Seeing the road is an essential component of safe driving. Drivers depend on a continuous flow of information as they move along the roadway to properly position their vehicle. Centerline and edge-line markings delineate the vehicle lane for drivers, while other markings such as stop bars and railway crossings provide key safety information and alert […]
human factors
Winfree Featured in Bloomberg CityLab Article
Texas A&M Transportation Institute Agency Director Greg Winfree was featured as a contributor in a recently-published story on Bloomberg CityLab. “The Life-Saving Car Technology No One Wants” explores why safety features that would make vehicles far less lethal to pedestrians exist right now, but are not required. Read the full article on Bloomberg CityLab
TTI, Texas A&M Partner on Senior Driver Assistance Technologies Study
TTI Human Factors Program Manager and Senior Research Scientist Michael Manser recently concluded a study in which he partnered with Ranjana Mehta, associate professor in Texas A&M University’s Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and director of Texas A&M’s NeuroErgonomics Laboratory. The study examined how senior drivers prefer to learn about assistance technologies. Researchers discovered […]
Changing Our Mindset — TTI Research Reveals a Disconnect Between Belief and Behavior in Teen Drivers
Car crashes remain the No. 1 cause of death and injury for young people. For most of the past decade, teen crash deaths in the United States were on the decline before the trend reversed in 2013. Over those 10 years, researchers in the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Teens in the Driver Seat® (TDS) […]
Driving High vs. Driving Drunk: We Still Have a Lot to Learn
By Troy Walden, Ph.D. At more than 10,000 in 2015, the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths in the U.S. has remained relatively constant in recent years, representing nearly a third of all highway fatalities. The total tends to change by only a few percentage points from year to year. At roughly the same time, though, […]
Austin Region Ridesharing Survey Now Open
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute are seeking your input regarding if and/or how the entry and exit of ridesharing companies in and out of the Austin market may have impacted your travel behavior. Please visit the Austin Region Transportation Network Company Survey to share your experiences, attitudes […]
Testing of New Technology for Traffic Signs Shows Great Promise
In the world of intelligent transportation systems, drivers may find out information about the roadway through changeable message signs or their smartphones. But what about everyday traffic signs that deliver this, and other valuable information as well? Recent testing by the Texas A&M Transportation (TTI) demonstrated that innovative technology is on the cusp of enhancing […]
Can Artificial Intelligence Improve Mobility for Texas A&M’s Mobility Challenged?
This summer, researchers, faculty and students at Texas A&M University explored innovative new ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve campus transportation for mobility-challenged riders on campus. As part of its Campus Transportation Technology Initiative, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) worked with IBM and the Texas A&M University College of Engineering to explore […]
TTI Demonstrates New Tech Aimed at Mitigating Wrong-Way Driving Crashes
On Aug. 17, reporters and transportation agency representatives gathered under a tent near a repurposed runway at The Texas A&M University System’s RELLIS Campus. They watched as Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Research Engineer Melisa Finley — known for her innovative studies on wrong-way drivers — led a first-of-its-kind and successful connected-vehicle demonstration funded by […]
TTI Demonstrates New Tech Aimed at Mitigating Wrong-Way Driving Crashes
Reporters and transportation agency representatives gathered under a tent near a repurposed runway at The Texas A&M University System’s RELLIS Campus August 17. They watched as Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Research Engineer Melisa Finley — known for her innovative studies on wrong-way drivers — led a first-of-its-kind and successful connected-vehicle demonstration funded by the […]
Statewide Safety Conference Unites Child Car Seat Technicians for Unique Gathering
A Texas conference dedicated to child passenger safety was held in Richardson, Texas, July 10–12, highlighting the enormous strides made in the last 25 years to protect children who ride in safety seats. But it also revealed how much more work needs to be done. A majority of children who ride in child safety seats […]
TTI Researchers Conduct Five-Year Motorcycle Crash Analysis
Researchers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute recently completed a five-year analysis of Texas motorcycle crashes. “The purpose of this project was to understand the complex nature of motorcycle crashes in Texas by constructing a motorcycle crash database and a multi-year analysis of these data with an emphasis on the prevention of fatal and incapacitating […]
Drowsy Driving Prevention Week: Nov. 6–13
Nov. 6–13 is Drowsy Driving Prevention Week. The purpose of the week is to create awareness of the dangers of drowsy driving. Through a Center for Transportation Safety (CTS) funded survey, researchers found that about one in four people (23.6 percent) said they had driven drowsy within the past week. Almost 40 percent said they […]
Driver’s Sixth Sense: Stress Study Reveals Texting While Driving Dangers
A study designed to monitor and measure stress levels of drivers has uncovered evidence showing why texting can be so dangerous, while moderate levels of other driver distractions — like being upset or absent minded — triggers the brain’s “sixth sense” to help protect the driver. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) leads the three-year […]
Researchers Test Emergency Exit Signs for Tunnels
About 15 years ago, several catastrophic, deadly highway tunnel disasters occurred in Europe. As a result, researchers began to evaluate methods to more effectively help stranded motorists reach emergency exits. The green “running man” sign — an international symbol for “emergency exit” — was adopted to help communicate with motorists. The United States has yet […]
TTI Researcher Presents at Human Factors Annual Meeting
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Associate Transportation Researcher Christine Yager gave a presentation, “The Effects of Reading and Writing Text-Based Messages While Driving,” at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. The meeting was held in Boston, MA, October 22–26 and was attended by more than 1,450 participants from the United […]
New Study Says Texting Doubles a Driver’s Reaction Time
Researchers at the Texas Transportation Institute have determined that a driver’s reaction time is doubled when distracted by reading or sending a text message. The study reveals how the texting impairment is even greater than many experts believed, and demonstrates how texting drivers are less able to react to sudden roadway hazards. The study — the first […]
Factoring in the Human Equation
During the 1930s, several states proposed laws to prohibit the use of radios while driving. According to automobile historian Michael Lam, “Opponents of car radios argued that they distracted drivers and caused accidents, that tuning them took a driver’s attention away from the road, and that music could lull a driver to sleep.” While technologies […]
Celebrating 60 Years of Innovation: A history of saving lives, time and resources
Celebrating 60 Years of Innovation: A history of saving lives, time and resources The original 1950 charter of the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), given by the Texas A&M Board of Directors, charged the Institute with enlisting the broad resources of the college in all forms of transportation research, while giving students the opportunity to study […]