[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 67 (Thursday, May 25, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E857]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE TEXAS TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NICK LAMPSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 25, 2000

  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, it has recently come to my attention that 
this year, the Texas Transportation Institute will mark a historic 
occasion. For more than 50 years, the Texas Transportation Institute 
has conducted applied research in all modes of transportation and 
transferred the results to the public and private sectors, enhancing 
transportation safety, efficiency and sustainability and I would like 
to take this opportunity to congratulate Director Herbert H. Richardson 
and the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI).
  Looking back on the history of the Institute gives us an interesting 
perspective on how far we've come in terms of transportation and 
technological advances. I was interested to note that some of the 
earliest safety research performed by TTI was to develop safer roadside 
structures, including breakaway supports and impact attenuation 
systems. One of the first real-world tests of a breakaway sign occurred 
in my congressional district in September 1965 when a driver lost 
control of his vehicle and skidded into an ``EXIT'' sign on IH-10 near 
Beaumont. Less than 24 hours before the accident, the local THD 
maintenance force had placed the TTI-designed slip base and hinge sign 
support in place of the old fixed one. In this accident, the driver and 
passenger escaped uninjured, and the vehicle sustained only minor 
damage. Less than a year earlier, a driver hit the same sign, then 
mounted on a standard base, and was killed. Today, highway safety is 
still an issue of major concern and I am pleased that TTI has continued 
to develop technological advances, such as the ADIEM crash cushion, to 
make our nation's roads and highways safer. I am certain that there are 
many Americans who owe their lives to the development of this 
technology, which is now in use in nearly 40 states. Dr. Richardson and 
the Institute can certainly be proud of the work.
  In the 1950's, Dean of the College of Engineering, Fred Benson was 
quoted in the Daily Eagle as saying ``The Institute intends to assemble 
a group of men at this college with a thorough knowledge of all types 
of transportation. These men . . . will provide a forum for analyzing 
and discussing problems [and] will outline and guide our research 
program and provide high level education to mature students with an 
interest in transportation.'' Given the fact that TTI employs about 570 
people--275 professionals, 105 support staff and 190 students, divided 
about evenly between graduate and undergraduate students, is home to 
four National Research Clearinghouses and eight National Research 
Centers, and has urban laboratories in every major metropolitan area in 
the state, I am certain that Dr. Benson would indeed be very proud of 
the men and women of TTI and their many accomplishments. 
Congratulations and best wishes for the next 50 years.

                          ____________________