Transportation Center

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	Message from the Director

The Transportation Center celebrated its 25th anniversary as an officially recognized and functioning research entity at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1995. During our quarter century of existence, the Center has become a nationally recognized leader in transportation research and service to local, state, and federal agencies and many private organizations. We have made major contributions in the areas of highway safety, transportation policy and regulation, transportation service brokerage, public transportation, environmental protection, and intermodal transportation, and continue to expand our expertise into new and challenging endeavors.

Over the past 25 years we have been the research venue of some of the brightest and most innovative faculty, researchers, and graduate students in the nationís transportation arena. Many of these individuals are still at the Transportation Center and The University of Tennessee. Others are now department heads, deans, administrators at other universities, or fill key government or industry positions. In reflecting on our past accomplishments, it is important to recognize the many individuals who have contributed to our success. These consist of many faculty members from engineering, business administration, human ecology, education, agriculture, arts and science, law, and the space institute at Tullahoma, as well as the hundreds of students who have been involved in our research projects through the years. During the past twenty-five years the Center has experienced steady growth, and today we have over $20 million currently under contract. The Center is currently staffed with over 200 full-time research, technical, and support personnel.

To better meet our ever-expanding research needs, in 1995 we moved from our previous location in South Stadium Hall into newly renovated facilities in the Conference Center Building. The new location has given us more quality office and laboratory space for Center activities. We also have over 25 staff in offices located in Oak Ridge, Nashville, and Memphis.

The Transportation Center is proud to be the lead institution in the Southeastern Transportation Center, one of the nationís ten U.S. Department of Transportationís University Transportation Centers. We are also a partner in one of the four National Maritime Enhancement Centers, and we operate Tennesseeís LTAP program, funded by FHWA and the Tennessee DOT

As we approach the 21st century, the need for innovative and quality transportation research has never been greater, both at the national and state levels of government and within industry. The Transportation Center is poised to make significant contributions, not only in research but in transportation education and community services. We are engaged in projects such as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and research into suburban mobility problems, which will define the future of transportation in the United States and worldwide. Our technology transfer and training division focuses on ensuring our research results are effectively transmitted into practice. In the public service arena, we operate the Knoxville Commuter Pool and a one-of-its-kind statewide vanpool program called Tennessee Vans, which integrates public and private funding and cooperation as never before.

Looking forward, we recognize that there are many challenges ahead in defining roles and maintaining our progress in the development of the nationís transportation systems. There is a vital need for transportation research, education, and technology transfer activities if we are to rebuild the nation's aging transportation infrastructure and encourage intermodal solutions to transportation problems. Each of these initiatives presents new technical challenges, involves new personnel skills, and requires innovative partnerships and management approaches. The Transportation Center is striving to address these needs within Tennessee as well as at regional and national levels.