The U.S. Department of Transportation will reward $435 million grants for 34 University Transportation Centers to help develop transportation projects that promote safety, innovation and efficiency.
The projects will focus on several areas, including identifying and mitigating cybersecurity risks, improving the mobility of disadvantaged people and mitigating the impact of extreme weather, a Feb. 21 DOT news release said.
“We are proud to support University Transportation Centers across the country that are developing cutting-edge technologies to improve our transportation systems for years to come,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said in the release. “With this investment, we’ll be able to support a new generation of leaders as they continue to pursue research that will usher in safer, cleaner and more accessible ways to get people where they need to go.”
University of Transportation Centers use education, research and technology transfer activities to advance transportation expertise and technology, the release said.
“The work performed by our next generation of diverse transportation researchers at these Centers will help the American people travel more safely, quickly and affordably,” Robert Hampshire, deputy assistant secretary for Research and Technology for the Department of Transportation, said in the release. “The Centers at these two- and four-year colleges and universities advance U.S. technology and expertise in the many disciplines comprising transportation through education, solutions-oriented research and technology transfer and the exploration and sharing of cutting-edge ideas and approaches.”
The Department of Transportation received 230 grant applications during the competition, the largest number of applications in the program’s 35-year history, according to the release. The program also received $90 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Program.
