• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • TTI Home
  • CIITR Home
  • Contact
Texas A&M Transportation Institute logo
Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research
  • Home / About
  • People & Partners
  • Projects
  • Publications
  • Videos
  • Blog

Blog

How Do You Know Whether a Parking Facility Is Doing Its Job?

July 21, 2020

by Okan Gurbuz

When commuting patterns change (as they have amid the COVID-19 pandemic), so do the patterns of land use. With fewer people driving to work or to school, fewer parking spaces are filled, leaving empty reminders of our hefty public and private investment in vehicle storage space. As with any infrastructure asset requiring a large financial outlay, it’s important that we ensure the best return on that investment.

[Read more…] about How Do You Know Whether a Parking Facility Is Doing Its Job?

Filed Under: Blog, News Tagged With: analysis, C2SMART, commuting, Connected Cities with Smart Transportation, COVID-19, infrastructure, investment, level-of-service, LOS, multi-level garage, operational efficiency, pandemic, parking, parking lot, surface lot

When Time Is Money, Fast Is Good; Faster Is Better

March 20, 2020

by David Salgado Manzano

Quick and seamless passage across the U.S.-Mexico border has long been the Holy Grail for any commercial interest whose success depends on transportation efficiency. And for just as long, the safety inspection process at the border has represented the most persistent roadblock to that aspiration.

[Read more…] about When Time Is Money, Fast Is Good; Faster Is Better

Filed Under: Blog, Featured News, News Tagged With: delay, FAST, Free and Secure Trade, freight, reliability, trade, travel time, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, UCP, Unified Cargo Processing, wait time

CIITR Applies Technology to Help Sun Metro, Businesses Better Understand Customer Mobility

May 15, 2019

by David Galicia

For years, employees with El Paso’s transit system, Sun Metro, could only wonder how many of their riders use the Paso del Norte point of entry bridge connecting El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. Individuals are first admitted through the customs process, and then they walk the few blocks to Sun Metro’s main transit station (called the Downtown Transfer Center) and connect with a bus destined for another part of the city. Until now, Sun Metro could only guess how many of their riders came from Mexico.

[Read more…] about CIITR Applies Technology to Help Sun Metro, Businesses Better Understand Customer Mobility

Filed Under: Blog, Featured News, News Tagged With: Bluetooth, bus, destination, El Paso, MAC, Media Access Control, O-D, operations, origin, pattern, Sun Metro, technology, travel, Wi-Fi

Applying Technology to Make Border Crossings Quicker, Safer for Trucks

March 8, 2019

by Dan Middleton and Swapnil Samant

The same innovation that could let your car talk to others in the near future could also reduce the time you wait for your new television or fresh produce by making truck safety inspections at the U.S.-Mexico border quicker and more thorough. [Read more…] about Applying Technology to Make Border Crossings Quicker, Safer for Trucks

Filed Under: Blog, Featured News, News Tagged With: Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research, CIITR, connected, CV, dedicated short range communication, DPS, DSRC, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, FMCSA, inspection, OBU, on-board units, safety, semi-truck, Texas Department of Public Safety, vehicle

A New, Web-Based Platform to Alleviate Cross-Border Traffic Congestion

June 14, 2018

by Swapnil Samant

If you’ve ever visited the Texas-Mexico border during peak crossing times, you know a lot of time is spent waiting to cross. And, as the old saying goes, time is money. That’s particularly true for shippers moving goods and manufacturing materials from point A in Mexico to point B in the United States. [Read more…] about A New, Web-Based Platform to Alleviate Cross-Border Traffic Congestion

Filed Under: Blog, Featured News, News Tagged With: border, commuter, congestion, El Paso, freight fluidity, Juarez, Mexico, mobility, online, pollution, portal, realiable travel time, shipping, tourism, traffic volume, U.S., U.S. Customs and Border Protection, United States, vehicle count, wait time

CIITR Team Leverages Technology to Improve Bus Service Operations

April 13, 2018

by David Galicia

Just about everyone these days is connected to the world at large—thanks to technology. It’s because of that technology that our smartphones have the ability to help El Paso’s Sun Metro (the city’s public transportation service) and city planners make the best choices about new routes, additional stops, and other transit decisions that could improve system efficiency in the most cost-effective way possible. That helps cities like El Paso stretch finite resources and public tax dollars to achieve the greatest return on investment for their constituents. [Read more…] about CIITR Team Leverages Technology to Improve Bus Service Operations

Filed Under: Blog, Featured News Tagged With: Bluetooth, bus, El Paso, MAC, Media Access Control, OD, operations, origin-destination, pattern, Sun Metro, technology, travel, Wi-Fi

Taking Border Performance to the Next Level

February 7, 2018

by Sushant Sharma

In the transportation research business, we use the term “performance measurement” when we measure how a certain aspect of our transportation system is operating. For example, through crash reporting we can tell you with certainty how safe a road is operating, or, through commute times, how well traffic is flowing. Safety and mobility of a roadway are fairly easy to determine. [Read more…] about Taking Border Performance to the Next Level

Filed Under: Blog, Featured News Tagged With: border, border crossing, congestion, El Paso, extreme event, freight, land port of entry, LPOE, performance measure, shipper, traffic, traffic flow, trend

Cell Phones Can Help to Improve Traffic Safety—No, Really

May 22, 2017

by Alfredo Sanchez

With the recent emphasis in Washington on the need to improve U.S. infrastructure, agencies responsible for maintaining bridges and roadways are feeling the pressure to make timely repairs. But maintenance costs money, and the way we’ve always done things just isn’t as affordable as it used to be. [Read more…] about Cell Phones Can Help to Improve Traffic Safety—No, Really

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: app, bridge, cost-effectiveness, data management, GPS, maintenance, roadway, safety

Making Pedestrians, Bicyclists a Priority at the Border

November 18, 2016

by Alfredo Sanchez

Like motorists, pedestrians crossing the border at all four El Paso international bridges are experiencing longer crossing times. For example, 550,000 people crossed the border by foot just in the first quarter of 2014.
[Read more…] about Making Pedestrians, Bicyclists a Priority at the Border

Filed Under: Blog, Featured News, News Tagged With: app, bicyclist, border, CBP, El Paso, Mexico, pedestrian, security, smartphone, traveler information, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S.-Mexico Border, United States, wait time

Pope Visit Creates Few Traffic Problems: No Miracle, Just Good Planning

October 13, 2016

by Sushant Sharma and David Galicia
When a major event attracts tens of thousands of visitors to a community, the transportation network is sometimes negatively impacted near that event. The ripple effect can often be felt across the entire transportation system. We and other researchers with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research (CIITR) had a unique opportunity to study one of the biggest and historical events in the Paso Del Norte Region — the Pope’s visit to Ciudad Juarez area in April.
[Read more…] about Pope Visit Creates Few Traffic Problems: No Miracle, Just Good Planning

Filed Under: Blog, Featured News, News

« Previous Page
Next Page »
  • The State of Texas
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • State Expenditure Database
  • Statewide Search
  • State Auditor’s Office Hotline
  • TAMUS Risk, Fraud & Misconduct Hotline
  • Site Policies
  • Open Records Policy
  • Statutorily Required Reports
  • TTI Rules
  • Veterans
  • Equal Opportunity
  • COVID-19 Info
  • Jobs
Member of the Texas A&M University System

© 2023 Copyright Statement / Legal Notices and Policies

Comments, suggestions, or queries? Contact us!

Texas A&M Transportation Institute · 3135 TAMU · College Station, Texas 77843-3135

(979) 317-2000