For the second year in a row, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) hosted the virtual Texas Pedestrian Safety Forum Aug. 12, 2021. Supported by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and TTI’s Center for Transportation Safety (CTS), the forum helped more than 430 people learn more about how we can make roadways safer for […]
safety
TTI, TxDOT Win National Safety Award
“Safer by Design” Tool Aims to Save Lives on Texas Rural Roadways The Roadway Safety Foundation has honored the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) with a 2021 National Roadway Safety Award. The foundation lauded the TxDOT-sponsored, TTI-developed “Safer by Design” tool, a user-friendly innovation roadway designers can use […]
TTI’s Fitzpatrick Co-Authors NCHRP User Guide on Setting Posted Speed Limits
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Engineer Kay Fitzpatrick led the team that wrote the recently published National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Research Report 966, Posted Speed Limit Setting Procedure and Tool: User Guide. Fitzpatrick’s co-authors include Subasish Das, associate research scientist, and Michael P. Pratt, assistant research engineer, both in TTI’s Roadway […]
A Tale of Two Problems: 2021 Virtual Traffic Safety Conference Addresses COVID-19’s Impact on Traffic Safety Fatalities
For the second year in a row, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) hosted the virtual Traffic Safety Conference, held July 14–16, 2021. Supported by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the event focused on high-priority safety issues and innovative solutions to end the streak of daily fatal crashes in Texas. This year’s conference also […]
In the Fight: TTI, Team Study How Transportation Professionals Can Help End Human Trafficking
John Habermann, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) research engineer, recently coauthored the article “The Contribution of State and Local DOTs to Disrupting Human Trafficking” in the June 2021 issue of the ITE Journal published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers. The publication reaches nearly 16,000 subscribers. The article defines human trafficking as the “recruitment, harboring, […]
Learning Something New at the 2021 Texas Child Passenger Safety Conference
With 384 attendees this year, the fifth annual 2021 Texas Child Passenger Safety Conference helped child passenger safety technicians (CPSTs) stay informed on the latest research and best practices aimed at keeping our most precious cargo safe when traveling. The conference also provided participants with continuing education credits for CPST recertification. Sponsored by the Texas […]
Does Your Teen Text While Driving? Now There’s An App For That.
By Russell Henk What we’re learning about the battle against the coronavirus could go a long way in helping us thwart vehicle crashes. It’s a simple lesson: Prevention – in the form of personal responsibility – can help us contain the public health crisis of COVID-19, and it can do the same with the epidemic […]
Wunderlich Quoted in USA Today on the Need to Improve Rural Road Safety
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Engineer Robert Wunderlich is featured in a USA Today story (source: Pew/Stateline), “Deadly crashes on rural roads prompt new safety efforts,” wherein he discusses building safety into road projects from the get-go to help prevent traffic crashes. Simple engineering changes at the design stage — such as rumble […]
Child Passenger Safety Technicians Get Inspired (and Learn Something, Too!) at 2021 Texas Child Passenger Safety Conference
The fifth annual 2021 Texas Child Passenger Safety Conference was held virtually June 29–July 1, 2021. Sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation, the conference was organized by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. With 384 attendees this year, the conference helped child passenger safety technicians (CPSTs) stay […]
Guo-Led Team Advances as Finalist in ITE Vision Zero Design Sandbox Competition
Led by Xiaoyu “Sky” Guo, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) engineering graduate student worker, the Aggie Vision team is one of two student finalists for the second annual Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Vision Zero Design Sandbox Competition. The team includes Sruthi Ashraf, TTI engineering graduate student worker; Zihao Li, TTI graduate research assistant; Chaolun […]
TTI’s Khodadadi Publishes Article on Safety Performance Functions for Non-Federal Aid System Roads
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Graduate Research Assistant Ali Khodadadi recently published the article “Application of Different Negative Binominal Parameterizations to Develop Safety Performance Functions for Non-Federal Aid System Roads” in volume 156 (June 2021) of Accident Analysis & Prevention. The authors also include Subasish Das, TTI assistant research scientist; Yingfeng Li, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute […]
TTI Researchers Study Phone Use Behavior on Roadways
Researchers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and Texas A&M University investigated the relationship between phone use behavior and road geometrics determining that using a phone while driving is more than just a self-choice. The combination and presence of a shoulder, median, higher speed limit and extra lanes could encourage more phone use while driving. […]
Teens in the Driver Seat® Holds 12th Annual Summit: Month-Long Gathering Honors Student Leaders Advocating Teen Driver Safety
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) award-winning Teens in the Driver Seat® (TDS) program recognized teen advocates as champions of young driver safety at the 2021 TDS Safe Driving Summit held in May. Second only to teen suicide, car crashes kill more teens in the United States aged 15 to 18 than any other cause. […]
Shaking Up the System: Safe-D Looks at How Disruptive Technologies Can Improve Roadway Safety
Funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s University Transportation Center (UTC) Program, the Safety through Disruption (Safe-D) UTC is led by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). In partnership with San Diego State University and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), center researchers endeavor to maximize the potential safety benefits of disruptive technologies through targeted […]
TTI Study Produces Insights on the Use of Automated License Plate Readers for Traffic Safety Purposes
The National Highway Safety Administration published a Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) report, State of Knowledge and Practice for Using Automated License Plate Readers for Traffic Safety Purposes, Apr. 1, 2021, in the National Transportation Library. The authors include TTI Associate Research Scientist Ben Ettelman, TTI Associate Research Scientist Laura Higgins, TTI Center for Alcohol […]
Wunderlich Briefs Texas House Committee on Pedestrian Safety
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Engineer Robert Wunderlich briefed the Texas House Committee on Transportation Mar. 30, 2021 on pedestrian fatality statistics as background for House Bill 443. Wunderlich, director of TTI’s Center for Transportation Safety, briefed lawmakers on the increase in Texas pedestrian fatalities since 2011 and the characteristics associated with them. […]
TTI’s Dadashova Leads Safety Evaluation of On-Street Bicycle Facility Designs
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Assistant Research Scientist Bahar Dadashova is the team lead on a recently contracted project evaluating the safety of on-street bicycle facility design features. Funded primarily by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, the effort also includes support from Portland State University, Toole Design Group and Safe Streets Research and Consulting. […]
TTI’s Xiaoqiang “Jack” Kong Published Research Paper on Phone Usage and Distracted Driving
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Graduate Research Assistant Xiaoqiang “Jack” Kong recently published the research paper “Characterizing phone usage while driving: Safety impact from road and operational perspectives using factor analysis” in Accident Analysis & Prevention. The paper’s authors also include Subasish Das, assistant research scientist in TTI’s Roadway Safety Division; Hongmin “Tracy” Zhou, associate […]
TTI Crash Analytics Experts Publish Highway Safety Analytics and Modeling
Two crash analytics and modeling group members in the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Center for Transportation Safety published the 1st edition of Highway Safety Analytics and Modeling Feb. 25, 2021, on Elsevier’s publisher platform. Texas A&M University Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor and TTI-affiliated Dominique Lord and TTI Research Engineer Srinivas […]
From Space Travel to Roadway Safety: LiDAR Helps Identify Pavement Sections Prone to Hydroplaning
A technology once focused on aerospace applications half a century ago is finding new utility to improve the safety of driving surfaces in Texas thanks to evolving research at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). The effort employs LiDAR — or light detection and ranging — which calculates distances by transmitting a laser beam to […]