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October 2005
SAFETEA-LU: CTS to receive $16 million; Rural Safety Center established at Humphrey Institute
Robert Bruininks
Brian Atwood
Rep. Oberstar in the TechnoBus
The federal transportation reauthorization bill passed in August—known as SAFETEA-LU—increases funding by 60 percent for the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Institute at CTS and establishes a national Rural Safety Center of Excellence at the University. To celebrate these new resources and directions, CTS and the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs held a special ceremony on September 12 in Minneapolis. Speakers paid tribute to U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, senior Democrat on the House Transportation Infrastructure Committee, for his role in securing the funding for Minnesota.
Moderated by Robert Johns, director of CTS, the celebration was attended by faculty, staff, and a range of stakeholders, including state legislators Ron Erhardt and Carol Flynn (now retired) and Mn/DOT deputy director Doug Differt. The $16 million grant to the ITS Institute, Johns explained, will fund work over five years in several disciplines, including research at the Humphrey Institute and the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). The Rural Safety Center of Excellence, one of four centers nationally, is funded at $875,000 for the first year, with additional levels to be determined. It will be led by Lee Munnich, director of the Humphrey Institute's State and Local Policy Program.
University of Minnesota president Robert Bruininks began his remarks with a tribute to Congressman Oberstar. "Without his leadership over many years in this area," he said, "we wouldn't be here today."
University researchers are on the forefront of developing technologies to make transportation safer. "But this research is about more than safety," Bruininks said. "It's about building efficiency in transportation, it's about dealing with congestion, and it's about building stronger transportation infrastructure throughout the country." Hurricane Katrina, he noted, "is a painful reminder of just how important these systems are."
The research program—involving roughly seven colleges, two major campuses, and more than 25 academic departments—is the "best example" of interdisciplinary work at the University of Minnesota, Bruininks added. "This [interdisciplinary work] has allowed CTS to take on significant problems and achieve the kind of profile and impact that you see." Increasingly, he explained, the University must excel in cutting across disciplinary boundaries to solve problems that affect society.
Robert Johns, Rep. Oberstar, Robert Jones, Max Donath
Bruininks also stressed the important role University research plays in the public's awareness of transportation issues. Recent surveys by the Itasca Project, a group of CEOs and other local leaders formed to address civic issues in the Twin Cities metro area, found residents believe the most credible transportation information comes from the University. "This gives a sense for why this investment is so critical," Bruininks said, "because this is a place where people can come together and review some of society's most vexing problems when it comes to transportation infrastructure and policies, and render to the public objective, balanced information."
Next, Max Donath, director of the ITS Institute, pointed out that although roadway safety in Minnesota has improved significantly—in part because of the efforts and "progressiveness" of Mn/DOT and the Department of Public Safety—there is still much to do. Two-thirds of the state's 567 fatalities last year occurred on rural roads; 13 percent of fatalities are teen drivers, even though they represent just 5 percent of licensed drivers. These issues are ripe for further research, along with topics such as safety improvements for older drivers and mass evacuation of urban areas (see related news). "With the help of Congressman Oberstar and all of you," Donath said, "we will be able to do more, taking us from one success to more in the future."
Dean Brian Atwood said the Humphrey Institute is a "proud recipient" of the rural safety grant. He reviewed rural safety research and activities at the Institute and credited all those involved in obtaining the new funding, particularly Congressman Oberstar. "We are so lucky in Minnesota to have someone representing us in Washington who is a national asset," Atwood said.
The celebration closed with comments from Rep. Oberstar, who said this about the new bill: "We got it done, we're moving ahead, and Minnesota gets its fair share." The bill awards Minnesota the second largest percentage increase of any state: $4.3 billion over five years.
A long-time supporter of research and scholarship, Oberstar stressed the importance of not just applied research, but also basic research on fundamental problems. "We need a network of researchers thinking anew without limitations on where the human mind will take you," he said. SAFETEA-LU aids this goal with $2.7 billion for research and demonstration technology, "harnessing the best minds in surface transportation."
The University of Minnesota, he told the audience, was designated a center of excellence because of its "superior performance" in research areas such as teen driving and driver-assistive systems for snowplows. "That type of application of unfettered intellectual capacity is what will make our highway driving even safer and better," he said.
The new funding allows the University to continue its "enormously successful output of research and ideas," Oberstar continued, and also give greater focus to rural roads. Nationally, less than 40 percent of travel is in rural areas, but these roads account for roughly two-thirds of fatalities. "We need to spend more of our intellectual resources on addressing those needs because of the disproportionality of fatalities," he stressed. "The center of excellence is well positioned to address [them]."
The congressman and other guests then toured the TechnoBus, a Metro Transit bus instrumented with driver-assistive technologies under study by the ITS Institute.
For more about SAFETEA-LU (the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century: A Legacy for Users), please visit the SAFETEA-LU Web site.