Ross Perot, Jr., chairman of both Hillwood, one of the nation’s top real estate developers, and the Perot Group, an investment management firm, has been inducted into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor. The induction took place at a Hillwood employee meeting in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, Dec. 20. Through Perot’s leadership, the Hillwood team […]
Ross Perot, Jr., Inducted into Texas Transportation Hall of Honor
A&M, Blinn Students Key in Planning Future B-CS Travel
Students from Texas A&M University and Blinn College will soon be helping planners decide future mobility needs in the Bryan-College Station area by taking part in a travel survey conducted by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) with help from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). “Obviously students account for a considerable amount of traffic […]
Researchers Study Motivations for Speeding
Researchers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and Battelle have found that while reasons for speeding are based on a wide variety of factors, previous ideas about speeder demographics and personality types were confirmed. This information can be used to identify improved speeding countermeasures. The reasons vary based on a variety of situational, demographic […]
TTI’s AWAM Getting Deployed Worldwide
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) invention known as AWAM — which stands for Anonymous Wireless Address Matching— is a perfect example of the old saying “success is the intersection of hard work and luck.” Though AWAM might never become a household word, for those in the transportation business, it’s quickly becoming the next breakthrough […]
Study Suggests Using Two License Plates Saves Resources for States, Law Enforcement Agencies
A recent study by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) suggests that states that require vehicles to have two license plates save valuable time and resources in the areas of enforcement, tolling, parking and homeland security. The study also found that the use of two license plates for vehicle identification purposes increases the efficiency and […]
First Port of Houston General Manager Honored
Benjamin Casey Allin III, the first general manager of the Port of Houston Authority, was inducted into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor Sept. 12. All six of his grandchildren were present to accept the honor on his behalf at a luncheon in Houston co-sponsored by TTI and the Houston East End Chamber of Commerce. […]
Texas Safety Belt Use at All Time High, Other Restraint Surveys Indicate Need for Improvement
Texas motorists are once again buckling up in large numbers, especially compared to years past. Despite the improving numbers, the Center for Transportation Safety (CTS) — part of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) — has documented some areas where still more improvement is needed. TTI has been conducting these surveys since 1984. Among the […]
John Maddox Joins TTI/UMTRI
In a groundbreaking partnership, John Maddox has joined the University of Michigan Transportation Institute (UMTRI) and Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) as the director of collaborative program strategies. Maddox was formerly the associate administrator of vehicle safety research at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Maddox will be based out of UMTRI’s headquarters in Ann […]
Plan to Be Safe This Thanksgiving
Traditionally, Wednesday, Nov. 21, is the most traveled day during the Thanksgiving holiday. It doesn’t take a mathematician to figure that more cars on the road mean more potential for injuries and fatalities. So, as you travel to be with family and friends this Thanksgiving, choose your route carefully, know what to expect along the […]
TTI Researcher Presents at Human Factors Annual Meeting
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Associate Transportation Researcher Christine Yager gave a presentation, “The Effects of Reading and Writing Text-Based Messages While Driving,” at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. The meeting was held in Boston, MA, October 22–26 and was attended by more than 1,450 participants from the United […]
Lady Bird Johnson Inducted into Texas Transportation Hall of Honor
Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady of the United States and highway beautification advocate, was inducted into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor at a reception and ceremony in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, Oct. 17. The event was co-sponsored by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the […]
Assessing the Condition of Our Texas Airports
Texas is home to nearly 300 general aviation (GA) airports that stretch from the upper corner of the Panhandle down to the Rio Grande Valley. Overseeing this expanse of airports is the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) Aviation Division, which is responsible for the planning and programming, engineering project management and grant management for what […]
TxDOT’s Renewed Focus on Safety Emphasized at 86th Annual Short Course
Change was the dominant theme for the 86th Annual Short Course, which took place at Texas A&M University, October 16-17. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) event, which is hosted by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) each year, provides a unique opportunity for the two agencies to collaborate on a common goal: improving the […]
LSU Joins the Southwest Region University Transportation Center
Winning coaches seem to have at least one thing in common: an emphasis on teamwork while utilizing the talents of each individual. In the case of the Southwest Region University Transportation Center (SWUTC) — a consortium of five schools with transportation research and education programs — that philosophy has paid dividends for 25 years. “Louisiana […]
University Student Groups Start Peer-Based Driving Program
Impaired driving is a persistent problem in Texas, particularly among college students. A new peer-based program aims to change that — Texas A&M University-San Antonio and the University of the Incarnate Word have started the U in the Driver Seat (UDS) program, which organizers hope to eventually spread statewide. Car crashes are the number-one killer […]
Another TTI First: Broadcasting Crash Tests
On Sept. 26, for the first time in Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) history, a crash test at TTI’s Proving Grounds was broadcast live via the Internet to clients and stakeholders across the country. Providing live streaming crash tests was the brainchild of Dean Alberson, assistant agency director and manager of the TTI Crashworthy Structures […]
Nondestructive Testing — Saving Time and Resources
A recently completed project led by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) focused on improving the safety, cost and performance of bridge barriers by using a nondestructive testing (NDT) approach. “This project is part of the Transportation Pooled Fund Program and was proposed in 2011 by the Louisiana Department of Transportation,” says TTI Associate Research […]
TTI-Designed Information System Helps Keep I-35 Travelers Informed
Traffic congestion is as familiar as bluebonnets on the roadside for anyone who’s traveled I-35 in the last twenty years. To meet capacity demands, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is expanding I-35 in its Waco District (a 96-mile stretch from Hillsboro to Salado). At an estimated cost of $2.5 billion, the overall effort is […]
California High School Students Join Teens in the Driver Seat
In the first public event announcing the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI)-developed Teens in the Driver Seat (TDS) program in California, Franklin High School students in Elk Grove conducted a news conference for Sacramento-area media Sept. 19. The students outlined their efforts in combating teen car crashes, which is the number one killer of teens […]
Driving: Once a Dream, Now a Reality for Franklin McMurrian
In 1995, 16-year-old Franklin McMurrian had dreams of becoming a sports star — the NBA or NFL, it really didn’t matter. Achievable, perhaps, but for Franklin it suddenly became impossible. “A friend and me were horsing around with a gun,” McMurrian recalls of the incident that changed his life. It turned out the gun was […]