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Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced it will provide more than $18.7 million in grants to 11 University Transportation Centers (UTCs) to help develop various transportation technologies. The USDOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) will issue the grants.

UTCs that are developing rail-related technologies include the:
• Infrastructure Technology Institute at Northwestern University, which will receive a $3.3 million grant to extend experimental work in monitoring the health of commuter-rail and rapid transit infrastructure through partnerships with the Chicago Transit Authority and MTA Metro-North Railroad;
• National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education at the University of Wisconsin, which will receive a $3.2 million grant to help fund research on a range of freight-related issues, including multi-modal efficiency, transportation policy, traffic analysis, air quality and public health, sustainable construction materials and processes, the economic impacts of goods movements, and increased capacity of freight- and passenger-rail systems;
• Eastern Seaboard Intermodal Transportation Applications Center at Hampton University, which will receive a $463,400 grant to enhance regional intermodal transportation systems by improving safety and efficiency, and minimizing environmental impacts to address growth in the region’s rail, marine port, interstate highway and airport infrastructure needs; and
• Michigan Ohio University Transportation Center, a consortium of five universities that will receive a $462,900 grant to examine the impact of multiple proposed transportation projects on a “mega-region” involving southeast Michigan, northwest Ohio and southwest Ontario.

RITA provides $81 million annually to 136 universities conducting transportation research and supports transportation infrastructure management training through the UTC program.