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University Transportation Centers

With each Federal authorization, USDOT creates and funds new research institutes through its University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program, which awards and administers grants to consortia of colleges and universities across the United States. The UTC Program advances the state-of-the-art in transportation research and technology, and develops the next generation of transportation professionals. The Congressionally-mandated program has been in place since 1987 to help address our Nation’s ever-growing need for the safe, efficient, and environmentally sound movement of people and goods.  Since the program's inception, Caltrans has provided an opportunity for the UTCs to use state funds for research contracts in order to meet it’s non-federal match obligations under the federal award.  DRISI works to match research needs in multiple disciplines with potential researchers at each UTC on an annual basis. 

 

The Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center (UTC)

The Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center (PSR UTC)is the Region 9 UTC funded under the US Department of Transportation’s University Transportation Centers Program. Established in 2016, the Pacific Southwest Region UTC (PSR) is led by the University of Southern California and includes nine partners: California State University, Long Beach, Northern Arizona University, Pima Community College, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Davis, University of California, Irvine, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Hawaii, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The Pacific Southwest Region (PSR) University Transportation Center (UTC) serves Region 9 with a comprehensive, integrated program of research, education and technology transfer built upon the priority needs of the region: 1) closing access gaps, 2) increasing sustainability and resilience of the goods movement system, and 3) expanding workforce opportunities. Region 9 includes Arizona, California, Hawai'i, Nevada, and the Pacific Territories. The region has enormous variation geographically, economically, and socially. It has the second largest metropolitan area in the US (Los Angeles), as well as vast tracts of rural lands. Income disparities are extreme, with concentrations of poverty in central cities as well as remote tribal communities. It includes the center for US maritime trade (the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach) and the inaccessible Pacific islands and territories. We identified five characteristics of Region 9 that frame our research program and inform our research themes.

  1. Uneven transportation access across our enormously divers region, particularly among transportation-disadvantaged travelers and communities
  2. Our region’s central role in global supply chains, and the growing risk of disruption to the supply chains
  3. Transportation’s central role in sustainability: reducing criteria emissions, meeting ambitious climate goals, and our region’s particular vulnerabilities to climate risks such as wildfires, sea level rise, drought, and extreme weather
  4. Our region’s role as the global center of the information and communications technology (ICT) revolution, which is transforming transportation
  5. The changing nature of transportation work, potentially placing hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk but creating new jobs as well
Contract Manager:
Kayo Lao
  Email: kayo.lao@dot.ca.gov
  Phone: (916) 387-5193
 
Related Documents:

The Mineta Consortium for Equitable, Efficient, and Sustainable Transportation (MCEEST)

The Mineta Consortium for Equitable, Efficient, and Sustainable Transportation (MCEEST), led by the Mineta Transportation Institute at San José State University, is a Tier 1 University Transportation Center funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R). With the U.S. population expected to reach 404 million in 2060 and the volume of transported goods expected to hit 28.7 billion tons by 2050, incremental improvements in mobility will not be enough. It is not an overstatement to say that transportation of people and goods is the cornerstone of our economy, but it is also at the core of human existence when we consider that transportation—the movement of people and goods—is connection. The difference between having and lacking mobility is the difference between having and lacking opportunity, not only economic opportunities but also educational, social, and, ultimately, opportunities to experience life. MCEEST’s research uses an evidence-based, people-focused approach that addresses the complex nature of today’s mobility challenges—connections to urban and rural regions, to our vulnerable communities, and to our planet as we fight the negative impacts of global climate change. MCEEST's Goal: Lead the nation in data-driven, human-centered research that delivers equitable, efficient, and sustainable transportation solutions that increase the mobility of people and goods and strengthen the nation’s economy and global competitiveness.

  • Objective 1: Create a safer, more reliable, and more resilient transportation system that improves equity through increased access to jobs, housing, services, and other opportunities for historically underserved communities.
  • Objective 2: Reduce transportation’s impact on climate change by identifying feasible alternative modes and effective ways to reduce vehicle miles traveled.
Contract Manager:
Kayo Lao
Email: kayo.lao@dot.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 387-5193
 
Related Documents:

The National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST)

The National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST)provides national leadership in advancing environmentally sustainable transportation through cutting-edge research, direct policy engagement, and education of our future leaders. The Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis (ITS-Davis) leads the NCST in partnership with California State University, Long Beach; Georgia Institute of Technology; Texas Southern University; the University of California, Riverside; the University of Southern California; and the University of Vermont.

The NCST addresses the challenge of accelerating reductions in greenhouse gas emissions while enhancing transportation equity. Our work contributes to the fundamental policy transformation essential to accelerating decarbonization in a way that ensures that the benefits of the transportation system are broadly distributed and that the well-being of people in overburdened and historically disadvantaged communities is substantially improved. To address these challenges, the NCST’s research, education, and engagement programs are organized around the following high-priority themes:

Contract Manager:

Kayo Lao
Email: kayo.lao@dot.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 387-5193

Related Documents:

Historical UTC Information

 

University Transportation Centers

The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act was signed into law on December 4, 2015, President Obama signed (Pub. L. No. 114-94) —the first federal law in over a decade to provide long-term funding certainty for surface transportation infrastructure planning and investment. The FAST Act authorizes $305 billion over fiscal years 2016 through 2020 for highway, highway and motor vehicle safety, public transportation, motor carrier safety, hazardous materials safety, rail, and research, technology, and statistics programs. The FAST Act maintains our focus on safety, keeps intact the established structure of the various highway-related programs we manage, continues efforts to streamline project delivery and, for the first time, provides a dedicated source of federal dollars for freight projects. With the enactment of the FAST Act, states and local governments are now moving forward with critical transportation projects with the confidence that they will have a federal partner over the long term.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” or “BIL”, was enacted in November 2021. The IIJA’s reauthorization of the UTC Program both sustains existing and establishes new and vital initiatives in transformational research, education and workforce development, and technology transfer that benefit the U.S. traveling public, freight movement, and the safety and efficiency of the U.S. transportation system. The program addresses concerns of climate change and environmental impacts caused by and affecting transportation systems and vulnerable communities, as well as issues of transportation accessibility and equity. These UTCs will concentrate their research in seven focus areas: 1. Improving Mobility of People and Goods; 2. Reducing Congestion; 3. Promoting Safety; 4. Improving the Durability and Extending the Life of Transportation Infrastructure; 5. Preserving the Environment; 6. Preserving the Existing Transportation System; and 7. Reducing Transportation Cybersecurity Risks. The program authorizes 35 UTC Centers (containing 5 National, 10 Regional, and 20 Tier 1 UTCs) to receive a total of $90 million in funding from each of Federal Fiscal Years 2022 to 2026.

Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act)

University Transportation Centers Homepages - Current UTCs under the FAST Act Transportation Bill