by Okan Gurbuz
Restricting travel has proven vital to stemming the tide of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially early on. Less human contact in tight spaces means less exposure to the virus—that’s a given. But reduced contact also means reduced commerce, at least for businesses depending on in-person customers.
Roads, bridges, bike lanes and other transportation infrastructure are not free. Even so, enhancing our transportation system with projects like these can save significant dollars in the long run. As a transportation economist, calculating the cost benefits of a proposed project is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job.
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.
TTI Assistant Research Scientist David Galicia.
TTI Research Scientist Michael Walk.
Assistant Research Scientist David Galicia with TTI’s Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research and TTI Research Scientist Michael Walk discuss the feasibility study TTI conducted for El Paso to help regional authorities better meet the challenges of connecting local and county transit services to better meet the needs of residents who rely on those services for their everyday mobility. | View the Video
TTI Assistant Research Scientist David Galicia.
Assistant Research Scientist David Galicia with TTI’s Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research talks about using wireless technologies to help the city of El Paso determine how its citizens use the local transit services provided by Sun Metro. Better data will help the city apply transit resources efficiently when planning routes to ensure citizens receive the most benefit possible. | View the Video
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
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
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
Recently, TTI’s Center for International Integrated Transportation Research helped the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization successfully compete for a federal grant to develop an integrated corridor management concept of operations (ConOps) for a 16-mile corridor of IH-10. | Read More
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
