In this clip from the new episode of the Thinking Transportation Podcast from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), Rafael Aldrete, director of TTI’s Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research and Jeff Shelton, manager of TTI’s Multi-Resolution Modeling Program, discuss the challenges of managing international truck traffic.
Listen the full episode at the Thinking Transportation Podcast home page or on your favourite streaming service as the experts take a deeper dive in to how international commerce depends on trucks crossing national borders regularly, reliably, and securely and look at what happens when a major conduit like The Bridge of the Americas is closed for updating. Where does that traffic go? And how can we keep those goods flowing without negatively impacting the surrounding community?
Guest info: Rafael Aldrete is a senior research scientist and director of TTI’s Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research (CIITR) in El Paso, Texas. Dr. Aldrete is nationally recognized for his expertise in value capture as a transportation funding mechanism and his contributions to optimizing cross-border transportation operations. His research focuses on delivering practical, innovative solutions related to cross-border transportation technology, infrastructure finance, and policy. Under his leadership, CIITR researchers have developed advanced applications–including intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and real-time border-crossing technologies–to improve efficiency and traffic operations along the U.S.-Mexico border using El Paso as a test bed. He is also a member of the Texas Border Trade Advisory Committee and chairs the World Road Association’s Technical Committee 1.3 on Finance and Procurement.
Guest info: Jeff Shelton is a senior research scientist and manages TTI’s Multi-Resolution Modeling Program in El Paso, Texas. He specializes in large-scale simulation-based modeling, traffic operations, and roadway safety. He is a leading expert in multi-resolution modeling, developing tools that integrate regional mesoscopic and microscopic simulation models. He has applied this ground-breaking methodology in several successful applications including bi-national modeling of the El Paso/Juárez region and how extreme events impact cross-border traffic; strategies that manage freight in urban areas; and the impacts and challenges of technology on travel demand. Dr. Shelton is a member of the Transportation Research Board’s Network Modeling Committee and the International Society of Multiple Criteria Decision Making.
Main image: ©AdobeStock assisted with generative AI
