On behalf of the Texas Transit Association and the South West Transit Association, TTI’s Transit Mobility Program has authored and released a survey directed to transit agencies to collect information on COVID-19 impacts and responses, including estimated costs, estimated lost revenue, and other strategies and actions taken including enhanced cleaning, service changes, boarding policy changes, etc.
The survey is open to any transit agency and can be taken here: COVID-19 Transit Response
Bus Transit Signal Priority (TSP) is an important tool that increases bus speeds and reliability, thereby improving transit system efficiency and effectiveness. Transit agencies implement a wide variety of TSP strategies and parameters and report different levels of benefits from TSP implementations in various traffic conditions and right-of-way treatments (e.g. mixed vs. dedicated guideway).
TTI was recently awarded a new Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis project to examine the current state of practice for bus TSP. Michael J. Walk, Transit Mobility Program Manager, will serve as the Principal Investigator. The project is titled TCRP Synthesis SA-47: Bus Transit Signal Priority – Current State of the Practice.
[Read more…] about TTI Awarded New TCRP Synthesis Project on Bus TSP
The number of people with disabilities requesting transportation assistance from the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County’s (METRO’s) METROLift services has grown significantly in recent years. This increase has prompted the transit agency to consider a change in its paratransit policies and practices to balance quality of service with financial sustainability. Researchers with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Transit Mobility Program recently helped the agency create a first-of-its-kind community outreach program called METROLift Moving Forward.
With the goal of increasing public involvement, the researchers developed a way to engage members of the community and document their opinions in a format that could be shared with the METRO board of directors and the public.
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Research Results Digest 373: A Toolkit for Reporting Rural and Specialized Transit Data—Making Transit Count presents the results of an analysis of automated transit data collection and analysis procedures in state department of transportation transit units. Read More
AUSTIN — Today, the Texas Transportation Commission adopted the Texas Rural Transportation Plan 2035 (TRTP), putting in place a rural component of the state’s broader long-range planning efforts and providing a blueprint for the development of a safer, more efficient and less congested transportation network between population centers.
This is the first plan the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has prepared that specifically addresses transportation issues in rural areas, noted Commissioner Fred Underwood. Read More
COLLEGE STATION – The question of when to stop driving is often a concern for older individuals and their families. They may disagree about whether someone can drive safely and if an older person may fear losing independence or become a burden to family and friends, according to researchers.
“Transportation issues can be compounded in rural areas where it can be 25 miles to the nearest grocery store and driving may be the only transportation option,” said Alicia Israel, a graduate student in agricultural economics at Texas A&M University. “Rural residents who do not drive face a higher risk of isolation.”
The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas is located in the very southernmost region of the continental U.S. This area is composed of three counties with 3,643 square miles which contains a population of over 1.2 million inhabitants.1 This land area is larger in square miles than two states (DE and RI), and has a population larger than eight states (WY, VT, ND, AK, SD, DE, MT, RI). If the distances weren’t enough of a problem for transit providers, there is the dispersion of the population over those 3,600 square miles. Dispersion occurs as a result of small, very poor housing communities called colonias. Read More
The metropolitan transit authority in Austin, Texas is Capital Metro Transit: Capital Metro’s board is considering a vote to transition to privately operated services for both general public bus and para-transit services. Read More
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