Centers will focus on 4 key research priorities with a total of nearly $5 million in grants

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation today announced $4.925 million in grants to fund four new Tier 1 University Transportation Centers (UTCs) to advance research and education programs that address critical transportation challenges facing our nation.  

“These investments in four new transportation research centers will help advance innovation and create new solutions to increase accessibility,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

Reflecting the popularity of the program, the Department received 67 grant applications for the four new Tier 1 UTCs for important and topical research.  From those applications, the Department selected:

•    Highly Automated Transportation Systems Research ($1.925 million) – OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY (in consortium with the University of California, Irvine, University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Cincinnati),
•    Communications Technology and E-Commerce Effects on Travel Demand ($1 million) – NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY (in consortium with the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Texas, Austin),
•    Implications of Accessible Automated Vehicles and Mobility Services for People with Disabilities ($1 million) – UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH (in consortium with the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, The Catholic University of America), and
•    Strategic Implications of Changing Public Transportation Travel Trends ($1 million) – GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (in consortium with the University of Tennessee, the University of Kentucky, and Brigham Young University)

“Researchers at these four new UTCs and their consortium members will address important 21st Century transportation topics,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Diana Furchtgott-Roth.  

Each UTC will conduct its research over the next 18 to 24 months. UTCs advance U.S. technology and expertise in the many modes and disciplines composing transportation and address workforce needs for the next generation of transportation leaders. A list of other UTC grantees is available here.