Our ability to get from Point A to Point B is something lots of us take for granted. But transporting people and products across town or across the country every day is neither simple nor easy. Join us as we explore the challenges on Thinking Transportation, a podcast about how we get ourselves — and the things we need — from one place to another. Every other week, an expert from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute or other special guest will help us dig deep on a wide range of topics. Find out more: https://tti.tamu.edu/thinking-transportation/
The Never Ending Story? Why road projects take so long to complete.
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.
7/16/2024 • 29 minutes, 12 seconds
Anchors Aweigh: How maritime interests occupy a vital link in the freight industry.
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.
6/25/2024 • 26 minutes, 17 seconds
Is Traffic Back to Pre-COVID Levels? That depends on where you live.
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.
6/11/2024 • 33 minutes, 4 seconds
Revisited--Exit This Way: Research informing upgrades in hurricane evacuation planning.
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.
5/28/2024 • 20 minutes, 5 seconds
A Two-Edged Sword: In-vehicle technologies can either help us or hurt us.
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?
5/14/2024 • 37 minutes, 1 second
Bhatt and Winfree: Two industry leaders and their shared optimism for the future.
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.
4/30/2024 • 45 minutes, 54 seconds
Will AI Help Us Realize Our Highest Hopes or Our Deepest Fears?
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.
4/16/2024 • 32 minutes, 10 seconds
More Transit Agencies Are Jumping on the Battery-Powered Bandwagon.
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.
4/2/2024 • 28 minutes, 47 seconds
Neil Pedersen Has a Question: Are we willing to stick our necks out?
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.
3/19/2024 • 46 minutes, 23 seconds
Roadside Mysteries: When utilities pose unique challenges for roadway construction.
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.
3/5/2024 • 27 minutes, 20 seconds
Is Public Transit Back to Pre-pandemic Normal? That depends on where you look.
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.
2/22/2024 • 32 minutes, 22 seconds
Crash Data and an Aging Population Raise an Issue: How old is too old to drive?
Drivers over age 80 are more prone to serious and deadly crashes. As this population segment grows, researchers are working toward fresh countermeasures.
2/6/2024 • 26 minutes, 4 seconds
Behind the Wheel, What We Think and What We Do Can Define Who We Are.
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.
