News Archives

In a rare moment for child passenger safety seat technicians (CPSTs), nearly 300 technicians and safety advocates heard firsthand from a mother who assured them that the work they do saved her daughter’s life. Michele and Brooke Ice were the keynote luncheon speakers for the 2018 Texas Child Passenger Safety Conference, held June 24–26 in […]

By Johanna Zmud Texas A&M Transportation Institute What do self-driving cars and teenage drivers have in common? Experience. Or, more accurately, a lack of experience. Teenage drivers – novice drivers of any age, actually – begin with little knowledge of how to actually operate a car’s controls, and how to handle various quirks of the […]

Gene Hawkins, research engineer with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), has been honored with the John “Jake” Landen Memorial Highway Safety Award in recognition of his “significant and lasting contributions to the safety of our nation’s highways.” The award is presented annually by the Traffic Safety Industry Division of the American Road & Transportation […]

By Gregory Winfree and Larry Head Perhaps you’ve envisioned your commute someday involving a self-driving car. But imagine if that futuristic ride not only could drive itself, but also could communicate with other cars, sharing vital safety signals. We’re a significant step closer to that future, thanks to a recent announcement by Toyota and Lexus […]

A National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) project describing a new mechanical-based method for testing aged asphalt led to international recognition for two Texas A&M Transportation Institute employees: Postdoctoral Researcher Meng Ling and TTI Research Engineer Robert Lytton. “An Inverse Approach to Determine Complex Modulus Gradient of Field-aged Asphalt Mixtures” was named a 2017 Best […]

Texas A&M University College of Engineering students recently placed second in the AutoDrive challenge, held in Yuma Arizona and sponsored by General Motors and the Society for Automotive Engineers. The competition ran from April 30 to May 5 and involved 40 Texas A&M engineering students led by Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Assistant Research Scientist […]

By Joe Zietsman, Haneen Khreis, and Tara Ramani If recent trends continue, more than 6 million roadway crashes will happen this year in the U.S. Even if your safe driving habits and good luck help you to avoid being in one of them, what happens on our streets and highways is, nonetheless, almost certain to […]

The latest research on consumer attitudes of automated travel suggests that frequent users of ride-hailing services are more likely to also use self-driving cars as they become more available, though many aren’t necessarily planning to own one. The findings are instructive for emerging industries, researchers say, because the size of the ride-hailing market in a […]

Predicting “a bit of the wild west out there” as automated vehicles begin to share the road with human-driven vehicles, Greg Winfree, agency director of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), was the opening speaker of a Bloomberg Government symposium on transportation technologies, held in Washington, D.C., May 16. The morning gathering examined the topic […]

As our transportation system becomes more reliant on private-sector innovation, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship at the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University are combining forces in a new partnership. The partnership was announced May 9 at the Texas A&M Transportation Technology Conference by TTI Agency Director […]

First major industry partnership at the RELLIS Campus On Tuesday, May 8, 3M Company announced a $1.6 million investment in The Texas A&M University System’s evolving RELLIS Campus. The funding will be used to build a simulated rain range to support research by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and Texas A&M University in connected […]

Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Assistant Transportation Researcher Madison Metsker-Galarza received the David L. Pugh Outstanding Master of Urban Planning Student Award during a ceremony April 6. Metsker-Galarza, who works in TTI’s Mobility Analysis Program, was recognized during the annual Texas A&M University College of Architecture’s Landscape and Urban Planning Awards Banquet. She received her […]

Texas A&M University’s Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISEN), part of Texas A&M’s College of Engineering, has recognized Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Scientist Bob Brydia for his ongoing collaboration with ISEN. Brydia was presented with ISEN’s Partner of Excellence Award during the department’s annual gala April 13. He was also recently […]

Senior Research Engineer Kay Fitzpatrick, nationally known pedestrian safety researcher at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), is accustomed to phone calls from traffic engineers who want to discuss her lifesaving research results. She is expecting a lot more of those calls now that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has issued Interim Approval 21 for […]

Students and researchers with TTI’s Safety through Disruption (Safe-D) University Transportation Center (UTC) took part in the largest science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) event in the nation April 7–8. The USA Science and Engineering Festival Expo in Washington, D.C., was attended by about 350,000 students, science and technology educators, researchers and parents. Thousands of […]

Credited with acquiring the legislative funding needed for The Texas A&M University System’s Center for Infrastructure Renewal (CIR), Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick was the special guest for the center’s ribbon-cutting ceremony held on the RELLIS Campus April 11. The 138,000-square-foot, multidisciplinary research center boasts state-of-the-art research facilities and laboratories aimed at making infrastructure smarter, […]

This week, Apr. 9–13, 2018, is National Work Zone Awareness Week. This year’s theme is “Work Zone Safety: Everybody’s Responsibility.” Across the country, various agencies will work together to promote safe driving habits in work zones with an emphasis on reminding drivers that work zone safety awareness starts with those behind the wheel. The Texas […]

By Gregory Winfree and Robert Wunderlich Published in TribTalk, a publication of the Texas Tribune on April 3, 2018 Roadway crash deaths, after a brief but sharp drop several years ago, are rising again. Equally troubling is the likelihood that this trend may continue. And before we jump on the self-driving bandwagon, let’s remember that […]

The newest researcher in the Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy and Health (CARTEEH) of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) is determined to make environmental health a prominent and permanent fixture of the Institute’s research initiatives going forward. And she’s off to a good start. Assistant Research Scientist Haneen Khreis began her […]

TTI Graduate Research Assistant Sirajum (Silvy) Munira is the recipient of a $7,000 scholarship from the Houston Chapter of the Woman’s Transportation Seminar (WTS). The Helene M. Overly scholarship was awarded at the WTS Gala in Houston in March. It’s a competitive scholarship awarded to women pursuing graduate studies in the transportation field. WTS is […]