Center for Transportation Research UT Austin

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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. [1] [2] CTR is a research institution focused on transportation research and education.

Contents

Summary

The Center for Transportation Research (CTR) conducts transportation research and provides educational opportunities for students of the University of Texas, including summer internships. [3] The Center's primary research has been in such topics as concrete, materials research, pavement rehabilitation, bridge design, transportation planning and administration, modeling and forecasting, sustainable transportation, and technological innovations. [4]

In any given year, CTR administers more than 100 research projects and interagency contracts with combined budgets exceeding $13 million. [5] [6] [7] Approximately 45 faculty researchers [8] and 10 professional researchers [9] 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. [10] 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 Materials Research Group, and the Center for Research in Water Resources. [11] Researchers also participate in joint studies with Texas Transportation Institute and other universities.

Most of CTR's current research projects are sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Research and Technology Implementation Office. [12] [13] [14] Other sponsors of research include the U.S. Department of Transportation, [15] the National Science Foundation (NSF), North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), [16] Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 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). [17] [18]

Directors

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 with a focus on transportation research. [23] It primarily collects reports and products from government-funded transportation research as well as other materials that support research at the Texas Department of Transportation 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 Federal Highway Administration, and other agencies involved with research in transportation engineering. [24] 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). [25] [26] [27] [28] 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 Western Transportation Knowledge Network (WTKN). [29] The library is not a member of Online Computer Library Center (OCLC); its holdings are not listed in WorldCat. [30]

As of January 2012, the library lists almost 22,000 items in its catalog. [31]

Awards

CTR researchers have received awards from various transportation groups including the Transportation Research Board (TRB), [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS), [38] Eno Transportation Foundation’s Leadership Development Conference, National Highway Institute, Federal Highway Administration, the Texas chapter of Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), the Structural Engineers Association of Texas, [39] and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). [40] [41]

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References

  1. ↑ "Transportation Engineering". Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin: Technical Areas. Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering. Archived from the original on November 14, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Research Units". Research Units and Centers. Office of the Vice President for Research, The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  3. ↑ "UT-Austin Education Program". SWUTC Education. Southwest Region University Transportation Center. Archived from the original on April 10, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Research Strengths". About CTR. Center for Transportation Research. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Search Results: Organization: University of Texas, Austin, Record Type: RIP". TRB Research in Progress. Transportation Research Board. Retrieved January 20, 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  6. ↑ "2011 Annual Report: Research and Technology Implementation Office" (PDF). TxDOT. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  7. ↑ "FY 2012 Research Program" (PDF). TxDOT. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 20, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  8. ↑ "CTR Faculty Researchers". Center for Transportation Research website. Center for Transportation Research. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  9. ↑ "CTR's Professional Researchers". Center for Transportation Research website. Center for Transportation Research. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Faculty". Transportation Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin. Archived from the original on December 27, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Affiliated Centers". About CTR. Center for Transportation Research. Archived from the original on December 20, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Research". Texas Department of Transportation Publications. Texas Department of Transportation.
  13. ↑ "Current Projects". Center for Transportation Research website. Center for Transportation Research. Archived from the original on December 20, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  14. ↑ Research and Technology Implementation Office Research Program FY 2012 (PDF). Austin, Texas: The Texas Department of Transportation, Research and Technology Implementation Office. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 20, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  15. ↑ "About the SWUTC". Southwest Region University Transportation Center website. Archived from the original on January 31, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012. The U.S. DOT furnishes an annual grant of $2 million to the SWUTC, provided that at least an equivalent amount of non-federal funding can be matched for SWUTC functions.
  16. ↑ "Item 3. Consider a resolution authorizing the Director to negotiate and execute an Interlocal Agreement with the Center for Transportation Research (CTR) at UT-Austin to collocate a portion of the CAMPO staff at the CTR facility" (Flash video with transcript). CAMPO Transportation Policy Board Meeting. City of Austin, Texas. April 11, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  17. ↑ Annual Report 1967-1968. Austin, Texas: Center for Highway Research, The University of Texas at Austin. October 1968. p. 1.
  18. ↑ McCullough, B. Frank (1980). Annual Report 1979-1980. Austin, Texas: Center for Transportation Research, Bureau of Engineering Research, The University of Texas at Austin. ...in the 17 years of the Center for Highway Research and the 8 years of the Council for Advanced Transportation Studies... we have now blended the features of both these programs into one...
  19. ↑ McCullough, B. Frank (1980). Annual Report 1979-1980. Austin, Texas: Center for Transportation Research, Bureau of Engineering Research, The University of Texas at Austin.
  20. ↑ "Office of the Director". Staff Directory. SWUTC. Archived from the original on January 31, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  21. ↑ "Cockrell School Names New Director for Center for Transportation". News and Events. Cockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Announcing Our New Director: Amit Bhasin". CTR. Center for Transportation Research. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  23. ↑ Dresley, Susan C. "Directory of Transportation Libraries and Information Centers" (revised 8th ed.). National Transportation Library Bureau of Transportation Statistics Research and Innovative Technology Administration, United States Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Stacks Guide, CTR Library". Library. Center for Transportation Research Library. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  25. ↑ Research and Technology Implementation Office, ed. (2009). "1 Introduction, Section 5 Research Library". Research Manual (revised December 2009 ed.). Texas Department of Transportation. pp. 1–11. Retrieved May 22, 2012. Under an outsourcing contract, the Center for Transportation Research (CTR) Library, at The University of Texas at Austin is now the official depository for TxDOT’s research library collection. The CTR library contains materials previously housed at TxDOT and many additional transportation related materials, from many different sources.
  26. ↑ "Research". Texas Department of Transportation Publications. Texas Department of Transportation.
  27. ↑ "DIRECTORY OF STATE HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT LIBRARIES". Minnesota Department of Transportation, MnDOT Library. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  28. ↑ "Libraries". State by state transportation resources. Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) Library. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  29. ↑ "WTKN Members". WTKN -- Western Transportation Knowledge Network. Western Transportation Knowledge Network (WTKN. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  30. ↑ "Find an OCLC library". OCLC. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  31. ↑ "Search Results: Title contains *". CTR Library Catalog, Advanced Search. Center for Transportation Research Library. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  32. ↑ "The Fred Burggraf Award". TRB. Retrieved January 12, 2012. 2009. JENNIFER DUTHIE AND S. TRAVIS WALLER, Incorporating Environmental Justice Measures into Equilibrium-Based Network Design.
  33. ↑ "Pyke Johnson Award". TRB. Retrieved January 12, 2012. 2008. JESSICA Y. GUO, CHANDRA R. BHAT, and RACHAEL B. COOPERMAN, Effect of the Built Environment on Motorized and Non-Motorized Trip Making: Substitutive Complementary, or Synergistic?
  34. ↑ "Roy W. Crum Distinguished Service Award". TRB. Retrieved January 12, 2012. 2004. Sandra Rosenbloom.
  35. ↑ "D. Grant Mickle Award". TRB. Retrieved January 12, 2012. 1998. BENJAMIN McKEEVER, CARL HAAS, JOSE WEISSMAN, and RICHARD GREER, Life Cycle Cost-Benefit Model for Road Weather Information Systems
  36. ↑ "W. N. Carey, Jr., Distinguished Service Award". TRB. Retrieved January 12, 2012. 1998. C. Michael Walton
  37. ↑ "Thomas B. Deen Distinguished Lectureship". TRB. Retrieved January 12, 2012. 1995. C. MICHAEL WALTON, Deployment of Transportation Research: An Enterprise in Transition
  38. ↑ "2008 Gala Re-Cap". Heart of Texas Chapter Newsletter. Fall 2008. p. 2. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2012. Woman of the Year: Dr. Kara Kockelman
  39. ↑ "HONORARY RECOGNITION". Structural Engineers Association of Texas. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  40. ↑ "Wilbur S. Smith Award". ASCE. Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2012. 2008. RANDY B. MACHEMEHL, Ph.D., P.E., L.S., M.ASCE
  41. ↑ "FACT SHEET: STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND ALUMNI" (PDF). TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN. The University of Texas at Austin Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering. Spring 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 15, 2010. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
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