The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Mid-America Transportation Center a five-year, $15 million University Transportation Centers Program grant.
The program advances transportation research and technology, and develops transportation professionals. This is the fifth time the center has received funding.
The center will receive $3 million annually over five years to improve transportation safety and equity. Funding will be used to maintain the transportation research and work force development hub for the U.S. Department of Transportation Region 7. The region is comprised of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
“The Mid-America Transportation Center for Transportation Safety and Equity shows our emphasis on equity-related safety issues,” Aemal Khattak, the center’s director and professor of civil and environmental engineering, said. “It reflects our recognition that different population groups may be impacted in various ways by transportation safety improvements. We are going to focus on equity issues in transportation safety, but also look at issues that affect Region 7 in unique ways, such as climate change and supply chain vulnerability.”
The center will expand its outreach and education programs. This includes a new safe driver academy, in conjunction with Nebraska Indian Community College, that provides students with free training in the operation of personal and commercial vehicles.