go too many places at the same time. The resulting congestion is only one […]
Making room for the railroad
Passenger rail could be making a substantial comeback Passenger rail was the best way to travel long distances 100 years ago. In the 20th and early 21st centuries, rail has been the exception rather than the rule. But in the wake of rising gas prices and reduced mobility, transportation planners are now looking at this […]
Navigating work zones: The pedestrian perspective
It’s a nice day for a stroll. You head out the door and hit the sidewalk. But wait—someone’s doing construction and has torn up the sidewalk. How do you safely navigate around the work zone? Do you walk in the street? Do you cross the road to use the other sidewalk, if there is one? […]
Share and share alike?
TTI compares effectiveness of TDM programs Have you ever abandoned your SOV in order to use a vanpool and then taken a GRH provided by a TMA? If you don’t know these terms, then you’re probably not one of the many travelers that have decided to share a ride with others. However, you may have […]
Saving your breath
The Drive Clean Across Texas campaign A reality of the one driver, one car scenario is the pollution created by so many commuters. Much of our time on the road is often spent idling or driving slowly in traffic, which pollutes the air and is a primary contributor to ground-level ozone production, especially in the […]
One person, one vote, one car?
Commuters give their two cents about carpooling Over the years—with more affordable gas prices and roadways that seemed infinite in their capacity for handling traffic—drivers got in the habit of hopping in their cars and going places. But these days, with higher gas prices and more congested roadways, it’s getting increasingly expensive and time consuming—not […]
Actively sharing research knowledge
Recall the experiences from just about any year of your formal education. Most of the time, we observed passively while teachers tried to share knowledge with us. At other times, we were actively engaged and mutually involved in the process of learning. Each method worked, but certainly the latter produced the clearest understanding, the strongest […]
The best of all roads
Workshops aim to educate transportation planners and designers on the big picture Context…cooperation…collaboration…compatibility…compromise…consensus. Those are but a few of the key terms that are heard during the context sensitive solutions (CSS) workshops currently underway throughout the state of Texas. Sponsored by the Federal Highway Department (FHWA), the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and local metropolitan […]
Breaking ground
TTI celebrates construction of new state headquarters On April 30, friends and supporters from around the Lone Star State joined the employees of the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) to celebrate the construction of the agency’s new state headquarters. Many of the 36 members of the TTI Council attended the celebration, with Texas A&M University System […]
Turning the roundhouse into a roundtable
The National Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Training Conference When the unstoppable force of a train meets the very moveable object of an automobile, the obvious dangers associated with highway-rail grade crossings can be deadly. In 2007, 338 people were killed and another 1,014 injured at these crossings in the United States. A wide variety of […]
You may experience some turbulence
2008 Texas Aviation Conference addresses economic realities Some things you just take for granted. And some things you don’t even realize you had until they’re gone. Access to air travel, for example. Or even access to affordable goods flown to market by the air cargo industry. The Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT’s) 26th Annual Texas […]