Transportation Institute

Urban Transit Institute - Program Overview

The Urban Transit Institute (UTI) at North Carolina A&T State University (NCA&TSU) was organized to support education, research, and technology transfer activities in transportation. It was one of a select number of University Transportation Centers (UTC) in the United States, which shared the same mission. It was envisioned that the three-fold program of the UTI and other UTCs would be conducted among faculty, students, public and private transportation professionals, and the general public so as to increase the number of Americans prepared to design, deploy and operate transportation systems that would enhance the country’s economic competitiveness in the 21st century. Located at an historically black university, the UTI, though multimodal in scope, emphasized the consideration of transit problems and solutions for small urban and rural locations and the professional development and involvement of diverse populations in all aspects of the transportation industry.

The UTI benefitted from the rich tradition of transportation research, education, and technology transfer offered by the Transportation Institute of NCA&TSU. The Transportation Institute was initiated in 1970 as a result of a multi-year grant from the former University Research and Training Program of the, then, Urban Mass Transportation Administration. One of three HBCUs funded during that period, NCA&TSU institutionalized and expanded its transportation program beyond the original grant period. NCA&TSU now includes fully accredited academic transportation degrees in transportation/logistics, supply chain management and civil and environmental engineering at the undergraduate level. A Master of Science in Management with a business logistics concentration is offered through the School of Business and Economics and a Master of Science in civil engineering is offered through the College of Engineering. In addition, a Certificate in Supply Chain Management is offered in the School of Business and Economics. The Transportation Institute also functions as a regional center for the industry, offering seminars, workshops, lectures, and information services.

The establishment of the UTI in 1994, through ISTEA, allowed NCA&TSU to further expand its capabilities in transit research and education. The UTI also permitted NCA&TSU to play a more significant role in disseminating information related to developments in transit to additional localities, especially those historically without adequate access to this information. Additionally, NCA&TSU played an increasingly significant role in educating future transportation professionals, encompassing the high school, college, and graduate school levels, as well as continuing education for practitioners.

This document represents the strategic plan developed by NCA&TSU to reflect the activities anticipated during the life of the grant (four to six years, depending on final award status) in order to carry out the mission and to achieve the six goals of the UTC program. The UTC mission is "to advance U.S. technology and expertise in the many disciplines comprising transportation through the mechanisms of education, research, and technology transfer at university-based centers of excellence. The six program goals include education, human resources, diversity, research selection, research performance, and technology transfer. This strategic plan, which conforms to the proscribed guidelines, reflects all of the programmatic aspects referenced above. The plan was submitted to DOT for review and approved for implementation on October 19, 1999.

Center Theme and Scope

The theme for the UTI at North Carolina A&T State University (NCA&TSU) was: Improving transportation performance in small urban and rural areas.

It was envisioned that the UTI at NCA&TSU would be an axis for:

• research and experimentation in transit management techniques and applications of advanced technology, designed to promote greater productivity in the transit industry
• education and training of transit professionals capable of addressing current and future management, policy and implementation requirements of the industry
• dissemination of relevant information to transit managers, policy makers, and the riding public in comprehensive and accessible formats
• research in other areas of transportation, including logistics, highway and rail transportation education, training, and continuing education for secondary students, university students, and transportation professionals.

The aforementioned activities for UTI responded to several key areas of need defined in the USDOT Strategic Plan and the President’s Plan for Science and Technology. Those areas were:

• improved management and productivity of existing transit facilities
• broader and more effective utilization of advanced technology
• increased involvement of under-represented populations in transportation professions.
  

Though aspects of all 10 program elements of FTA's national plan (clean air, finance, information, human resources, regional mobility, safety and security, technology development, transit accessibility, planning and project development) are addressed to some degree, the three areas of emphasis listed above dictated the actual research topics.