A Meeting with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

The U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, met with Dr. Mansoureh Jeihani, the director of the Urban Mobility & Equity Center (UMEC) and Dr. Oscar Barton Jr., the dean of Morgan State University's Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. School of Engineering to discuss equity and how it impacts mobility for everyone.

UMEC is a federally funded Tier 1 University Transportation Center housed at Morgan, a historically black college and university in Baltimore, Maryland, that offers degrees in Transportation and Urban Infrastructure Studies in its School of Engineering.

The goal of the USDOT's university transportation centers program is to conduct research that advances transportation and related technology. The program also develops the next generation of transportation professionals.

Morgan also offers an urban setting that itself serves as a lab for studying urban mobility.

As its name implies, UMEC's research considers equity implications in all of its research.

"We've conducted research into urban mobility issues such as the effect of COVID-19 on transit riders and operators, food deserts, equity in accessibility, shared bus and bike lane safety, pedestrian safety, and connected and autonomous vehicles, especially its effect on equity and mobility," Dr. Jeihani noted. "At the meeting we presented how we research equity impacts and these issues, and then enjoyed a lively question and answer session with Secretary Buttigieg."

She added that "transformation and innovation are key outcomes in what we do," and noted that as a minority-serving institution known for its transportation and engineering programs, "we want to do more and better."

Also, present were Dr. Robert Hampshire, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, and Ms. Dawn Tucker-Thomas, Senior Transportation Specialist and Federal Grants Manager, who happens to be an alumnae of Morgan.