The Center for Transportation Research (CTR) is a research center affiliated with the Cockrell School of Engineering's Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. CTR is a research institution focused on transportation research and education.

Summary

The Center for Transportation Research (CTR) conducts transportation research and provides educational opportunities for students of the University of Texas, including summer internships. The Center's primary research has been in such topics as concrete,

materials Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geologic ...

research, pavement rehabilitation, bridge design,

transportation planning Transportation planning is the process of defining future policies, goals, investments, and spatial planning designs to prepare for future needs to move people and goods to destinations. As practiced today, it is a collaborative process that i ...

and administration, modeling and

forecasting Forecasting is the process of making predictions based on past and present data. Later these can be compared (resolved) against what happens. For example, a company might estimate their revenue in the next year, then compare it against the actual ...

sustainable transportation Sustainable transport refers to ways of transportation that are sustainable in terms of their social and environmental impacts. Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used for road, water or air transport; the ...

, and technological innovations. In any given year, CTR administers more than 100 research projects and interagency contracts with combined budgets exceeding $13 million. Approximately 45 faculty researchers and 10 professional researchers work at CTR. Approximately 60 graduate and undergraduate students (full-time equivalency) participate in the university's transportation program. Currently there are eight transportation research faculty. University of Texas students pursuing masters or doctoral degrees perform much of the hands-on research. In addition to its own staff researchers, the center partners with other affiliated UT research centers, including Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory, the International Center for Aggregates Research, the Center for Electromechanics, the

Construction Industry Institute The Construction Industry Institute (CII), based at The University of Texas at Austin, is a non-profit consortium of more than 130 owner, engineering-contractor, and supplier firms from both the public and private arenas. The group aims to enhanc ...

, the Construction Materials Research Group, and the Center for Research in Water Resources. Researchers also participate in joint studies with

Texas Transportation Institute The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) in Bryan/College Station, Texas is a transportation research agency in the United States. The institute was created in 1950, primarily in response to the needs of the Texas Highway Department (now th ...

and other universities. Most of CTR's current research projects are sponsored by the

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway syste ...

(TxDOT) Research and Technology Implementation Office. Other sponsors of research include the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Science Foundation (NSF),

North Central Texas Council of Governments The North Central Texas Council of Governments or NCTCOG is a voluntary association of governments in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Its ranks currently include 230 member governments including 16 counties, numerous cities, school districts, ...

(NCTCOG), Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO),

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, officially stylized as CapMetro, is a public transportation provider located in Austin, Texas. It operates bus, paratransit services and a commuter rail system known as the Capital MetroRail in ...

, and the City of Austin. Each year, CTR holds an annual symposium where transportation professionals present research results and discuss ongoing projects.

History

CTR was formed in 1979 by the merging of the Center for Highway Research (established in 1963 as an administrative unit of the College of Engineering) and the Council for Advanced Transportation Studies (established in 1972 as a multidisciplinary transportation research and educational organization). Directors * 1963-1979: Clyde Lee (established the Center for Highway Research) * 1980-1999: B. Frank McCullough * 1999-2012: Randy B. Machemehl, who also serves as Associate Director of the Southwest Region University Transportation Center headquartered at Texas A&M University * 2012–2018: Chandra Bhat * 2018-present: Amit Bhasin

Programs

CTR programs include the Austin and Dallas InterAgency Contract (IAC) projects, the Network Modeling Center, the Intercity Passenger and High-Speed Rail project, Mega-Region Freight, the Laredo Border Master Plan, the Advanced Institute for Transportation Infrastructure Engineering and Management, the Cooperative Research Program, the Texas Pavement Preservation Center, the Southwest Region University Transportation Center, the Strategic Research Program, and the Superpave Asphalt Technology Program.

Library

The CTR Library is a

special library A special library is a library that provides specialized information resources on a particular subject, serves a specialized and limited clientele, and delivers specialized services to that clientele. Special libraries include corporate librari ...

with a focus on transportation research. It primarily collects reports and products from government-funded transportation research as well as other materials that support research at the

and at the Center for Transportation Research. The library's collection includes reports and other publications from TxDOT and research programs at other State departments of transportation, the Southwest Regional University Transportation Center (SWUTC), the

Transportation Research Board The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is a division of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, formerly the National Research Council of the United States, which serves as an independent adviser to the President of the Uni ...

, the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

, and other agencies involved with research in

transportation engineering Transportation engineering or transport engineering is the application of technology and scientific principles to the planning, functional design, operation and management of facilities for any mode of transportation in order to provide for t ...

. Its materials and services are also available to the general public. The library operates as the TxDOT Research and Technology Implementation Office's library (TxDOT Research Library). It serves as an official repository for reports and other deliverables from the TxDOT cooperative research program (reports from all involved universities) and provides reference services, library material loans, and report distribution services to TxDOT staff. The library is a member of the Wester
Transportation Knowledge Network
(WTKN). The library is not a member of

Online Computer Library Center OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was ...

(OCLC); its holdings are not listed in

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OC ...

. As of January 2012, the library lists almost 22,000 items in its catalog.

Awards

CTR researchers have received awards from various transportation groups including the Transportation Research Board (TRB), Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS), Eno Transportation Foundation’s Leadership Development Conference, National Highway Institute,

, the Texas chapter of

Intelligent Transportation Society of America The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) is a Washington, D.C. based membership and advocacy group for the development and deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in the United States. ITS America was estab ...

(

ITS America The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) is a Washington, D.C. based membership and advocacy group for the development and deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in the United States. ITS America was estab ...

), the Structural Engineers Association of Texas, and the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

(ASCE).

External links

Center for Transportation ResearchSouthwest Region University Transportation CenterWestern Transportation Knowledge Network

References

{{Reflist, 30em Organizations based in Austin, Texas University of Texas at Austin Transportation in Austin, Texas