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Photo for visual interest. Seven lanes of vehicles wait at the U.S.-Mexico border crossing station. The station has several booths, and the overhead sign reads

A SWUTC research project focused on efforts to reduce truck traffic at the border.

Southwest Region University Transportation Center (SWUTC)

Description

TTI serves as the lead agency for the Southwest Region University Transportation Center (serves Federal Region 6), funded jointly by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) and the State of Texas. SWUTC is one of the 10 regional and several other designated centers of the University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program.

SWUTC was established at The Texas A&M University System in October 1988 as a center for transportation research and education. The center is comprised of a consortium of three universities within Region 6:

Mission

The theme for SWUTC is "Transportation Solutions to Enhance Prosperity and the Quality of Life." To put this theme into operation, the center's scientists, engineers, and students focus their research expertise upon advancing four strategic thrusts for Region 6:

  • support economic growth and trade;
  • enhance mobility, accessibility, and efficiency;
  • promote safety and safe environment; and
  • develop the transportation workforce.

Expertise

National leaders in transportation research and education serve on the Executive Committee, the governing body of SWUTC. Highly qualified transportation researchers and educators from the member institutions serve as principal investigators and classroom teachers. These transportation professionals recruit high-quality undergraduate and graduate students to participate in the educational, research, and technology transfer activities of SWUTC.

Researchers produce usable results in such areas as improving transportation activities along the Texas-Mexico border; innovative transit service programs; dynamic travel demand management; development of new solutions to realize safe communities; and educational outreach programs to build a diverse transportation workforce for the 21st century.

As part of its education effort, SWUTC supports Advanced Institutes that are integrated into established degree-granting university departments at Texas A&M University and The University of Texas at Austin. Additionally, SWUTC supports the academic enrichment of a well-developed transportation studies program at Texas Southern University. SWUTC seeks to enhance these programs by strengthening the multidisciplinary qualities of a body of transportation science that will prepare today's students for leadership in tomorrow's transportation industry.

Research Initiatives

The research program at SWUTC continues to be the largest component in the SWUTC program. SWUTC pursues a modally balanced transportation research program between transit, highway, and multimodal projects. The products of this research promote a transportation system in Region 6 that is sustainable in terms of the level and quality of transportation services, the resources commanded, the environment affected, and the quality of life supported.

Visit the SWUTC Research Program page for information about current and previously funded projects.

Research Results

SWUTC has created some notable successes:

  • increased quality and quantity of students entering transportation curricula;
  • graduated and placed skilled professionals in transportation agencies, companies, and faculties;
  • developed research solutions that have supported transportation policies and programs; and
  • implemented pilot studies in transit, highway, rail, and intermodal to increase the resource base of other transportation programs.

Using its modal advisory task forces, research project monitors selected from transportation operating agencies, and a variety of implementation techniques, SWUTC pursues an active technology transfer program. In addition to transportation industry workshops and other focal points of information exchange, SWUTC encourages its individual investigators to produce and disseminate research results in technical reports, scholarly papers, and professional presentations.

Visit the SWUTC Published Technical Reports page for a listing of available SWUTC publications.

Related Articles

For more information about this research center, see the article in the Texas Transportation Researcher entitled Southwest University Transportation Center celebrates 15 years of success.

For More Information

Barb Lorenz
Southwest Region University Transportation Center
Texas Transportation Institute
Texas A&M University System
3135 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3135
ph. (979) 845-5815 · fax (979) 845-9761
b-lorenz@tamu.edu
Web Site
http://swutc.tamu.edu

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