Description: "Rural and small urban transit systems in Texas will become even more important with predicted changes in population trends. Rural demographic trends indicate growth in the number of persons age 65 and over coupled with a decrease in population density. Small urban area trends indicate substantial population growth and broadened geographic boundaries, yet resources to provide rural and small urban transit are limited. Therefore, transit managers find it is increasingly important to maximize service efficiency and effectiveness. The purpose of this research was to identify peer groups, performance benchmarks, and strategies used by successful transit providers to achieve high performance. The research project identifies peer groups based on the transit environment within which each agency operates, so that agencies can be compared to other operators who face similar environments. Peer group effectiveness and efficiency performance are examined within and between rural and urban peer groups, and high performers are identified for case studies. Through the case studies, key attributes are identified for achieving high operating efficiency and/or effectiveness. Performance strategies are categorized to provide transit providers with transferrable information to improve performance and increase the return on transit investment."

Description: The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) primarily uses simultaneous preemption of traffic signals near highway-rail grade crossings to clear queued vehicles prior to the arrival of a train at the crossing. At some intersections, 20 seconds of advanced warning may not be sufficient to allow the traffic signal to clear pedestrians using the normal clearance intervals between phases. The research developed an alternative method (non-vital advance preemption) of ensuring adequate pedestrian clearance in the presence of an approaching train without interfering with the normal preemption sequence at the intersection or installing costly additional track circuitry needed to provide advance preemption. Two strategies were investigated to ensure pedestrian clearance time. The first utilizes a lower-level preemption sequence to guarantee full pedestrian clearance to a terminating phase before the traffic signal starts the preemption sequence. The second strategy uses the pedestrian-omit feature to prevent the controller from activating the pedestrian interval if there is not sufficient time in advance of the start of the preemption sequence to provide full pedestrian clearance.

Description: "This report summarizes the delivery and outcome of a series of workshops conducted at 23 Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) districts across the state on corridor management and preservation in Texas. The workshops served as follow-up implementation work for research project 0-5606, "Creating Partnerships with Local Communities to Manage and Preserve Corridors." The report provides an overview of the project and documents the dates, locations, and attendance of workshops implemented during the three-year project period."

Description: Highway safety is an ongoing concern for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). As part of its proactive commitment to improving highway safety, TxDOT is moving toward including quantitative safety analyses earlier in the project development process. To assist in achieving this goal, TxDOT research project 0-4703 developed the Roadway Safety Design Workbook for engineers responsible for highway geometric design. This Workbook describes quantitative safety relationships for specific design components known to be correlated with crash frequency. As part of TxDOT Project 0-4703, a series of workshops were developed to share safety information with TxDOT roadway designers. Information in the Workbook was used as the basis for the workshops. The workshops addressed rural highways, urban streets, and freeways. They included a mixture of classroom discussion and hands-on training activities for the participants. The participants indicated that the information presented in the workshops will be beneficial as they make decisions about highway safety improvements.

Description: This reports objective was to develop a global approach that would reduce the level of uncertainty associated with unknown foundations.