The interests of transportation and public health together occupy a somewhat paradoxical space. Vehicle emissions constitute a public health threat, at the same time that health care and health-promoting activities often depend on access to vehicular mobility. That reality was one of several themes explored by professionals at the Transportation, Air Quality, and Health Symposium […]
environment
Register Now for the Transportation, Air Quality, and Health Symposium
Transportation is a major source of anthropogenic air pollution. Transportation-related air pollution has been linked to premature mortality and a wide spectrum of global diseases including asthma, lung cancer, stroke, autism, dementia, diabetes and obesity. Reducing transportation energy consumption and emissions can improve air quality and reduce adverse impacts on public health and health equity. […]
TTI Hosts FHWA’s Sustainable Pavements Technical Working Group
Hosted by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Sustainable Pavements Technical Working Group (SPTWG) met at The Texas A&M University System’s Center for Infrastructure Renewal (CIR), located at the A&M System’s RELLIS Campus, Oct. 30–31. The group’s stated purpose is to “provide technical input to the FHWA on sustainability and […]
Cheap, Fast, Good: Cold, In-Place Recycling Can Deliver All Three
The old adage, “Cheap, Fast, Good: Pick Any Two,” applies to most things. Defying this commonly held belief, rehabilitating a roadway with cold-in-place recycling (CIR) can actually be faster and cheaper than traditional methods and still yield outstanding results. CIR is a single operation. An existing deteriorated hot-mix asphalt (HMA) layer is recycled and treated, […]
CARTEEH’s Khreis Awarded the 2018 ISEE Rebecca James Baker Award
Assistant Research Scientist Haneen Khreis with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health (CARTEEH) has been awarded the prestigious 2018 Rebecca James Baker Award by the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE). Khreis received this award for her work on the influence of traffic-related air pollution […]
You Don’t Have To Be In a Wreck To Be a Traffic Casualty
By Joe Zietsman, Haneen Khreis, and Tara Ramani If recent trends continue, more than 6 million roadway crashes will happen this year in the U.S. Even if your safe driving habits and good luck help you to avoid being in one of them, what happens on our streets and highways is, nonetheless, almost certain to […]
CARTEEH’s Khreis Shares Passion for Health Studies with TTI
The newest researcher in the Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy and Health (CARTEEH) of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) is determined to make environmental health a prominent and permanent fixture of the Institute’s research initiatives going forward. And she’s off to a good start. Assistant Research Scientist Haneen Khreis began her […]
Trumpf Returns for Another Round of Testing at TTI’s Environmental Chamber
In 2015, Trump, Inc. utilized the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s Environmental and Emissions Research Facility (EERF) to test a piece of equipment that uses a laser to cut sheet metal for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and job shops alike. The testing went so well their research and development team returned last month to test another […]
A Partnership in Progress: TTI, USDOT Celebrate a Half Century of Research Innovations
For the past 50 years, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) has provided assistance to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to make the nation’s transportation system safer, more efficient and more resilient. Across the DOT’s spectrum of modal agencies—air, highways, motor carriers, rail, transit, maritime, traffic safety, and pipeline and hazardous materials—TTI expertise has […]
Innovative Data Applications Improve Border Planning, Air Quality
Using GPS Devices to Get Better Emissions Estimates The World Trade Bridge crossing in the Laredo–Nuevo Laredo region is the most used Texas-Mexico port of entry (POE). The crossing’s popularity helps explain the location’s relatively high vehicle emissions, caused by high truck volumes and slow speeds as traffic makes its way across the bridge. A […]
CARTEEH Presents Perspectives on Transportation Emissions, Exposures and Health Seminar
The Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health (CARTEEH) is hosting a seminar, Perspectives on Transportation Emissions, Exposures and Health, featuring Dr. Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. Dr. Nieuwenhuijsen is widely regarded as an expert in the field of air pollution exposures and public health and will […]
New Report on Shale Development Impacts Draws upon PRC Studies
A new, comprehensive review of the impacts of shale oil and gas development in Texas by a cross-disciplinary task force — organized by the Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST) — finds a wide range of both benefits and consequences for the state’s infrastructure, environment and communities. These impacts are detailed in […]
TTI Receives Green Business Award
Following a nomination from an individual in the Bryan-College Station community, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) received the Green Business Award from the Keep Brazos Beautiful (KBB) organization during its annual awards luncheon May 17. The Green Business Award “is given to a local business that incorporates green practices, consciously conserves resources or demonstrates […]
TTI’s SEC Lab Receives Prestigious International Recognition
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Sediment and Erosion Control Laboratory (SEC Lab) was awarded the Environmental Excellence Award during the International Erosion Control Association (IECA) annual conference and expo in Atlanta, Georgia, Feb. 22. “This was certainly a pleasant surprise,” says Assistant Research Scientist Jett McFalls, who manages the SEC Lab. “We had no […]
New University Transportation Center Focuses on the Impact of Transportation Emissions on Human Health
A new University Transportation Center (UTC) will combine experts from two disciplines traditionally not known for research collaboration—transportation and public health. The Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy and Health (CAR-TEEH) will focus on the impact of transportation emissions on human health. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) leads the CAR-TEEH consortium consisting […]
Follow the Leader: Two-Truck Automated Platoon Test Is a Winner
Can an automated, commercial two-truck platoon be deployed on specific corridors in Texas in the next five to ten years? Thanks to a successful test by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the agencies are one big step closer to answering that question. […]
TTI Selected for $10.75 Million Federal Contract to Evaluate Connected Vehicle Projects
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) has been selected by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to evaluate connected vehicle projects in southern Wyoming, New York City, and Tampa, Fla. The multiyear federal contract is for $10.75 million. Vehicle challenges and opportunities have driven the need for the pilot tests and evaluations. Roadway congestion in the […]
Trending Upward: Recent Cross-Border Freight Traffic Might Spell Good News for U.S. Economy
Things are looking up for the U.S. economy. Or that’s what freight moving across the U.S.-Mexico border between 2012 and 2014 seems to indicate. There are 25 land ports of entry (POEs) along the 1,969-mile U.S.-Mexico border that serve as trade gateways between the two countries. Recent negative changes in the global economy resulted in […]
Building Sustainability into Our Transportation System
Vital to economic growth, transportation can also be a detriment to human health and the natural environment. That’s among the reasons why the concept of sustainable transportation is emerging in countries around the globe, among most state departments of transportation in the United States and, in increasing cases, as part of transportation engineering curricula. “Sustainable […]
The Freight Shuttle System: Clearing the Air on Sustainable Freight Movement
Doing more with less: that’s the mantra of transportation agencies everywhere these days. We need to achieve greater mobility on our roadways, but we can’t afford to build our way out of congestion. We need to clean the air around urban areas to improve public health, but policies enforcing clean air are difficult to pass […]