General Research | Transportation Research and Education Center

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NITC Invites Submissions for 2020 General Research RFP

Jan 27, 2020

The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) program has released its 2020 general research request for proposals. Faculty at NITC's partner universities* are invited to submit abstracts by March 23, 2020.

Through funding provided by the U.S. DOT, we will award up to $1,000,000 to research projects that support NITC’s theme: improving mobility of people and goods to build strong communities. Our theme includes a few key topics:

Increasing access to opportunities.

Well-connected regions and communities can improve social equity by providing access to jobs, services, recreation, and social opportunities. Research should examine barriers to access, including the connections between transportation, land use, and housing. It should look at how to overcome these barriers and improve accessibility, affordability, and equity in our communities.

Improving multi-modal planning and shared use of infrastructure.

Improved mobility requires a range of options for moving people and goods. As concepts of mobility evolve, research is needed to understand how people and firms make mode choices so that we can design better multi-modal systems. Research should examine how different modes can share our infrastructure safely. It should look at...

Over $1M in Research Funding for New Projects on Micromobility, TOD’s, and Equity in Transportation Access

Jul 10, 2019

The National Institute for Transportation & Communities (NITC) research consortium, led by Portland State University, has awarded $1.035 million in total funding for ten research projects spanning five universities. This year we focused funding on micromobility, traffic, meeting the transportation needs of underserved populations and people with disabilities, and the intersection of transportation and housing.

Is Transit-Oriented Development Affordable for Low and Moderate Income Households (in terms of H+T)?

Led by Reid Ewing of the University of Utah, Nicole Iroz-Elardo and Arlie Adkins of the University of Arizona

Data-Driven Mobility Strategies for Multi-Modal Transportation

Led by Yao-Jan Wu of the University of Arizona, Xianfeng Yang of the University of Utah and Sirisha Kothuri of Portland State University

This multi-university collaboration builds upon previous research led by Yao-Jan Wu in multi-modal traffic monitoring, as well as...

NITC Funds $926K in the Newest Slate of Research on Mobility for Strong Communities

Jun 20, 2018

The National Institute for Transportation & Communities (NITC) research consortium, led by Portland State University, has awarded $926,000 in total funding for eleven research projects spanning five universities.

The General Research grant is NITC's flagship grant. Annually, we fund general research through a competitive, peer-reviewed RFP process for projects ($30,000 - $150,000) consistent with our theme of improving the mobility of people and goods to build strong communities.

Four of these new projects involve multi-university collaboration, and seven are advancing the transportation knowledge base by building upon an existing body of research. The new group of projects will help lead the deployment of innovative new technologies and practices to improve the safety and performance of transportation systems:

Land Use and Transportation Policies for a Sustainable Future with Autonomous Vehicles: Scenario Analysis with Simulations

Led by Liming Wang of Portland State University with co-investigator Yao-Jan Wu of the University of Arizona

This multi-university collaboration expands upon previous research by Liming Wang, Incorporate Emerging...

NITC Program Funds New Wave of Research Projects

Jul 09, 2017

The National Institute for Transportation and Communities program (NITC) has selected its latest round of general research projects. The NITC executive committee chose to fund six projects out of the 22 proposals submitted.

The new projects feature principal investigators from five of NITC’s partner schools: the University of Arizona, the University of Oregon, the Oregon Institute of Technology, Portland State University and the University of Utah. Two projects involve collaboration between universities.

Each of the selected proposals advances NITC’s core theme of improving mobility of people and goods to build strong communities:

Updating and Expanding LRT/BRT/SCT/CRT Data and Analysis; Arthur C. Nelson (University of Arizona)
Life-space mobility and aging in place; Ivis Garcia Zambrana (University of Utah)
Understanding Factors Affecting Arterial Reliability Performance Metrics; Avinash Unnikrishnan and Sirisha Kothuri (Portland State University)
Planning in gateway and amenity communities: understanding unique challenges associated with transportation, mobility, and access to opportunity; Danya Rumore (University of Utah) and Philip Stoker (University of...