Texas Transportation Researcher, Volume 46, Number 4, 2010 Page: 3
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Texas State Publications and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
TEXAS TRANSPORTATION RESEARCHER
Editorial 3Making Goode Sense
The Way Ahead with TTI
L ast year the David R. Goode National
Transportation Policy Conference
published Well Within Reach: American's
New Transportation Agenda. The bipartisan
conference, cochaired by former Secretaries of
Transportation Norman Mineta and Samuel
Skinner, suggested that without a fundamental
change in direction, our nation's transportation
system simply will not meet our future needs.
The Goode report recommends
10 principles to guide policy makers,
ranging from how to most efficiently
fund the system to how to streamline
its administration. Some hard decisions
will have to be made. For example,
according to the report, the gas tax
alone cannot sustain the level of In 1966, wh
investment we need as a nation. Failure Department o
to properly maintain and innovate our Lyndon Johns
transportation system will hinder our the U.S. transpSince 9/11, securing our transportation
infrastructure has become a national priority,
other factors like construction costs, maintain
traffic flow and privacy issues must also be ta
into account. We need to improve maintenanc
to our infrastructure, but at what cost to the
environment? And while the research agenda
we're given is often reactive in nature - inter
to solve problems reported by current users o
the system - we must remember that training
tomorrow's experts is at least as important as
meeting today's challenges.
productivity, hamper the economic
opportunity afforded to rural areas,
and compound congestion issues in
our larger cities. One way or another,
users of our transportation system will
pay for it - whether through a user fee
(as proposed by the report) applied to
improved maintenance and innovative
solutions to transportation challenges
or through "inefficiencies in time,
money and safety," the results of an
underfunded network.-~ _ _ nrstutr
Securi
- 4 'en he created the U.S.
f Transportation, President
n pointed out that while
ortation system was theenvy of the world at that
time, it was already becoming
inadequate to the nation's
)ut needs. Congestion, urban
ng planning issues, lack of
ken proper maintenance - these
e he cited as growing problems
even then.
These issues are still with
ded us, and they're getting worse.
f The Goode report says that we
'g need to address these issues
honestly, realistically and as a
nation. We need policies that
facilitate solutions, policies
founded on reliable research data.
In this issue of the Texas
Transportation Researcher, we profile
how the Texas Transportation Institute
(TTI) is providing innovative solutions
to transportation challenges in four
areas: infrastructure, security, workforce
development and the environment. If
you boil down the Goode report, it's
really about adopting a common-sense,
balanced approach to meeting our
country's transportation needs.TTI keeps that philosophy in mind
when conducting research. Since
9/11, securing our transportation
infrastructure has become a national
priority, but other factors like
construction costs, maintaining traffic
flow and privacy issues must also be
taken into account. We need to improve
maintenance to our infrastructure,
but at what cost to the environment?
And while the research agenda we're
given is often reactive in nature -
intended to solve problems reported by
current users of the system - we must
remember that training tomorrow's
experts is at least as important as
meeting today's challenges.
At TTI, we're dedicated to the idea
of finding reasonable solutions to
complicated problems. It just makes
good sense.I
by Dennis Christiansen
Agency Director
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas Transportation Institute. Texas Transportation Researcher, Volume 46, Number 4, 2010, periodical, 2010; College Station, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth575812/m1/3/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.