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 I...

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 J...

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 ...

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 di...

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...

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, p...

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.