The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) was recently successful in three proposals which will usher in an era of partnerships to improve transportation safety, rural transit and railway safety.
According to TTI Director of External Initiatives Melissa Tooley, the three proposals will be two-year projects and were part of a competition for the University Transportation Centers (UTC) program.
“We participated in two of the three tiers that were designated to be part of the program,” said Tooley. “Even though we were not reauthorized for the Southwest Region University Transportation Center, we partnered in three tier 1 proposals and were successful on all three.”
The three new UTCs are:
Center for Advancing Transportation Leadership and Safety (ATLAS)
Lead Institution: University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
Partner: TTI
Focus area: Transportation Safety
TTI lead: Robert Wunderlich
National Center for Transit Research (NCTR)
Lead Institution: University of South Florida
Partners: TTI, University of Illinois at Chicago and Florida International University
Focus area: Livable Communities
TTI lead: Linda Cherrington
University Transportation Center for Railway Safety (UTCRS)
Lead Institution: The University of Texas-Pan American
Partners: TTI, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Focus area: Transportation Safety
TTI lead: Gary Fry
“Each one of these tier 1 proposals is totally different in focus and all bring something unique and innovative to the table,” said Tooley. “The proposals give us the opportunity to build collaborative relationships and build joint programs with our partnering institutions and universities.”