By Gregory Winfree No one yet knows how many Americans will die this year from COVID-19. But here’s a pretty safe bet on the number who will die in car crashes: Likely not as many as last year. Call it an unintended benefit of widespread stay-at-home orders designed to fight the spread of the coronavirus. […]
What We're Thinking
Coronavirus Is Forcing Americans to Develop Work-From-Home Habits That Could Benefit Us for a Long Time
Suppressed traffic makes travel easier for emergency vehicles and supplies and offers long-term benefits, too. By Bill Eisele America’s answer to our public health crisis is, naturally, all about preserving human life. Working from home will surely help limit the spread of the coronavirus and save many lives. But this new workday normal is serving […]
If Coronavirus Hits the U.S. Hard, Expect Public Transportation To Be Afflicted
By Eva Shipp As the coronavirus outbreak accelerated, the U.S. State Department on January 30th issued a Level 4 Travel Advisory warning (the highest) instructing Americans to not travel to China. Noteworthy as that is, the China travel ban will affect the lives of very few Americans. The almost certain impact on public transportation in […]
When You Ride Uber or Lyft With Your Kids, Do You Use Car Seats? You Should
We need consistent policies and laws regarding children and rideshare before somebody gets hurt. By Katie Womack Passengers under age 5 may constitute a tiny share of customers for Uber and Lyft, but those fragile riders deserve more attention as the industry grows. That’s because parents and rideshare drivers are both confused about when, where […]
Texas Cannot Pave Its Way Out of Traffic Problems
Some simple adjustments to work schedules could dramatically reduce rush-hour traffic By David Schrank When we drive to work, we’re more than just commuters; we’re data points in a daily test of the laws of supply and demand. And the result is the same every day. The roadway space we want exceeds the space we […]
Shared Mopeds Off to a Good Start in Austin, TX, Unlike Ride-Hailing and E-Scooters
By Johanna Zmud Deploying Revel mopeds has already been a favorable experience compared to other mobility experiments, in-part due to the company’s willingness to share trip data. Shared sit-down scooters have arrived on Austin streets, the first in Texas after starting in New York and Washington, DC. Already, the experience differs favorably to other mobility […]
We Know Where You Travel Every Day, But We Don’t Really Care Who You Are
By Ed Hard, Shawn Turner, and Michael Martin Every day, your travel may be recorded, thanks to the apps on your mobile communication device. Whether our phones tell us about storm warnings, travel times, or lunch specials, we have enabled them to do so by clicking ‘yes’ when we’re prompted that an app wants to […]
Our Concept of Mobility is Transforming — But 3 Roadway Realities Are Unchanged
By Gregory Winfree This is not your grandfather’s mobility landscape. Not even your father’s. Not even close. Thanks to the sharing economy, we have more here-to-there options today than we would have dared to imagine a decade ago. And transportation today depends almost as much on smartphones as it does on steering wheels. How we […]
Safer Roads or Faster Movie Downloads? Let’s Choose Wisely
By Gregory Winfree and Larry Head The next big decision may have nothing to do with immigration or health care. Instead, it may be about either faster movie downloads or safer roads. The Federal Communications Commission is reconsidering whether an important slice of the radio spectrum should be offered for expanded Wi-Fi use, or if […]
Is That Road Made of Recycled Asphalt? If It’s Done Right, You Will Never Know
Recycled pavement saves money and the environment. By Amy Epps Martin and Edith Arambula Ask just about anybody to name the most recycled material in America, and you’re likely to get some predictable responses: Aluminum cans. Plastic bottles. Glass bottles. Paper. Each guess is logical. And each one is wrong. That’s because 99% of reclaimed […]
Texans Texting Behind the Wheel: What’s the Answer When Wrong Is Not Enough?
By Katie Womack Texans, by and large, think texting and driving is bad and that it shouldn’t be allowed. But for most, those views haven’t changed their own habits behind the wheel. Texas legislators passed a law in 2017 that bans texting while driving, but allows drivers to use their phones for things like directions […]
The Biggest Questions Facing E-Scooters
By Johanna Zmud Cities across the U.S. have been riding the e-scooter craze for more than a year, so it’s a good time to ask some emerging questions in the midst of urban disturbance. As we do, let’s remember that the first automobiles were also disruptive when they hit busy streets already bedeviled by the […]
Death-By-Walking is Becoming a Chronic Public Health Issue
By Michael Manser Pedestrian dangers are nothing new. To traverse city streets a century ago, pedestrians had to navigate a gauntlet of cars, bicycles, horse-drawn buggies, trucks and streetcars, typically unencumbered by expectations that they do so at designated crosswalks. But city streets have changed dramatically since then, as have all of the vehicular dynamics […]
Sharing the Streets With Robots in Training is Worth the Bother
By Greg Winfree Self-driving vehicles move closer toward reality every day, but most of us will likely live through a few more presidential elections before driverless travel is routinely within reach through personal purchase (although availability through ride-hailing providers like Uber and Lyft could be here sooner). Even so, you’re more likely to encounter such […]
As Cars Get Better, Driving Gets Worse
By Russell Henk Our cars keep getting better, but our driving seems to be getting worse. Auto design has evolved from safety belts and airbags that help us survive crashes to features like lane-departure warnings and automatic emergency braking that help us avoid them. Still, the rate of distracted driving deaths rose twice as fast […]
Oil Exports Top Imports For the First Time, Adding to Texas Transportation Challenges
By Allan Rutter In the last week of November 2018, daily exports of U.S. oil, gasoline and other products exceeded imports for the first time in nearly 70 years, thanks in large part to energy-rich Texas. But despite appearances, the boom of the state’s oil and gas production will not halt the flow of oil […]
Connected Automated Travel: As Complicated as 1, 2, 3
By Gregory Winfree and Swaminathan Gopalswamy Self-driving cars will change life as we know it; no question there. But they’re only a start — just as personal computers were. Think back to when George H.W. Bush was in the White House and gasoline cost about a dollar a gallon. Office and home desktop computers were […]
Why Maintaining a Lone Desert Highway Matters to Us All
By Katherine F. Turnbull For all of the contrasts that distinguish urban and rural Texans, one thing that unites us all is the need for reliable transportation. Exactly what that reliable transportation looks like depends on where we choose to live. Regardless of that choice, certain interests and challenges are commonly shared. Safety and mobility are at […]
Rural Texas Highways Give Us a Reliable Path to the Pump
By William R. Stockton Your car’s next tank of gas is on its way to you. You can be assured of that, even though the journey it takes to get there is a sometimes arduous one. That journey could begin at one of hundreds of active oil wells in Texas, located predominantly in remote rural […]
Fresh Approach Needed to Reduce Teen Car Fatalities
By Lisa Minjares-Kyle 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 U.S. were on a decline before the trend reversed in 2013. Over those 10 years, we surveyed 109,266 teens at 281 schools in 11 states, to draw […]