One of the major emerging technologies in highway safety has been the improvement of the types of retroreflectivity sheeting used on overhead signs on roadways. Modern signs are very efficient at returning light back to the driver, creating a much safer nighttime driving environment. Because of this, many departments of transportation are opting to remove […]
Paul Carlson
National Contest Challenges Transportation Students to Improve Roadway Safety
The American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) today announced a “Traffic Control Device Challenge” in partnership with the National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board (TRB), a program unit of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The challenge will focus on how America’s roadway system must change to accommodate both human and “machine” […]
Carlson One of Five Experts Asked to Contribute at FHWA Workshop on Visibility
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently published a summary report, Breakthroughs in Vision and Visibility for Highway Safety. The report documents the workshop, held August 13-14, 2014, at Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Virginia. Sponsored by FHWA’s Office of Safety Research and Development and the Office of Safety—with support from the Exploratory Advanced Research […]
Carlson Receives Eldon J. Yoder Memorial Award
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Engineer Paul Carlson was recently awarded the Transportation Research Board Eldon J. Yoder Memorial Award. The award was presented during the 11th International Conference on Low Volume Roads in Pittsburgh, PA, on July 12–15. Carlson won the award for the research paper “Can Traffic Signs Be too Bright […]
Carlson Attends FHWA Visibility Workshop
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Engineer Paul Carlson recently attended a workshop in McLean, VA, that focused on roadway visibility. The workshop, sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), was titled “Breakthroughs in Vision and Visibility for Highway Safety” and was held August 13–14. According to Carlson, the workshop was a good opportunity […]
Texas A&M System Engineers Collaborate at National Innovation Summit
Engineering professionals throughout the Texas A&M University (TAMU) System met in Washington, D.C., at the 3rd annual National Innovation Summit and Showcase, June 16–18. The National Innovation Summit is the world’s largest showcase of industry-vetted new technologies that are ready for commercialization; the summit is in support of the White House and Congressional call for innovation […]
TTI Researchers Identify Elusive Relationship Between Safety and Pavement Marking Brightness
In what is described as a key breakthrough regarding safer nighttime driving, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers have identified a technique for developing safety-based retroreflectivity criteria for pavement markings. The technique, described in a Transportation Research Board paper submitted by TTI Senior Research Engineer Paul Carlson and TTI Associate Research Scientist Raul Avelar, quantifies […]
Rural Roadway Signage: When Brighter Is Not Always Better
Ever since agencies started using uniform traffic signs, the conventional thinking concerning nighttime visibility is that brighter is better. But a recent Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) research project revealed that signs along rural highways can be so bright that they cause disability glare to the point of reduced hazard detection distances, which can be […]
Carlson Honored with Regents Fellow Service Award
Paul Carlson, Ph.D., P.E., research engineer and head of the Operations and Design Division at TTI, has been presented with the Regents Fellow Service Award from the Texas A&M System Board of Regents. The award honors professionals in the eight A&M System agriculture and engineering agencies and is presented annually “to recognize and honor service, […]
TTI Hosts Infrastructure Maintenance Symposium
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute recently hosted DBi Services’ 9th annual Infrastructure Maintenance Symposium. The symposium was held August 27–28 and showcased the latest developments and technologies in the fields of infrastructure maintenance, operations and management. The two-day symposium featured educational breakout sessions on topics that focused on the current state-of-the-practice in transportation infrastructure maintenance. […]
New Study Shines Light on Pavement Markings and Safety
When you drive at night and your headlights illuminate a lane marking, it makes you feel safer, right? After all, bright pavement markings are designed to help you stay in your lane and prevent you from running off the roadway. Called retroreflectivity, special materials in edge lines and lane lines create the brightness. With age […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.