The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Special Programs Administration has selected 10 university-based centers to receive funding to promote transportation education and research.

The University Transportation Center (UTC) competition designated the centers – including a joint USC/Cal State-Long Beach center – to receive up to $20 million in grants over the next two years for transportation research and education. Each university will use the funding to continue the operation of a UTC on its campus.

“We commend all of the universities for their efforts in this long and highly competitive process,” said Ellen G. Engleman, the program’s administrator.

The 10 chosen universities were selected from among previously existing centers designated to receive UTC program funding in the first four years of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), enacted in 1998. Each of the 10 chosen UTCs will receive two additional years of grant funding at approximately $1 million per year.

Selection was made based on six criteria outlined in TEA-21: strategic planning and performance, leadership capabilities, available resources, dissemination of results, multi-modality and university financial commitment to transportation.

The UTC program’s mission is to advance U.S. technology and expertise in the many disciplines constituting transportation through the mechanism of education, research, and technology transfer at university-based centers of excellence. All of the centers conduct combined programs of research, education and technology-transfer activities. The program has produced more than 1,200 research reports, involving more than 3,500 university students and faculty in the study of transportation.

UTC grants are administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Special Programs Administration and must be matched by recipients on a dollar-for-dollar basis, doubling the value of the federal investment.

The RSPA is responsible for the safe and secure movement of hazardous materials to industry and consumers by all modes of transportation, including pipelines; coordination of rapid response to transportation emergencies; and advancement of science and technology for national transportation needs.

The other nine University Transportation Centers selected were the University of Arkansas, Rutgers University, University of Alabama, University of Idaho, University of South Florida, University of Missouri-Rolla, University of Central Florida, San Jose State University and South Carolina State University.