Morgan State to Head Regional Transportation Research Center in HBCU First

Morgan State University has been tapped to lead the SMARTER Center, a USDOT University Transportation Center (UTC) established in partnership with Howard University, University of Delaware, University of Maryland, University of Pittsburg, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia University. Morgan State will be the first HBCU and the first university in Maryland to lead a regional UTC.

The Center will work with the region’s state Departments of Transportation and other public and private sector partners to facilitate innovation, strategic planning, and the development of a diverse transportation workforce in the Mid-Atlantic. The consortium has been awarded a $15 million federal grant from to carry out its research and education program.

The University will helm the organization amid growing transportation challenges for the region. Food deserts, rising transit costs, and congestion along ports and interstate corridors have threatened to hamper regional economic development in recent years. Challenges caused by climate change, especially flooding, are expected to constrain transit networks as well, often with disproportionate impacts on less affluent communities.

The Center’s research activities will focus on providing immediate and near-immediate implementation capabilities for policy makers, industry, and the public at large. Its researchers will explore novel applications for emerging technologies like machine learning, connected and automated vehicles, and electric vehicles to strengthen the region’s transportation network.

The UTC’s leadership have emphasized their commitment to community involvement, a principle which they say informs the consortium’s efforts to engage underserved communities and community-based organizations in research and workforce development initiatives. Equity and sustainability considerations are thus at the forefront of the Center’s efforts to improve mobility in the region, and expanding multimodal transit options, both for rural urban travelers, remains a key priority in meeting those ends.

View the full DOT announcement and a comprehensive list of grantees here.