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 […]
TTI Researcher Presents at Human Factors Annual Meeting
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 […]
TTI Study Estimates Roadway Damage of the Texas Energy Boom
Nearly all regions of the state have benefited economically from unprecedented energy production over the last 10 years. However, significant road repair needs resulting from the energy boom are estimated to be $2 billion each year for the next 20 years, based on the findings of a Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) study performed for the […]
2013 Nominations Underway for Texas Transportation Hall of Honor
The Texas Transportation Hall of Honor board is accepting nominations for 2013 inductees until October 1, 2012. Each individual selected for the Hall of Honor is recognized at an induction ceremony and with a plaque on permanent display in the Hall of Honor located at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute in the Texas A&M University […]
National Seat Check Saturday
Bev Kellner has a daunting task: teaching parents how to properly buckle up their children in a child safety seat. Sounds easy enough, but considering that most of the more than 19,000 kids in car seats she’s checked over the last 14 years have been buckled improperly or not at all, she won’t be out […]
New Name, Same TTI
In August The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents approved changing the names of all seven A&M System agencies to include “A&M” in the agency names effective September 1. As a result, the Texas Transportation Institute was renamed the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, but retains its acronym, TTI. “A&M” has been added to TTI’s […]
Hawkins Honored with Educator Award
Dr. Gene Hawkins, associate professor in the Texas A&M Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, is the recipient of a prestigious educator award from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). Hawkins, who is also a research engineer with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), received the 2012 Wilbur S. Smith Distinguished Transportation Educator Award at the […]
Motorcycle Fatalities Focus of Safety Experts
Sixteen percent of all vehicle fatalities in Texas involve motorcyclists, according to David Strickland, the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A recently licensed motorcyclist himself, Strickland was a speaker during the opening session of the 4th annual Traffic Safety Conference in San Antonio this summer. “I love motorcyclists and I love motorcycling, […]
TTI Researchers Attend Workshop on Future of Road Vehicle Automation
Within the last year there has been an upsurge of activity related to road vehicle automation, notably vehicular development activities from automobile manufacturers, Google, and research underway throughout the world. Recently, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers Ginger Goodin and Ed Seymour attended a three-day workshop to share the state of the practice and participate […]
Adding Highway Shoulders, Width, Reduce Crash Numbers and Save Lives
AUSTIN — Texas highways are safer now thanks to hundreds of projects completed in the last few years to add shoulders, width on more than 1,000 miles of rural, two-lane highways. An analysis of 189 Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) road projects around the state shows that wider pavements make highways safer and result in […]
Off the Field, Texas A&M Transportation Institute and University of Florida Team Up
When it comes to safety, Texas A&M University and The University of Florida are on the same team. Football, however, is a different story. Even among avid football fans, the 1976 Sun Bowl was a distant memory in 2004. And for three University of Florida civil engineers, the last Gator-Aggie match-up was never even on […]