Products

Final Report
December 2013

The Final Report updates the key accomplishments of the Mobility Investment Priorities project funded by the 82nd Texas Legislature through Rider 42. Prominent take-aways from the effort highlighted combining innovation, technology, and analysis to approach solutions in a different way. The report updates the status of regional congestion reduction efforts and provides details on continuing activities and efforts in each region. Other elements of the report include economic benefits from congestion reduction projects, strategies for funding needed projects, assessments of IH 35 in Austin, and recommendation updates for public engagement in each region.

Economic & Congestion Benefit Evaluation
December 2013

Traffic congestion has been a significant problem in Texas' major metropolitan regions for many years, directly affecting the state's economic growth and quality of life. Developing an economic assessment of the benefits of high-priority congestion-reducing transportation projects is an important practice that ensures public investments are spent wisely.

The Economic & Congestion Benefit Evaluation provides an overview of benefits that result from transportation mobility improvements, offers a comparison of those benefits with the preliminary project cost estimates, and summarizes the benefit calculation methodology. Results for five congestion-reducing projects are presented in an executive summary format.

Long-Term Central Texas IH 35 Improvement Scenarios
August 2013

The MIP modeling analysis for IH 35 analyzes the "big picture" of travel patterns and congestion for IH 35—exploring scenarios that have been discussed by local stakeholders since the late 1990s but deemed infeasible for project-level study due to capital costs and other constraints.

3P Texas Style: Emerging Innovations for Mobility and Traffic Operations
August 2013

For the first time in over 100 years of Texas highway construction, unique private–public–partnership (3P) project delivery models are being employed to advance construction of much-needed mobility improvements by decades over traditional capabilities. How do these innovations become the new standard and is there additional room for more innovation?

This MIP report focuses on capturing innovations (practices, methods, techniques, and technology not typical to TxDOT projects) in mobility and traffic operations that have significant value for Texas' future metropolitan mobility projects.

Safety Assessment of Interstate 35, Austin, Texas (Travis County)
September 2013

Safety assessments for roadway corridors primarily evaluate "hot spots"—locations where crashes have occurred in close proximity to each other. For high traffic volume locations, the influence of congestion on corridor safety performance must be better understood. More reliable conclusions can be extracted by evaluating fatal and injury crashes in addition to total crashes over time.

This safety assessment report examines the IH 35 corridor in the metropolitan Austin region (Travis County). The included analyses provide insights into key safety issues on IH 35 and collectively provide a robust methodology to identify locations where future safety enhancement efforts should be focused.

Public Engagement Activities Update
May 2013

This report revisits the intent, goals and benchmarks outlined in the May 2012 report and examines current efforts by the individual study areas to assess progress to help agencies ensure that their public engagement activities are meaningful, credible, productive and successful.

First Year Report
August 2012

The First Year Report serves as an update to the Early Recommendations Report and presents the accomplishments of the first full year of activities funded through Rider 42 and the Mobility Investment Priorities project. This report identifies what next steps will be taken in the second year of the project and summarizes the current regional recommendations, congestion mitigation strategies, public engagement recommendations, and possible large projects that could be built.

This report was presented to the Texas Transportation Commission and the Texas Legislature on August 31, 2012.

Early Recommendations Report (The Rider 42 Project)
February 2012

The Early Recommendations Report identifies the initial results of TTI's activities to coordinate studies for project identification and prioritization in the four most congested areas of the state. By legislative direction, funding was allocated by the Texas Transportation Commission to the four metropolitan areas to support engineering, feasibility studies, and right-of-way acquisition on the state's 50 most congested corridors as appropriate for their current development stage.

This report was approved on February 23, 2012, by the Texas Transportation Commission.

Public Engagement Report
May 2012

Modern transportation projects in the state's most congested corridors should seek to obtain the biggest bang-for-the-buck. But for this to happen, the public must support both the project and the manner in which it will be financed. Voters—and the public in general—are more likely to support increased investment in the transportation system if they clearly recognize and understand the need for—and benefits of—that investment.

The Public Engagement Report examines the importance of effective public engagement, its place in transportation planning and development, and why transportation decision making must reflect the needs and opinions of the citizens that it will affect. The report reviews current regional engagement efforts, presents best practices and case examples, and offers recommendations to help agencies ensure that their public engagement activities are meaningful, credible, productive, and successful.

This report was presented to the Texas Transportation Commission on May 31, 2012.

Oak Hill Parkway Virtual Open House Report
July 2013

In the current fiscal environment, state planning and transportation agencies must proactively work with the public early in the development process to increase buy-in for major projects. The traditional methods of public engagement will always be an important part of the planning process, but discovering the effectiveness of emerging technologies is crucial to developing new best practices.

The Oak Hill Parkway Virtual Open House report summarizes a pilot initiative in Austin, Texas, that tested a new and technologically advanced approach to how public meetings are traditionally performed.

Assessing Economic Benefits of Walkability in Austin, Texas
September 2013

Transportation planners and decision makers promote neighborhood walkability in pursuit of smart growth goals, reduction in carbon-intensive travel, and increased public health. Despite broad support for the benefits of walkable communities, the links between walkability and economic outcomes, such as residential property values, are still poorly understood.

The Assessing Economic Benefits of Walkability in Austin, Texas, report investigates the impact of walkability on residential property values in Austin from 2010 through 2012. This research seeks to enable decision makers in maximizing the benefit of investments by promoting walkable communities and active transportation.

State Transportation Funding Initiatives Report
January 2013

Perhaps the best indicator of public support for transportation financing options is how well initiatives are received by the voting public.

The State Transportation Funding Initiatives (2008-2012) report summarizes the context on public support for federal transportation funding options and lists recent state initiatives both proposed and enacted to increase revenue directly for constructing new transportation infrastructure from 2008 to 2012.