Arizona State University researchers are poised to help boost innovation in the planning and design of future enhancements to the nation’s transportation systems.

ASU has been named the lead institution for a new U.S. Department of Transportation Tier 1 University Transportation Center that will focus on improving regional travel demand forecasting.

A new ASU research center will work to aid U.S. Department of Transportation efforts to improve how the nation’s local and regional transportation systems serve their communities. Photo: Shutterstock

A new ASU research center will work to aid U.S. Department of Transportation efforts to improve how the nation’s local and regional transportation systems serve their communities. Photo: Shutterstock

The center’s work will be part of a larger U.S. DOT program to develop new systems and technologies that provide better surface transportation mobility and accessibility across the country.

The new center, called the Center for Teaching Old Models New Tricks — or TOMNET for short — puts ASU in charge of a consortium that includes researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Washington and the University of South Florida.

It’s one of 20 Tier 1 centers recently awarded to universities around the country — selected from more than 200 proposals — and the first and only one to be led by an Arizona university since the inception of the University Transportation Centers program two decades ago. The new awards provide each of the Tier 1 centers $7 million over five years.

Read the full story