The rapid appeal and growth of electric vehicles (EVs) over the last few decades are part of a fundamental shift in the constantly evolving transportation system. Stakeholders with interests in transportation, energy and emissions are finding they need to come together to plan for the future of the nation’s transportation system, including considering the idea […]
Search Results for:
Environmental Research at TTI
The behavior of the brown pelican, the fascinating migration of monarch butterflies, and rangeland management are not usually associated with transportation research. But all that is changing. Over the last few years, researchers with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) have developed a portfolio of environmental projects never considered part of transportation research. TTI already […]
TTI Experts Receive Recognitions at 2022 TRB Annual Meeting
Approximately 60 Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers and staff participated in the Transportation Research Board (TRB) 101st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., Jan. 9–13. Held in person for the first time since 2020, about 6,000 participants attended more than 400 workshops, lectern sessions, and poster sessions, as well as nearly 400 committee meetings, during […]
Before Warning Bells Ring — Hazmat, Train Derailment Emergency Planning for Schools
Hazardous materials (hazmat) travel daily by road, rail, pipeline, waterway and air through the Lone Star State. Most transport vehicles safely arrive with their cargo. It’s when things go wrong — such as a hazmat incident or train derailment near a school — that a well-informed, thorough safety plan can save student, teacher and staff […]
Crowdsourced Data Enhance Border Trip Insights in CIITR Report
Getting accurate, continuous travel information can be difficult for binational metropolitan regions like El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. As a result, international cross-border trips often go underrepresented in travel demand and behavior analysis studies. This can be caused by a number of factors, including time and budget limits and boundary issues associated with […]
TTI News
TTI, Texas A&M International University Formalize Partnership TTI Agency Director Greg Winfree and Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) President Pablo Arenaz recently signed a five-year memorandum of agreement (MOA) to facilitate cooperation between their respective institutions, particularly involving border logistical data. “The agreement comes after the local trade community in Laredo tasked [TAMIU’s Texas Center […]
Thinking Transportation Podcasts
Download, listen, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Every other week, we interview a TTI expert or special guest on a wide range of transportation topics and discuss how those topics impact the average person. Upsides and Downsides Transportation and public health share a complicated union. Episode 27 How we develop our transportation systems […]
The Last Stop with Greg Winfree: Transition Takes Time — Internal Combustion Engines Aren’t Dinosaurs Just Yet
In this issue of the Texas Transportation Researcher, we’ve featured TTI experts conducting cutting-edge research designed to preserve and protect our environment. That includes helping pave the way for alternative-fueled vehicles, like electric cars. Electrified and fuel-celled propulsion are gaining significant momentum, but internal combustion engines (ICEs) aren’t an extinct species yet. It’s easy to […]
Episode 28. First, Do No Harm: When endangered species habitats lie in a roadway’s path.
Unintended encounters with cars and trucks are bad news for animals. Not only do creatures face dangers on existing roads, they’re often imperiled from the moment road construction begins. Assistant Research Scientist Jett McFalls talks about why protecting endangered snakes and toads is good for the creatures, and good for keeping road projects on schedule […]
CIITR Expands Transit Capacity, QoS Guidance to Border Applications
In a recent research project, a team from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research (CIITR) addresses unique needs of border transit to inform the next edition of the Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual (TCQSM). Currently in its third edition, the manual gives guidance for transit capacity and […]
Tim Lomax Receives TxDOT’s 2022 Road Hand Award
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Regents Fellow Tim Lomax received the Road Hand Award at the 2022 Texas Transportation Forum on February 7 in San Antonio, Texas. The Road Hand Award is the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT’s) highest honor for people who drive the state forward in the area of transportation. Awardees have contributed […]
Caution: Navigation Tools Could Steer Drivers to Shortest, But Not Safest Route
Time for a road trip. You punch the destination into your GPS and choose the suggested route. But is this shortest route the safest? Not necessarily, according to Texas A&M University researchers. Dr. Dominique Lord and Dr. Soheil Sohrabi, with the help of funding from the A.P. and Florence Wiley Faculty Fellow at Texas A&M, designed a […]
CIITR’s Jason Wu Applies LiDAR Sensors to Safety, Traffic Monitoring
Managing high traffic at border crossings necessitates secure, efficient technologies. Sensors monitor vehicles entering and exiting the queue and relay that information to a traffic management center. While there are often limitations with video cameras and radar sensors, 3D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors — such as those installed in self-driving cars — can […]
Episode 27. Upsides and Downsides: Transportation and public health share a complicated union.
How we develop our transportation systems has direct and lasting impacts on personal well-being. Associate Research Scientist Ben Ettelman explains how newly identified pathways can help agencies ensure that the goals for efficient mobility and robust public health are inextricably linked.
To the Skies and Beyond! CIITR Conducts Research on Aerial, Satellite Imagery of Border Crossings
Research recently completed by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research (CIITR) demonstrated the potential usefulness of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and satellite images, combined with artificial intelligence (AI), for improving accuracy of border travel time estimates in extreme queuing conditions. The land ports of entry (LPOEs) at the U.S.–Mexico […]
Kong Leads TTI Team in IEEE Journal Publication
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) published the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) paper “Using an Interpretable Machine Learning Framework to Understand the Relationship of Mobility and Reliability Indices on Truck Drivers’ Route Choices.” (Note: To access the full article, readers will need a subscription.) A member of the TTI Mobility Division, Graduate […]
Episode 26. Channeling George Jetson: We could have flying cars sooner than we think.
The concept of urban air mobility (UAM) envisions the safe and efficient movement of people and cargo at low altitudes within populated areas. Many complex issues present challenges, but as TTI Senior Research Scientist Jeff Borowiec explains, electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (EVTOLs) can help us realize the benefits and promise of UAM.
TTI Experts Receive Recognitions at 2022 TRB Annual Meeting
About 60 Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers and staff participated in the Transportation Research Board (TRB) 101st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., Jan. 9–13. Held in person for the first time since 2020, about 6,000 participants attended more than 400 workshops, lectern sessions, and poster sessions, as well as nearly 400 committee meetings during […]
TTI’s Wunderlich Elected to ITE’s Honorary Membership
The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) recently elected Robert Wunderlich, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) senior research engineer and director of the Center for Transportation Safety (CTS) to Honorary Membership. Wunderlich is internationally recognized for his expertise in traffic safety research, policy analysis, education and outreach. Election to ITE’s Honorary Membership is the organization’s “highest […]
Episode 25. When Traffic Takes Sick Leave: COVID’s effect on Texas roadways.
TTI researchers have measured traffic gridlock through an urban area lens for decades. Senior Research Scientist David Schrank explains why they’ve also been narrowing the focus in Texas, looking at specific sections of freeways and major streets, and ranking them—all 1,854 of them.