D.O.T. awards research funding

February 4, 2010 by Zach Loker 

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded UNLV $460,000 in funding to be put toward regional transportation research center on campus.

The financial support is intended to provide UNLV students and faculty with research materials, career opportunities and training in the arena of transportation.

The U.S. DOT awarded a little more than $2 million in grant funding to four regional transportation research centers, including UNLV. A percentage of the grant is also being given to UNR.

The money comes under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users for the UNLV Transportation Research Center.

According to the official Web site of the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, SAFETEA-LU represents the largest surface transportation investment in U.S. history and guarantees funding for highways, road safety and public transportation.

The Act is especially compatible with the UNLV research center because it too focuses on “improving safety, reducing traffic congestion, improving efficiency in freight movement, increasing intermodal connectivity, protecting the environment and laying the groundwork for addressing future challenges.”

The UNLV Transportation Center is partnering with Nevada’s Department of Transportation to conduct research in areas such as advanced hardware and software for collecting real-time traffic data, creating animations and simulations to enhance research, developing innovative mathematical methods for modeling, analysis and control for traffic congestion management and emerging decision-making tools for transportation planning.

“These dollars will help pay for work by students, faculty and staff at the center related to strengthening the nation’s transportation network,” said David Cherry, spokesperson for Congresswoman Shelley Berkley.

“The funding was awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of $2 million in grants awarded to four DOT regional transportation research centers located at universities across the country.”

The 2010 grant is just the latest installment of the grant that began three years ago from the UTC, one part of a national group of transportation centers.

“We received this funding to conduct research,” said Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering Professor and Director of the Transportation Research Center Pushkin Kachroo. “On top of that, NDOT has given us matching funds for this.”

UNLV is currently in consultation with NDOT to decide what projects the funding could be utilized for to work on.

“It is important for us to decide together what projects to work on that are important to the state,” Kachroo said.

The funding is received when written proposals sent to different transportation agencies across the country, including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense and Department of Energy, are reviewed and ultimately accepted. A proposal for the next stage of funding, which is expected to be highly competitive and even more viable than submissions, is already being worked on.

“We need to have a little bit more emphasis on real time traffic operations and traffic control,” Kachroo said.

Both Berkley and Senator Harry Reid made recent announcements regarding the funding and how it will affect the university’s programs and research.

“This funding will provide UNLV students with research opportunities as they train for careers in the transportation sector of the 21st Century,” Berkley said in a press release issued last week.

“Las Vegas and other communities benefit when we utilize smart planning to reduce congestion and increase safety on our roads and freeways. And the results of the work funded by this grant will help us achieve those important goals.”

Reid also expressed optimism about the potential the funding will serve.

“I’m pleased that UNLV was one of just four universities nation-wide to receive this grant,” Harry Reid said, according to his official Web site. “I know that students and researchers at UNLV will continue their cutting-edge work to improve our nation’s transportation system.”