CTR Programs

Annual Report

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Cooperative Research Program

The research conducted for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) remains the cornerstone of the CTR program; for any given year, CTR’s TxDOT program comprises more than 70 projects, excluding interagency and other informal agreements. These investigations span all the agency’s research areas and range from traditional subjects like pavements to the newer areas of intelligent transportation systems (ITS), air quality, and rail planning.

Southwest University Transportation Centers Program (SWUTC)

The Southwest University Transportation Center is one of fourteen centers of excellence established by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). The program is a vehicle for both innovative research and student support.

As the following table shows, SWUTC research tends to have a social or economic focus. This emphasis is due to the USDOT mandate that these items not duplicate other research being conducted; most other research is in hard materials such as pavement. Also, the majority of SWUTC projects are initiated by UT’s Civil Engineering faculty and by the School of Architecture and the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

SWUTC Reports Completed in FY 2007

An Investigation on the Environmental Benefits of a Variable Speed Control Strategy
Enhanced Freight Sketch Planning Tool for Assessing Multimodal Investment Strategies
A Comprehensive Analysis of Built Environment Characteristics on Household Residential Choice and Auto Ownership Levels
The Impact of Demographics, Built Environment Attributes, Vehicle Characteristics, and Gasoline Prices on Household Vehicle Holdings and Use
Can Transit-Oriented Developments Reduce Austin's Traffic Congestion?
Robust Design and Evaluation of Transportation Networks with Equilibrium Under Demand Uncertainty
Development of a Phase-by-Phase, Arrival-Based, Delay-Optimized Adaptive Traffic Signal Control Methodology with Metaheuristic Search
Characterizing Truck Traffic in the U.S.-Mexico Highway Trade Corridor and the Load Associated Pavement Damage

SWUTC is one of the very few funding sources that allow the researchers to generate the topics. Typically, the source of funds (i.e., the sponsor) presents a problem description and allocates funds to those research centers that indicate they can best provide a solution. SWUTC funds are used to fund the doctoral student program (all of CTR’s UTC funds go to the doctoral program) and the candidates’ work must be cutting edge, so UTC projects are usually quite innovative in nature.

Advanced Institute for Transportation Infrastructure Engineering and Management (AI)

The Advanced Institute is part of the SWUTC program. AI recruits, teaches, and mentors students entering the transportation field, with special emphasis placed on the quality and diversity of that professional pool. Its mission is to increase the number, quality, and diversity of professionals entering the transportation sector with its annual Undergraduate Summer Internship in Transportation. A high percentage of the Institute’s undergraduate fellows continue their studies in transportation research.

Texas Pavement Preservation Center (TPPC)

The Texas Pavement Preservation Center (TPPC) was officially established August 11, 2005 in joint partnership with CTR and the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) of Texas A&M University. TPPC is run by the same team that administered the Superpave Asphalt Technology Program. The 2007 Pavement Preservation Seminar will be held on October 8-9, 2007, at the Austin Convention Center, in conjunction with the 24th Annual Association of General Contractors of Texas Trade & Equipment Show.

Interagency Contracts (IAC)

During FY 2007, the Austin IAC program developed an analysis of the Austin arterial street system employing state-of-the-art modeling techniques. This effort establishes the base to develop recommendations to improve arterial functionality.

Through an IAC, CTR develops implementations based on research performed. CTR researchers will likely have more opportunities to assist TxDOT through IACs. During FY 2007, the contracted amount for the 22 IACs was nearly $3,000,000.

An example of an IAC is the Austin IAC, which is an agreement between CTR and the Austin District of TxDOT. CTR will provide technical assistance to the District with a series of identified tasks, serving in many respects as a staff extension. The contract has 12 major tasks, primarily related to construction management and traffic operations. Construction-related tasks include improving construction scheduling and estimating, and workload analysis. Traffic operations tasks include evaluation of ITS strategies and miscellaneous traffic studies.

Another IAC is the Dallas program, which assisted the Dallas District with its High Five Project, the single largest construction contract undertaken by TxDOT. CTR assisted TxDOT with various initiatives to improve the Lyndon Baines Johnson/Central Expressway Interchange in Dallas. The following photograph was taken during the construction, which was completed 13 months ahead of its original 60-month construction schedule.

The Dallas High Five Project tied for Texas Construction magazine’s Best of 2006 Award in Construction

The current Dallas IAC is a multi-faceted program that continues the technical assistance offered during major reconstruction projects and also includes technical services for other departments within the Dallas District. These services range from construction schedule monitoring to pavement forensic studies to economic impact analysis. Examples of systems and models to be developed include a lane closure guidance system, a traffic impacts model, a project development scheduling (PDS) system, 4D/CAD interchange models, and a constructability lessons-learned system.

Transportation Planning and Research

A subsidiary of the TxDOT Cooperative Research Program, this program conducts research for TxDOT specifically in the areas of transportation planning, borders, ports, economic issues, and container shipping.