Speakers
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Allie Isbell AICPAssistant Director | Houston-Galveston Area CouncilAllie Isbell is an Assistant Director for the Transportation Department of the Houston-Galveston Area Council, which serves as the region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization. In this role, Ms. Isbell’s responsibilities include coordination among program areas and with groups of stakeholders in order to lead transportation planning efforts throughout the eight-county metropolitan planning area.
Allie is a transportation planner with experience in both the public and private sectors. She has prepared transportation plans and studies throughout the Houston region, including long-range strategic and facility development plans for ports, airports, and highway distribution networks, in addition to mobility studies, signal timing coordination, special districts planning, and bicycle facility planning.
Allie holds a B.S. in Urban & Regional Sciences and a Master of Urban Planning from Texas A&M University. She is a member of the American Planning Association and is a certified planner with the American Institute of Certified Planners. -
Phil Lasley PhD, AICP, PMPDivision Head - Data Science & Visualization, Research Scientist | Texas A&M Transportation InstituteDr. Phil Lasley is a Research Scientist and Division Head of the Data Science & Visualization division at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. He leads data science, analytics, and application development efforts for a wide range of sponsors. With over 15 years of experience in policy and mobility analysis, Dr. Lasley partners with federal, state, and local transportation agencies to turn complex data into clear insights and practical tools that support smarter, data-driven decisions.
In addition to his research, Dr. Lasley also moonlights as an adjunct lecturer in Multidisciplinary Engineering and in Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University.
Local Time
- Timezone: America/New_York
- Date: Sep 17 2026
- Time: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
From Insight to Investment: Using Data to Drive Resilient Transportation Decisions: Bridging Data, Policy, and Planning to Guide Transportation Investment Decisions
As transportation needs continue to evolve, agencies must make investment decision to make investment decisions that balance mobility, safety, resilience, environmental stewardship, and fiscal responsibility. At the same time, the volume of available transportation data – from traffic and freight movement to land-use trends, travel demand, and asset condition-continues to expand. The challenge is no longer access to data; it is converting information into actionable investment decisions.
From Insight to Investment: Using Data to Drive Resilient Transportation Decisions brings together leaders from TxDOT, TTI, and H-GAC to examine how agencies and research institutions are bridging data, policy, and planning to prioritize transportation investments. The panel will explore practical examples of performance-based planning, corridor analysis, freight and multimodal evaluation, scenario modeling, and regional coordination that have informed funding priorities and project development.
Discussion topics include:
• Turning large and diverse datasets into decision-ready information
• Connecting findings with policy and programming decisions
• Aligning statewide objectives with regional and local transportation needs
• Using data-driven strategies to improve resilience, reliability, and long-term system performance
• Building trust and transparency through collaborative planning processes
Panelists will share lessons learned from real-world applications and discuss the institutional, technical, and communication challenges that arise when integrating analytics into transportation decision-making. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how data, research, policy, and planning can work together to support resilient transportation investments and more effective infrastructure outcomes across Texas.
