By Bob Brydia Self-driving cars. We’ve been promised for years they were “coming soon.” Most estimates a decade ago thought self-driving cars would be commonplace by now. Yet, here we are in 2020, and self-driving cars — what the industry calls autonomous vehicles (AVs) — still largely exist only in science fiction. So much for […]
connected transportation
How Tech Can Untangle and Transform Campus Traffic
Texas A&M’s living laboratory environment harnesses the brainpower of students, faculty and researchers and fosters innovation to maintain campus mobility By Katherine Turnbull and Peter Lange Texas A&M University’s main campus, a 5,200-acre classroom/laboratory without walls in College Station, has consistently ranked in the top five for the largest student population in the nation, with […]
At a Glance — TTI’s Advanced Transportation Technology Research
TTI Helps Coordinate the CAV Task Force: Connected-Automated Vehicles Are Becoming a Reality
Connected-automated vehicles (CAVs) were once a figment of our imagination, something we only saw in science fiction movies; now, they’re becoming a reality. What exactly is CAV technology? CAVs leverage a combination of on- and off-vehicle sensors, cameras and other technologies to connect with other vehicles and infrastructure to help guide vehicles, improving public safety […]
People First: Advanced Technology Improves Safety near Transit Stops
Ensuring connected-automated vehicle technology benefits pedestrians, bicyclists and other vulnerable road users is vital to transforming our transportation system in a way that meets the needs of all users. Aiming for zero traffic deaths by the mid-century mark, the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT’s) Enhance Safety goal “promotes safe driving, bicycling and pedestrian activities.” TxDOT […]
Looking to the Future with the Texas Connected Freight Corridors Project
Imagine yourself driving a truck along I-35 filled with perishable goods. You rely on your eyes to predict what you might encounter on the road ahead, though you can’t always see every hazard. Advanced transportation technologies can make the difference, noticing (and reacting to) things the human eye can’t. Mobility, safety, reliability, security — all […]
Winfree Latest Column in Traffic Technology International Now Available
In the latest edition of Traffic Technology International, Texas A&M Transportation Institute Director Greg Winfree explains why protecting the 5.9 GHz band in the United States is so important. The editorial, 5.9 GHz spectrum is critical for safe roads and should be protected, focuses on the importance of preserving the 5.9 GHz DSRC band for […]
Applying Advanced Tech Innovations to Transportation
AV-CV Strategy Guide Designed for Public Decision Makers The required public transportation project delivery process can be slow, methodical and risk averse. The technology industry, by contrast, moves quickly, often takes risks, and may treat failures as learning moments. It’s hard to imagine a greater potential for culture clash, but those are the players in […]
Safer Roads or Faster Movie Downloads? Let’s Choose Wisely
By Gregory Winfree and Larry Head The next big decision may have nothing to do with immigration or health care. Instead, it may be about either faster movie downloads or safer roads. The Federal Communications Commission is reconsidering whether an important slice of the radio spectrum should be offered for expanded Wi-Fi use, or if […]
All Aboard, Ags!
First Autonomous Shuttle Deployed at Texas A&M The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) is leading a technology demonstration of the Navya Autonom Shuttle, an autonomous, self-driving, 11-passenger electric vehicle developed for use in public transportation service. TTI’s partners in the project are Texas A&M University, Texas A&M Transportation Services and the shuttle’s maker, Navya. Texas […]
The Last Stop with Greg Winfree — Choice, Convenience and Customer Service: What Mobility Means in a Data-Driven Marketplace
Our definition of mobility is changing. At its most practical in transportation, mobility describes the safe and efficient movement of people and goods. But today that’s only part of the story — an artifact of last-century thinking. Today, we’re linked through the Internet of Things, creating opportunities for efficiencies never dreamed of a mere generation […]
TTI Contributes Speakers, Organizers to TRB AUVSI Automated Vehicles Symposium
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) will be well represented at this year’s Automated Vehicles Symposium to be held July 15–18, 2019, in Orlando, Florida. The symposium is co-sponsored by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). Monday, July 15 Greg Winfree, TTI agency director, will introduce the […]
Transportation Technology Conference Highlights Opportunities and Challenges with Connected and Automated Vehicles
Nearly 200 participants at the Fourth Annual Texas A&M Transportation Technology Conference learned the latest on connected and automated vehicle (CAV) research and deployment activities in Texas and the nation. The April 29–May 1 conference was organized by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), in partnership with The Texas A&M University System, Texas A&M University, […]
Transportation Technology Conference Highlights Opportunities and Challenges with Connected and Automated Vehicles
Nearly 200 participants at the 4th Annual Texas A&M Transportation Technology Conference learned the latest on connected and automated vehicle (CAV) research and deployment activities in Texas and the nation. The April 29 – May 1 conference was organized by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), in partnership with The Texas A&M University System, Texas […]
Sharing the Streets With Robots in Training is Worth the Bother
By Greg Winfree Self-driving vehicles move closer toward reality every day, but most of us will likely live through a few more presidential elections before driverless travel is routinely within reach through personal purchase (although availability through ride-hailing providers like Uber and Lyft could be here sooner). Even so, you’re more likely to encounter such […]
TTI/Safe-D Researchers Recommend Safe and Economical Lane Wandering Pattern for AVs
Among the many apparent differences between Automated Vehicles (AVs) and human driven vehicles, one of the most significant is how AVs position themselves within a traffic lane. In other words, how do they stay in the lane safely? AVs are equipped with advanced positioning systems that can keep their position in the lane more precisely […]
The Last Stop with Greg Winfree: Convenience. Accessibility. Equity. Smart Dirt Roads Can Take Us to Texas’ Future
Ever looked at a NASA photo of Texas at night? The state is a starry spider’s web of lights, with the biggest clusters where you’d expect to find them — across the Texas Triangle of Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Look at that same view across a few decades, and you’ll see those cities growing […]
Self-Driving Cars: Let’s Master Walking Before We Try to Run
By Johanna Zmud Self-driving cars, along with other recent innovations like ride-hailing and electric scooters, are pushing the idea of disruptive mobility into our daily experience. But as business models go, disruption doesn’t always work out so well. Just ask the folks at scooter-sharing company Bird. In December, the company left an early Holiday surprise […]
Connected Automated Travel: As Complicated as 1, 2, 3
By Gregory Winfree and Swaminathan Gopalswamy Self-driving cars will change life as we know it; no question there. But they’re only a start — just as personal computers were. Think back to when George H.W. Bush was in the White House and gasoline cost about a dollar a gallon. Office and home desktop computers were […]
Making Shared Space Safer: TTI Studies Automated, Connected Vehicle Technology to Improve Transit, Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety
Public transit vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists share roads in urban, suburban and rural environments. Signalized intersections in urban areas represent complex shared spaces. “Intersections are busy places, with passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, pedestrians and bicyclists all sharing space,” notes Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Executive Associate Director Katie Turnbull. “Transit stops are typically located near […]