University Transportation Center

About UTC

As authorized in the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 by the Federal government, the University Transportation Center program was created.  After a nationwide competition, US DOT awarded grants to create a UTC in each of the ten standard Federal regions.  The primary purpose of the program at that time was conducting research.

Reauthorizations of legislation, the most recent one being in 2015 through the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (Pub. L. No. 114-94), has provided long-term funding for surface transportation infrastructure planning, research and investment. The FAST Act authorized $305 million in spending from fiscal years 2016 through 2020 for the maintenance of existing and establishment of new initiatives in research, education and workforce development, and the facilitation of technology transfer. As part of its efforts to fulfill the FAST Act federal mandate, DOT hosted a grant competition which resulted in the announcement of 32 new UTC Centers in December of 2016.

Each UTC is a consortium of two- and four-year colleges and universities that come together to form a unique center of transportation excellence on a specific research topic. Together, they 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.

 

USDOT link: https://www.transportation.gov/utc

Awards

Click an award name to view details. 

Center for Integrated Asset Management for Multi-Modal Transportation Infrastructure Systems (CIAMTIS)

University of Delaware is pleased to be part of the team selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation to serve as the Region 3 University Transportation Center known as the Center for Integrated Asset Management for Multi-Modal Transportation Infrastructure Systems (CIAMTIS). In addition to the University of Delaware (UD), the team, led by Pennsylvania State University includes George Mason University, Lehigh University, Morgan State University, Penn State University – Altoona, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia University.

CIAMTIS will focus on three themes: 1) Application of innovative materials and technologies, 2) Condition assessment and health monitoring of existing infrastructure, and 3) Infrastructure management and innovative financing.  While specific research projects will be developed through a proposal projects, funding at UD is expected to support one graduate student fellowship and some modest education and outreach projects. The education and outreach projects include partial support for ArtsBridge (Lynnette Overby), the Annual Interuniversity Symposium on Infrastructure Management (AISIM) and the Advanced Infrastructure Management Bootcamp.

Two previous University Transportation Centers (UTC) have been funded at UD and three UTCs are currently funded at UD:

  • From 2006 to 2013 UD lead a Tier 2 center focused on Resiliency of Transportation Corridors;
  • From 2012 to 2016 we were part of the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) led by Rutgers as a Tier 1 Center;
  • From 2013-2018, UD has been a consortium member of the National Center at Rutgers.
  • From 2014 to 2019, UD has been part of the Mid-Atlantic Transportation Sustainability (MATS) UTC – the Region 3 center led by University of Virginia.
  • Since 2016, UD has partnered with University of Nevada and Virginia Tech as a Tier 1 University Transportation Center on Improving Rail Transportation Infrastructure Sustainability and Durability.

RailTEAM UTC

Lead Institution:

University of Las Vegas Nevada

 

Consortium Partners:

University of Delaware
Virginia Polytechnic Institute

 

Project Listing at the University of Delaware 

  • Tier 1 University Transportation Center on Rail Infrastructure (Rail Team)