TTI is working with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) on a new statewide motorcycle safety campaign set to kick off in September. The campaign seeks to promote motorcycle safety in several important ways. “We hope to increase motorists’ awareness of the growing presence of motorcycles and […]
Getting the Word Out on Motorcycle Safety
State and Global Agencies Focus on Teen Driver Safety
With some international help, the Teens in the Driver Seat® (TDS) Program, the nation’s first peer-to-peer safety program for young drivers, is expanding. That announcement came Tuesday as state leaders and officials of the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization gathered to observe the first-ever Global Road Safety Week. Noting that car crashes […]
Parent-Taught Drivers at Greater Risk for Crashes/Injuries
Researchers with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) have determined that Texas teenagers taught to drive by someone other than professional driver education instructors are more likely to be involved in serious traffic crashes. In fact, the study found that after supervisory and Graduated Driver License restrictions are removed, parent-taught drivers are nearly three times more […]
TTI Hosts TRB’s Visibility Symposium
TTI hosted the Transportation Research Board’s Visibility Symposium April 17-18. The Symposium, held regularly since 1968, brings together researchers, practitioners, consultants, transportation agencies, and industry to present and review contemporary research on issues related to the visual communication of information within the general transportation infrastructure. Participants included attendees from five countries.
High-Speed Emissions Testing Conducted at Pecos
TTI’s Pecos Research and Testing Center was used the first week of March to determine vehicle emissions from light-duty passenger vehicles and 18-wheelers traveling upwards of 80 miles per hour. A research team from the Air Quality Studies program equipped the vehicles with its recently acquired Portable Emissions Measurement System (PEMS) device to gather data […]
Texas A&M University System Chancellor Tours TTI
“Through the Texas Transportation Institute, we are doing great work in developing materials and safety devices for the transportation industry. This work is more far-reaching than most of the general public knows,” said newly appointed Texas A&M University System Chancellor Michael McKinney following a tour of the Institute March 6. The visit lasted through noon, […]
Newly Appointed Chancellor Visits TTI
TTI Research Engineer Receives ASCE’s Kapp Award
TTI Research Engineer Jean-Louis Briaud received the prestigious Martin S. Kapp Foundation Engineering Award during ceremonies at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Geo-Institute conference in Denver. The Kapp Award is given on the basis of the best example of innovative or outstanding design or construction of foundations, earthworks, retaining structures, or underground construction. […]
Briaud Receives ASCE Award
Teens in the Driver Seat
Teens in the Driver Seat, TTI’s peer-to-peer safety program for young drivers, rolled out its biggest launch ever in Texas when students representing all seven high schools in Garland held a press conference on March 7th to announce their TDS program. For more information and photos of the event, visit www.t-driver.com.
Pedestrian Safety Focus of TTI Team Project
TTI researchers have developed suggested procedures for agencies interested in improving pedestrian safety. The TTI team consisting of Kay Fitzpatrick, Shawn Turner, Marcus Brewer and numerous others has developed Guidelines for Pedestrian Crossing Treatments as part of a Transportation Research Board (TRB) project. In 2004, 4,641 pedestrians died in the U.S. and another 68,000 were […]
TTI Researchers have HEART
The HEART Crash Cushion is much easier to say than the Hybrid Energy Absorbing Reusable Terminal. But that’s what it is. The crash cushion, developed by Researchers Dean Alberson and Lance Bullard, is designed to be reusable after most crashes and therefore, a money saving product for taxpayers. Alberson and Bullard were honored Feb. 23 […]
TTI’s Robert Lytton Receives NOVA Award
Robert Lytton, TTI research engineer and Benson Chair Professor in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University, has received the 2006 NOVA Award from the Construction Innovation Forum for his Pavement Composition Analysis (PCA) research. Lytton’s award-winning research uses an air-launched, ground-penetrating radar to aid highway construction quality control. The radar is […]
TTI-India Partnership Could Lead to Research
Texas A&M University, the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and TTI are exploring a long-term research partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras). Texas A&M’s Dr. Kumbakonam Rajagopal from mechanical engineering, a graduate of IIT Madras, has been actively leading these discussions and assisting each agency with staff interactions and development of […]
Managed Lanes Open House
Advisory Council meets in College Station
TTI Research Team Wins Prestigious TRB Award
Roger Bligh and Dean Alberson (L-R center) hold up their K.B. Woods Award presented January 22 at TRB’s 86th Annual Meeting for their paper, “Low-Deflection Portable Concrete Barrier.” Coauthors Nauman Mansoor Sheikh and Akram Abu-Odeh were also recipients. Also pictured are (L) Neil Pedersen, Maryland State Highway Administration and (R) TRB Executive Director Robert Skinner. […]
Retired TTI Director Honored at Transportation Research Board’s Annual Meeting
Former TTI director Dr. Herbert Richardson receives the Roy W. Crum Distinguished Service Award from Linda Watson, the 2007 Chair of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Executive Committee. Richardson, who retired last fall, was honored January 24 at the TRB 86th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The Crum Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the field […]
Blood Drive Donors Save Lives
TTI employee and blood drive organizer Nancy Stratta does her part to “give the gift of life.” In her lifetime, Stratta has donated more than 49 gallons of blood. Since 2003, the Texas Transportation Institute has organized numerous blood drives each year. In the January 30 event, 42 people signed up to donate.
Group Begins Efforts to Reduce Deer-Vehicle Crashes
The first step in initiating research to reduce the number of deer-vehicle collisions in the United States will get underway Jan. 30-31 as members of eight Departments of Transportation (DOTs) conduct their inaugural meeting. Members of the Deer-Vehicle Crash Information Research Center (DVCIR Center) Pooled Fund Project will identify, prioritize and guide research aimed at […]