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 […]
Search Results for:
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.
TTI Authors TCRP Guidance for Transit Agencies Using Social Media
Transit agencies increasingly acknowledge social media’s value in providing customers a voice, boosting ridership and presenting new solutions to the public. To help codify best practices for transit agencies using social media, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers authored Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 156 — Uses of Social Media in Public Transportation: A […]
TTI’s Hueste Receives Joe W. Kelly Award from American Concrete Institute
Dr. Mary Beth D. Hueste was recently honored by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) for her contributions to educating the next generation of engineers and her leadership in advancing the concrete industry through research and committee activities. Hueste, professor and associate department head for undergraduate programs in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering […]
Winfree Appointed to National GPS Advisory Board
TTI Agency Director Greg Winfree was recently appointed to serve a two-year term on the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board by the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The advisory board provides advice on United States space-based PNT policy, planning, program management and funding profiles to a national […]
Big Data Big Dollars
Volume 57, Number 4 (2021) Adobe PDF version Inside This Issue: Freight by the Numbers Everything’s Bigger in Texas 95th Annual Transportation Short Course Highlights Research Excellence, Need for Continued Diligence TTI, TxDOT Win National Safety Award: “Safer by Design” Tool Aims to Save Lives on Texas Rural Roadways Big Data Saves DOTs Time, Resources […]
TTI’s Shawn Turner Receives 2020–2021 Regents Fellow Service Award
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents named Shawn Turner, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) senior research engineer, a 2020–2021 recipient of the Regents Fellow Service Award. Turner is nationally recognized for his expertise in mobility analysis, multimodal travel data collection and analysis, and performance measures and monitoring. Turner has spent more than 30 […]