Can a federal grant help USC figure out how to help end those monstrous Los Angeles freeway traffic jams?
Without promising any quick solutions, a research center at USC has been selected to lead a multi-state effort to study and solve a range of transportation concerns under a $12.5 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“Our research priority area is improving mobility of people and goods,” said Genevieve Giuliano, the principal investigator for the grant and director of the METRANS Transportation Center.
“We will focus on the following issues affecting states in the region — technology to address transportation problems, easing mobility for vulnerable populations, improving resilience while protecting the environment and managing mobility in high-growth urban areas.”
The METRANS Transportation Center will lead the Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center. It comprises several universities in the region consisting of Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada and the U.S. Pacific Island territories.
METRANS is expected to match the grant, bringing the total award for the five-year project to $25 million.
The regional center is a partnership USC has with Cal State Long Beach, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Northern Arizona University and Pima Community College.
METRANS was established in 1998 as a collaborative research effort involving the USC Price School of Public Policy, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Cal State Long Beach. The federal designation and grant will build upon METRANS’ ongoing efforts in interdisciplinary research, education and outreach.
—City News Service