The rapid appeal and growth of electric vehicles (EVs) over the last few decades are part of a fundamental shift in the constantly evolving transportation system. Stakeholders with interests in transportation, energy and emissions are finding they need to come together to plan for the future of the nation’s transportation system, including considering the idea […]
policy
TTI’s Zmud Helps Author Policy Brief on Infrastructures and Robomobility
TTI Senior Research Scientist Johanna Zmud helped author the recently published policy brief “Defining the Role of Automated Transportation Infrastructure in Shaping Sociotechnical Systems” in the Think20 (T20) Task Force publication Infrastructure Investment and Financing. T20 is an engagement group comprised of regional and international think tanks serving to research and generate policy proposals on […]
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 […]
Wunderlich Briefs Texas Senate Panel on Traffic-Related Crash Trends, Causes
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Engineer Robert Wunderlich shared road safety insights with state lawmakers on February 26 during a meeting of Texas’ Senate Transportation Committee. The panel heard Wunderlich’s testimony in the course of pursuing its goal to study crash causes and make recommendations to improve roadway safety. “Texas traffic crashes are […]
Aldrete Briefs Legislators on Border Wait Time Implications
State lawmakers meeting in Laredo on Friday heard testimony from Rafael Aldrete, a Senior Research Scientist at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, to inform their discussions on border crossing wait times and related trade implications. The House Committee on Transportation and the Committee on International Relations and Economic Development met on the campus of Texas […]
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 […]
TTI Research Supports El Paso County’s Efforts to Coordinate, Enhance Regional Transit Service
El Paso, Texas, holds a number of distinctions: the state’s only major city in a separate time zone, the only city that borders both a foreign country and another U.S. state, and perennial bragging rights as one of the nation’s safest cities. But when it comes to public transportation, the El Paso region is pretty […]
Geiselbrecht Receives New Public Participation Certification
Tina Geiselbrecht, research scientist at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), has become one of the first people in the United States to become a Certified Public Participation Professional (CP3) as designated by the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2). IAP2 is a professional association “whose members seek to promote and improve the practice of […]
Rural Transportation Needs Highlighted at Policy Symposium
Local and statewide policy makers from around Texas gathered on November 13 to discuss a wide range of challenges facing rural sectors of the state, and transportation issues were high on the agenda. “The Future of Rural Texas” symposium on the Texas A&M University campus was hosted by The Texas Tribune and co-sponsored by the […]
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 […]
What We’re Thinking: It’s High Time for a Discussion on Infrastructure
By Greg Winfree and Zachry Grasley This article was originally published in The Hill, August 20, 2018. This year, we mark 11 years since the Interstate 35 bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people and injuring 145 more. For anyone not living there, or otherwise not personally affected by that tragedy, […]
We Need Automatic Braking on Trains, but It’s Going to Take a Lot of Hard Work
Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s Gregory Winfree, J.D., and Allan Rutter weigh in on rail safety A number of high-profile passenger rail crashes have captured public attention recently. Although their circumstances may differ, the tragedies are a grim reminder that train safety belongs high on our list of transportation policy priorities. A long-distance train from New […]
TTI Researchers Use Data Visualization to Create Interactive Congestion Strategy Website
In 2016, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Associate Transportation Researcher Phil Lasley came to James Moughon, TTI software applications developer, looking for a way to make the congestion-mitigation strategy website, developed for TTI’s Transportation Policy Research Center, more user friendly. At the time, the website listed more than 100 congestion-mitigation strategies using static graphics, but […]
Helping Agencies Manage Infrastructure Renewal: TTI’s Asset Management Group
As in 2013, ASCE once again rated America’s infrastructure a D+ in its latest 2017 assessment. Although several categories, such as ports and rail, achieved modest improvements, others declined. And six core categories that many think of when they think of infrastructure itself — including bridges, roads and aviation — remained unchanged from four years […]
Texas A&M’s Infrastructure Renewal Symposium Brings Together Industry Experts, Leaders to Discuss Critical Issues
OPTIMISM about future transportation funding and new efforts to modify regulatory restrictions were prominent themes of Texas A&M University’s National Symposium on the Barriers and Opportunities for Infrastructure Renewal, held at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center Sept. 18. Members of the Trump Administration and other high-level state and federal officials, as well as private-sector stakeholders, […]
Winfree Participates in National Congressional Roundtable on CAV Policy
At the invitation of U.S. Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-IL), TTI Agency Director Greg Winfree is participating in a connected and automated vehicle (CAV) policy roundtable in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, July 26, at 1:00 p.m. (CDT) at the Capitol Visitors Center. The roundtable, titled ‘‘The Road Ahead: Developing Policies to Make Connected and Automated Vehicles […]
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 […]
Experts Gather from Around the World for the Second Annual Texas A&M Transportation Technology Conference
It’s a foregone conclusion among many transportation experts that connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) will be commonplace within the next decade. CAV technologies promise not only to make our transportation system more efficient, but also to save lives and reduce the systemwide costs associated with transportation. To grapple with the complexities associated with CAV adoption, […]
TTI, Texas A&M Law School Work to Navigate the CV/AV Policy Maze
For decades, traffic laws have sought to regulate the actions and qualifications of drivers. But what if the driver isn’t a human being? If the car drives itself, what does that mean for driver-education courses? If the self-driving car is involved in a crash, who’s at fault? And if the operator of the self-driving car […]
Survey Says: More Texans Turning to Phone Apps, Websites to Avoid Traffic
Texans are relying more on information from smartphones and websites to make routine travel decisions than they did two years ago, according to new research from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). Conducted this summer, the survey found that 70 percent of respondents had recently used a smartphone app for navigation or route guidance, up […]