On March 5, 2025, the TBD Center hosted its Annual Meeting at The University of Texas at Austin, bringing together faculty, students, and collaborators from across our consortium. We were joined by officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation, including Dr. Firas Ibrahim, Mr. Caesar Singh, Mr. Thomas Saad, and Dr. Britain Bruner for a full day of conversations, presentations, and future planning.
The meeting provided an opportunity to reflect on progress across completed and ongoing efforts in research, education and workforce development, and technology transfer. We also shared key updates on our two flagship endeavors:
- Transportation Heartbeat of America (THA) Survey – The first wave of this national longitudinal survey is now complete. We shared initial results that offer early insights into how people’s travel behaviors, values, and perceptions are evolving.
- Travel Behavior Data (TBD) Hub – Our Data Hub continues to grow, and this meeting marked an exciting moment as we unveiled the brand-new dashboard, called The Mobility Dashboard (TMD), for the first time. The dashboard is designed to help visualize mobility trends from the American Time Use Survey data series in an accessible way.
TBD researchers and students also presented their work throughout the day, showcasing the creativity and dedication they bring to advancing the Center’s mission of understanding future travel behavior and demand. It was great to see their contributions recognized and actively discussed during the meeting.
To wrap up the day, the TBD management team outlined our plans moving forward — from upcoming research directions to enhanced collaboration and data-sharing efforts.
This Annual Meeting served as a valuable checkpoint for where we are and where we are headed — and it reinforced just how much energy and dedication there is across our network.
