NEXTRANS receives $2.1 million federal transportation research grant
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The NEXTRANS Center at Purdue University has been awarded a $2.1 million research grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop solutions to transportation challenges by capturing the interactions between vehicle, traveler and infrastructure.
The Purdue grant is part of $13.8 million in funding announced by the transportation department last month for eight University Transportation Centers (UTC) to advance research and education programs designed to address the nation's critical transportation challenges.
This NEXTRANS grant was matched with $2.1 million in additional funding from partners of the Purdue-led center. It also is separate from the DOT's $2 million annual operating grant for NEXTRANS.
"Through an integrated interdisciplinary outlook, NEXTRANS is developing solutions that leverage limited resources to address multiple goals in the transportation and logistics contexts while preparing students for the future transportation work force," said Srinivas Peeta, director of NEXTRANS and a Purdue civil engineering professor.
The awards were made by the DOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). UTCs conduct research that directly supports the Department of Transportation's priorities and are a critical part of the national transportation strategy.
"By investing in research at our nation's universities, we are helping to address today's transportation needs while we train tomorrow's transportation professionals," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Funding also was awarded to transportation research centers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; the universities of California-Berkeley, Maryland, Michigan, Tennessee and Vermont; and a consortium of nine institutions from five states for the Southeastern Transportation Center.
"Sound science and rigorous analysis provide a solid foundation for the development of transportation policy," RITA administrator Peter H. Appel said. "The UTC program plays a key role in supporting collaborative research and transportation work force development that will help us create a truly 21st century transportation system."
NEXTRANS, launched with $13 million in total funding in 2006, is focused on integrating three overall areas: mobility, safety and infrastructure renewal, with an emphasis on developing an "intermodal transportation system," meaning a system that efficiently coordinates the movement of freight and passengers using a combination of highways, rail, airports, waterways and pipelines.
Researchers are working toward applying technologies and developing strategies to alleviate congestion by pursuing short-term goals that strive to use the current infrastructure more efficiently and long-term goals of improving highways and other elements of the transportation infrastructure.
The center, which is administered by Purdue's Discovery Park, is one of 10 university transportation centers in the nation's 10 federal transportation regions. NEXTRANS covers the U.S. Department of Transportation's Region V, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
NEXTRANS is led by Purdue with major partnerships with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Ohio State University. The center's non-university partners include the departments of transportation for Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, along with state Local Technical Assistance programs and Ports of Indiana within the public sector. The Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, NAVTEQ, Delphi, Motorola and SemMaterials are among NEXTRANS' private-sector partners.
UTCs maintain vital partnerships with regional, state and local transportation agencies to help find solutions to challenges impacting their local communities. In addition, RITA's UTC Program is now leading the efforts to develop a National Transportation Workforce Development Strategy to ensure the nation has access to a diverse, multidisciplinary and highly skilled work force capable of meeting the needs of a 21st century transportation system.
RITA provides $81 million in annual funding to 136 colleges and universities that conduct transportation research and offer the training needed to manage today's modern transportation infrastructure through the UTC Program. UTC colleges and universities trained 32,000 practicing transportation professionals in 2009.
Media Contacts: Andrea McIntyre, 765-496-9734, andream@purdue.edu
Kim Riddle, 202-366-5128, Kim.Riddle@dot.gov
Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu
Source: Srinivas Peeta, 765-496-9729, peeta@purdue.edu