USDOT awards $1.7 million in research funding to UC-Davis for Climate Change and Transportation Research Center

A Climate Change and Transportation Research Center is being established at the University of California, Davis with research funding awarded by the the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). The center will utilize the $1.7 million award in funding to explore ways to solve the climate crisis through cleaner transportation options.

“Tackling the climate crisis and making our infrastructure more resilient has never been more urgent,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The funding and the new research center we’re announcing today will help develop the solutions we need to reduce carbon pollution from transportation and improve the resiliency of our infrastructure—and help turn those findings into national policy. ” 

The new center, which will be led by Kari Watkins, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and faculty affiliate at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies, will advance research and technologies to support the nation’s clean energy goals, accelerate decarbonization of the transportation sector, strengthen the resilience of the nation’s transportation infrastructure and address environmental inequities created by the transportation system.

“This investment will spur innovation and support research-backed transportation decisions across the nation,” said Dr. Robert C. Hampshire, Deputy Assistant Secretary for research and technology and chief science officer.

The center is comprised of partner institutions, including California State University Long Beach, Texas Southern University, University of California, Riverside, University of Southern California and the University of Vermont, to collectively execute research activities.