The Western Transportation Institute (WTI) is a center of rural transportation research and education, located in the College of Engineering at Montana State University in

Bozeman, MT Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of th ...

. The WTI was founded in 1994 as a collaboration between Montana State University, the

Montana Department of Transportation The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Montana, responsible for numerous programs related to the construction, maintenance, and monitoring of Montana's transportation infrastructure and operati ...

, and the

California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacr ...

, and is devoted to the improvement of transportation and travel in rural America.''Western Transportation Institute''. 17 May 2007. Montana State University. 24 May 200

The WTI has been affiliated with the

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

department at Montana State University since its inception, and the Institute has professional and student offices on the university's campus. Montana State University also leases the office space that house the WTI's primary off-campus facilities, which include meeting spaces, as well as state-of-the-art laboratories.

Affiliation with U.S. Department of Transportation

The Western Transportation Institute was established as a national University Transportation Center (UTC) by the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

in 1998, and was formally reauthorized as a UTC in 2005. As a UTC, the WTI is recognized as a federal transportation center whose specific focus area is mobility in rural transportation and travel.United States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Association. ''DOT University Transportation Centers (UTC).'' 23 May 2007. 24 May 200

The significance of the federal designation is summarized in the UTC's mission statement, which states that the program's objective is "to advance U.S. technology and expertise in the many disciplines comprising transportation through the mechanism of education, research, and technology transfer at university-based centers of excellence." Due to UTC designation, the WTI receives federal funding and its annual budget is more than $5 million.

Areas of research

The WTI does extensive research into eight primary areas related to rural travel and transportation; these areas are: *infrastructure maintenance and materials, *logistics and freight management, *mobility and public transportation, *

road ecology Road ecology is the study of the ecological effects (both positive and negative) of roads and highways (public roads). These effects may include local effects, such as on noise, water pollution, habitat destruction/disturbance and local air qualit ...

, *safety and operations, *systems engineering development and integration, *transportation planning and economics. *winter maintenance and effects,

References

External links

*Research and Innovative Technology Association (http://www.rita.dot.gov/publications/research_activities_of_the_department_of_transportation_a_report_to_congress/html/box_03_01.html *United States Department of Transportation (http://utc.dot.gov/index.html) *WTI website at Montana State University (http://www.wti.montana.edu/) {{authority control Research institutes in Montana