U.S. DOT grants $18.7 Million in Transportation Research Grants in 11 States

U.S. Department of Transportation will grant more than $18.7 million to 11 University Transportation Centers (UTCs) that are using new technologies and developing innovative approaches to improve transportation systems throughout the country. The awards were made by the U.S. DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). UTCs conduct research that directly supports Department's priorities and are a critical part of the national transportation strategy. The largest grant when to the Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI) at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., which will use its $3,324,400 grant to extend experimental work in monitoring the health of the infrastructure of rapid transit and commuter railroad structures through partnerships with the Chicago Transit Authority and Metro North Railroad in New York. ITI will also continue long-term studies of bridge performance, combining measurements of live loads, predictions of structural responses, and measurements of actual structural response. Funds will also allow for the expansion of an already successful infrastructure summer institute for high school students. A full list of grant recipients can be viewed at http://www.dot.gov/affairs/index.html. RITA provides $81 million in annual funding to 136 colleges and universities conducting transportation research and providing the training needed to manage today's transportation infrastructure through the UTC program. UTC colleges and universities trained 32,000 practicing transportation professionals in 2009. More information about the UTC program can be found at http://utc.dot.gov/.