It’s the best of both worlds as the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) join forces in redefining transportation for a connected and automated world.
The recently formed initiative, named the LINK Alliance, is a combined effort to collaborate on new transportation research connecting people, vehicles and roadways in a way that benefits safety, mobility and the environment.
TTI Research Scientist John Maddox, who is also an UMTRI researcher, leads the LINK Alliance. John notes that the group will use the strengths of each research institute — UMTRI in vehicle research and TTI in transportation infrastructure research — to undertake new and innovative projects.
“Both institutes are affiliated with top-tier research universities, which bring an incredibly broad and deep level of expertise in many transportation and related areas, as well as the innovative thinking and enthusiasm of students,” says Maddox. “This combination provides great value to government and private organizations, including original equipment manufacturers, and will facilitate the advancement of the transportation system as a whole.”
To kick off the LINK Alliance’s research efforts, UMTRI and TTI were awarded a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation in October 2013 to establish the Center for Advancing Transportation Leadership and Safety (ATLAS Center). The center sponsors research, education and technology transfer activities to find integrated, innovative solutions for transportation safety. Three of its early projects will focus on alcohol-impaired nighttime driving; child safety in cars; and reducing fatalities, injuries and societal costs of crashes involving heavy trucks.
