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 […]
connected transportation
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 […]
TTI Agency Director Greg Winfree Featured in October/November Issue of Traffic Technology International
In the latest edition of Traffic Technology International, TTI Agency Director Greg Winfree shares his thoughts on planning for a connected future, spectrum sharing for those connected technologies and the next generation of traffic management systems. Winfree’s feature may be accessed via Traffic Technology International’s online magazine, or view the PDF.
Self-Driving Trolleys Debut in Downtown Bryan this October
The City of Bryan will introduce two electric self-driving trolleys to Downtown Bryan this October in partnership with the Texas A&M College of Engineering, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), and Governor’s University Research Initiative (GURI). In contrast to other programs, the Downtown Bryan location provides a pedestrian rich environment […]
TTI to Lead Autonomous Vehicle Research Team
Five-Year NHTSA Project Examines Collision Avoidance The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has selected the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) to lead a team of accomplished researchers on a recently announced, $7-million contract designed to improve the safety of autonomous vehicles. The five-year NHTSA Crash Avoidance Human Factors Research project is an indefinite delivery/indefinite […]
Neology and TTI Enter Research Partnership at RELLIS Campus
Neology, a leading provider of tolling, electronic vehicle registration and public safety technologies, is partnering with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) to establish a state-of-the-art R&D test facility at The Texas A&M University System’s RELLIS Campus. The goal of the long-term master research agreement is to expand and improve transportation technologies. The new RELLIS […]
Even Self-Driving Cars Need Driver Education
By Johanna Zmud Texas A&M Transportation Institute What do self-driving cars and teenage drivers have in common? Experience. Or, more accurately, a lack of experience. Teenage drivers – novice drivers of any age, actually – begin with little knowledge of how to actually operate a car’s controls, and how to handle various quirks of the […]
The Lifesaving Difference Between Connected Cars vs. Self-Driving Cars
By Gregory Winfree and Larry Head Perhaps you’ve envisioned your commute someday involving a self-driving car. But imagine if that futuristic ride not only could drive itself, but also could communicate with other cars, sharing vital safety signals. We’re a significant step closer to that future, thanks to a recent announcement by Toyota and Lexus […]
Sharp Announces RELLIS, 3M Partnership During Third Annual Texas A&M Transportation Technology Conference
With the ability to make it rain at will, The Texas A&M University System’s RELLIS Campus will soon boast a 1,000-foot-long, 50-foot-wide rain range thanks to a $1.6 million investment by the 3M Company. The range will be used to test interactions between vehicle sensors and highway infrastructure under wet conditions at speeds of up […]
TTI’s Talebpour, Texas A&M Student Team Place Second in AutoDrive Competition
Texas A&M University College of Engineering students recently placed second in the AutoDrive challenge, held in Yuma Arizona and sponsored by General Motors and the Society for Automotive Engineers. The competition ran from April 30 to May 5 and involved 40 Texas A&M engineering students led by Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Assistant Research Scientist […]
Study Suggests Ride-Hailing Customers Will Help to Shape Self-driving Car Use Patterns
The latest research on consumer attitudes of automated travel suggests that frequent users of ride-hailing services are more likely to also use self-driving cars as they become more available, though many aren’t necessarily planning to own one. The findings are instructive for emerging industries, researchers say, because the size of the ride-hailing market in a […]
TTI’s Winfree Urges Advances in Connected Vehicles at Bloomberg Symposium
Predicting “a bit of the wild west out there” as automated vehicles begin to share the road with human-driven vehicles, Greg Winfree, agency director of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), was the opening speaker of a Bloomberg Government symposium on transportation technologies, held in Washington, D.C., May 16. The morning gathering examined the topic […]
Roadway Deaths are Rising, and Self-driving Cars Don’t Yet Make a Difference
By Gregory Winfree and Robert Wunderlich Published in TribTalk, a publication of the Texas Tribune on April 3, 2018 Roadway crash deaths, after a brief but sharp drop several years ago, are rising again. Equally troubling is the likelihood that this trend may continue. And before we jump on the self-driving bandwagon, let’s remember that […]
TTI Signs Agreement with Smart City Institute in Belgium
TTI’s smart cities research focus gained an international partner on March 9 when the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Smart City Institute (SCI) of the University of Liège in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. The purpose of the MOU, which was signed by TTI Agency Director Greg Winfree and SCI […]
Driverless Vehicles Hit the Road in Texas
The push toward autonomous vehicles is strong in the Lone Star State, home of the Texas AV Proving Grounds Partnership. If you think your car will be driving you anytime in the near future, think again. Known as driverless or self-driving vehicles, autonomous vehicles are in the spotlight. But while the auto, tech and ride-share […]
Energy Secretary Perry Tours RELLIS Campus, Meets TTI Researchers
In introducing U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry during his visit to the Texas A&M University System’s RELLIS Campus on Feb. 16, Chancellor John Sharp said Perry, A&M Class of ‘72, is making Aggies everywhere proud. Perry, the first Aggie Governor of the state of Texas, spoke at the newly completed Center for Infrastructure Renewal […]