Thinking Transportation: Engaging Conversations about Transportation Innovations

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that more than 40,000 Americans died on U.S. roadways in 2023. We talk with TTI safety experts Emily Martin and Srinivas Geedipally about how distracted driving can lead to tragedy and what we can do, as drivers and passengers, to make our travels safer for everyone.

Tracing its origins to the Air Commerce Act of 1926, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was established in 1967 as an independent agency inside the U.S. DOT charged with investigating why transportation accidents happen. In 1974, it became an independent federal agency separate from the DOT. Although largely focused on aviation, the agency also investigates roadway, marine, pipeline, and railroad accidents, as well as those involving commercial space. Today, we talk with Robert L. Sumwalt—currently executive director of the Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and former chair of the NTSB—about that agency's ongoing mission to investigate accidents and recommend improvements that make travel safer for everyone who uses our transportation network. 

In 1950, the Texas A&M Board of Directors charged the Texas Transportation Institute (now the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, or TTI) to enlist the broad resources of the college across the spectrum of transportation research to benefit Texas, while also providing unique educational opportunities for students to study and work in the field. This agreement solidified the Cooperative Research Program between the then-Texas Highway Department (now the Texas Department of Transportation) and TTI. For 75 years, these agencies have partnered to conduct applied research that benefits Texans and travelers worldwide by innovating and improving the safety, mobility, and resilience of our transportation network. Our host, Allan Rutter, talks about this longstanding relationship with TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams and TTI Agency Director Greg Winfree.

Folks are living longer thanks to medical breakthroughs and healthier lifestyles, and that means our overall U.S. population is skewing older. The Texas Demographic Center notes that the U.S. population aged 65 and older spiked between 2010 and 2020, the largest 10-year growth on record. That means more drivers on the road are older too, and statistics show that licensees over 70 jumped from 73 percent in 1997 to 87 percent in 2022. A year ago, Bernie Fette talked with TTI's Myunghoon Ko about the challenges and dangers facing older drivers, as well as how research like that performed at the Institute is producing more effective countermeasures to help keep these vulnerable drivers safer on our roadways. Today, we revisit that conversation.

Roundabouts and other innovative intersections offer a number of advantages over more traditional designs, including improved sustainability, reliability, and resilience--and astonishing benefits to traffic safety for drivers. Amanda Austin, the Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT's) lead in implementing these alternative designs, and TTI Research Engineer Marcus Brewer join us this episode to discuss them. For more information on TxDOT's work in this area, see the department's Innovative Intersections web page.

In June 2024, TTI's Roadside Safety and Physical Security Team crashed a Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle (EV) into a heavy-duty guardrail at 62 miles per hour. When the EV blew right through the barrier, researchers were stunned. TTI Senior Research Engineer Roger Bligh, whose 38 years of roadside safety barrier testing experience oversaw the test, joins guest host and TTI Agency Director Greg Winfree to discuss the results of the testing and the broader implications for standards governing the development and deployment of roadside safety devices. | View the Crash Test

Administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the University Transportation Centers Program provides grants to college and university consortia across America. With an emphasis on innovating transportation technologies, educating the next generation of transportation professionals, and transferring technology to share lessons learned, the program leverages the best academic talent at U.S. institutions of higher learning to solve mobility and safety problems that affect all Americans. Dr. Melissa Tooley, TTI assistant agency director for federal affairs and UTC operations, discusses TTI's history with the program and looks forward to future opportunities. 

For more than two decades, TTI has championed young driver safety, preventing injury and saving lives through education, empowerment, and peer-led outreach. Supported by public- and private-sector sponsors, the Institute's Youth Transportation Safety (YTS) Program recently published Texas Trends, 2024, which captures data regarding young driver attitudes, codifies ongoing crash and injury trends, and helps us better understand the causes behind more than 900 young driver traffic deaths each year. TTI's Christine Yager discusses the report. | View the Texas Trends, 2024 report

International commerce depends on trucks crossing national borders regularly, reliably, and securely. Ports of entry like the bridges connecting the United States and Mexico in El Paso, Texas, are vital to both nations' economic vitality. But what happens when a major conduit like The Bridge of the Americas is closed for updating? Where does that traffic go? How can we keep those goods flowing without negatively impacting the surrounding community? We interview experts from TTI's Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research in El Paso to find out. | Bridges Connecting El Paso to Mexico | Texas-Mexico Border Transportation Management Plan

Texas A&M University's Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering offers an online master of engineering in engineering degree designed for engineering professionals interested in management. Led by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), this program offers valuable real-world experience from qualified instructors in topics like working with city governments to help graduates become better managers or begin management careers. Two of the instructors, TTI's Brianne Glover and Jim Cline, sit down with Allan Rutter to discuss what an applicant can expect from the program, as well as how it can help graduates' professional lives after completion.

On September 17, 2024, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released a report following a study of freight trains longer than 7,500 feet and their impacts on local communities. Requested by the U.S. Congress, the report recommends empowering regulatory agencies to address challenges such as safety concerns and traffic delays due to blocked crossings. Our host, TTI's Allan Rutter, served as one of twelve members on the consensus study panel that produced the report. He talks with David Willhauer, senior program officer with the Transportation Research Board, who was the project manager for the study. Listeners can find the report  here.

The Washington Post recently reported that electric vehicles (EVs) now outnumber gas-powered cars in Norway, the first country to claim that distinction. The U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation--a shared agency of the U.S. Departments of Energy and Transportation--was created in 2021 under the bipartisan infrastructure law to help facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles across the United States. Gabriel Klein, executive director of the Joint Office, and Joe Zietsman, deputy director of TTI, join us today to talk about the advantages, challenges, and long-term goals of implementing EVs nationwide. 

With National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (Sept. 15-21) just around the corner, it seemed a good time to revisit our interview with Mark Willis from almost exactly one year ago. This is the week in which the trucking industry celebrates the contributions of roughly 3.5 million professional truck drivers nationwide, who deliver the essential goods our families rely on, from food to fuel to medicine to clothing. Mark is host of the afternoon show on Road Dog Trucking, channel 146 on SiriusXM, a lifeline to truckers nationwide to other truckers and the topics that interest them like roadway safety and adequate parking. Thousands of long-haul truck drivers in America share a common and constant challenge of remoteness, and they find insight and community through the vast reach of satellite radio. 

This 89th episode of Thinking Transportation is a landmark event. Host Bernie Fette, who is retiring from service to the state of Texas after more than 30 years, is passing the podcast hosting baton to Allan Rutter, TTI's Freight Practice Leader. Included in his decades of transportation-related employment, Allan served as Federal Railroad Administrator under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2004. Allan interviews Bernie about his many years of experience as a journalist, media expert, podcaster, and innovative storyteller for the Texas A&M Transportation Institute regarding all things transportation. 

Factors that determine speed limits on a given roadway have a lot to do with physical conditions along the route, but how fast drivers want to go figures into the equation, too.

When special events set new records for attendance, they tend to do the same for roadway gridlock. To ensure success, experts rely on the right mix of traffic planning and outreach.

Building a new highway involves a complex and painstaking process, one that begins years before the folks in hard hats and orange vests arrive on the scene.

We rely upon waterborne shipping for most of the products we buy and use every day. We hardly give that reliance any thought at all – until something goes wrong.

It's not enough to know that traffic is bad and getting worse. We also need to know where, when, and why. TTI Senior Research Scientist and urban mobility expert David Schrank joins us to discuss the "how" of answering those questions.

As the 2024 hurricane season approaches again, climate experts across the United States are predicting an especially active season, driven largely by higher-than-average sea surface temperatures. This makes ever more important the research and planning that begins long before extreme weather strikes, and continues long after the storm has passed.

As car makers focus on protecting drivers and passengers, do their computer-based innovations really make us safer, or might they in some cases compromise our safety?

FHWA Administrator Shailen Bhatt and TTI Agency Director Greg Winfree reflect upon a wide range of mobility challenges and opportunities, with references to Star Wars, Dick Tracy and hair styles.

 Artificial intelligence seeks to replicate the analytical and creative capabilities of the human brain. Perhaps that lofty ambition helps to explain why so many humans are leery of the idea. 

Cities working to become leaders in clean transportation are electrifying their bus fleets, and learning that the road to success can be a bumpy one.

The former leader of TRB may have stepped away from full-time employment, but he hasn't stepped away entirely from the industry he has helped to guide for half a century.

Every road construction project involves the hidden element of utilities in the right of way. That work isn't necessarily as visible, but it's every bit as consequential. 

The transit industry is better equipped to work through a public health crisis than it was before COVID-19. And even as it faces persistent challenges, public transportation continues to play a central role in everyday mobility.

Drivers over age 80 are more prone to serious and deadly crashes. As this population segment grows, researchers are working toward fresh countermeasures.

Attitudes and behaviors related to driving reveal our traffic safety culture. Like other forms of culture, it has a way of changing over time— and not always for the better.

With near-magical precision, GPS applications reliably guide multiple functions for us every moment of every day. But as they hold great promise, those applications also face vulnerabilities.

America's infrastructure was built to last, but it wasn't built to last forever. The Center for Infrastructure Renewal is focusing on how to ensure the resilience of the collective physical systems that America runs upon. 

The well-being of creatures protected under the Endangered Species Act is a high priority for transportation agencies. That's good for the critters, and for agency operations as well. 

In using roadsides for the collection of solar power, can we succeed in achieving both environmental and economic goals? It all depends on how you define “success.”

Traffic congestion is relative, because what constitutes gridlock depends a lot on where you live. Clearly, though, it's no longer just a big city problem. 

As we gather for the 97th Annual Transportation Short Course, we're revisiting our interview with Texas Department of Transportation CEO Marc Williams from approximately one year ago. Despite some Texas-sized mobility challenges and worldwide supply-chain obstacles, the guy in charge of the Texas Department of Transportation wants you to know he's never been more optimistic about our transportation future.

Thousands of long-haul truck drivers in America share a common and constant challenge of remoteness. They find insight and community through the vast reach of satellite radio. 

 It's been said that all politics is local. Given the unique nature of major population centers everywhere, the same could be said for transportation. 

Obvious pressures when we're driving on the roadways—like aggressive drivers, stormy weather, and unruly passengers—are widely recognized. But less conspicuous triggers can compromise safety, too. 

Decarbonizing the transportation sector—the single-biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions—won't happen overnight. But the U.S. Department of Energy has a plan.

The dangers for those who travel on foot have constituted a public health challenge for as long as we've had motor vehicles. Why are pedestrian deaths increasing so fast? And what can be done to stem the tide?

Disasters – whether natural or man-made – can cripple transportation systems. Sophisticated modeling can go a long way in minimizing disruptions and restoring routine conditions. 

Two years have passed since America's last road and bridge report card, and we'll wait another two years for the next one. An unofficial mid-term grade suggests that conditions are improving.

Texas owes its transportation primacy in large part to an elite group of visionary leaders whose contributions merit permanent and meaningful places in the Lone Star State's history.

In recent years, roughly half of the motorcyclists involved in fatal crashes in Texas were unlicensed. Safety advocates are working to enlist more instructors who can help riders develop the safety skills they need.

Nearly 300 million vehicles are on American roads today. Nearly all of them run on gasoline or diesel, so a large-scale shift to electric power would be transformative. A new Texas A&M University System venture is working to figure out how that might work. 

As a transportation journalist, Bernie Wagenblast has been weaving narratives of a professional sort for more than 40 years. As it turns out, one of her most recent stories is more personal.

The value that small general aviation airports deliver far exceeds what their modest size might suggest. To many local government officials, those facilities represent “the most valuable mile of pavement in the county.”

As we're about to observe National Work Zone Awareness Week and in light of a work zone crash last month in Maryland, in which 6 workers were killed, we're revisiting a discussion with TTI's Jerry Ullman, research engineer and highway work zone safety expert. The number of fatal crashes in America is up by about 7 percent over the past decade. But in roadway work zones, it's up by more than 40 percent. Jerry discusses why those work zones are dangerous not only for those who work in them, but for those who navigate them as well. 

Major railroad disasters tend to produce major news headlines, but there are hundreds of derailments each year in America that we never hear about. Why is that?

It's been said that journalists are responsible for writing the first draft of history. As the transportation writer for the Houston Chronicle, Dug Begley has been crafting that city's mobility story for more than a decade. 

Even after wrapping up a 46-year stretch at TTI, Tim Lomax still enjoys the adrenaline rush that comes from finding new traffic challenges, and fixing them.