A near record number of transportation professionals are attending this year’s Transportation Short Course on the campus of Texas A&M University — the annual meeting of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), organized by its research partner, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI).
“This 66-year partnership remains a model for the rest of the country,” TTI Agency Director Dennis Christiansen told the nearly 2,400 attendees of the Short Course opening session October 11. “It has led to enumerable transportation advances and innovations not only for Texas, but across the county and around the world.”
Every year TxDOT honors employees with awards named after transportation pioneers, and with Extra Mile Awards to those employees who risked their lives to help motorists. The three-day event includes meetings that highlight the latest techniques and innovations in numerous transportation fields, including road and bridge construction, highway design, pavements, traffic operations and planning.
“I think there are very few models around the country that have this kind of collaboration between the state, universities and the private sector,” Michael K. Young, president of Texas A&M University, told the crowd. “You can see the results of that. This is one of those great partnerships.”