BACKGROUND
Established in 1995, the Mid-America Transportation Center (MATC) administers the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) 2023 University Transportation Center for Federal Region VII (NE, IA, MS, KS). This grant is titled “Mid-America Transportation Center for Transportation Safety and Equity (MATC-TSE). The statutory research priority area for MATC-TSE is Promoting Safety and it supports the US DOT Strategic Plan goals of safety, economic strength and global competitiveness, equity, climate and sustainability, and transformation. The MATC-TSE consortium consists of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), the Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC), the Missouri University of Science and Technology (MS&T), the University of Iowa (UI), the University of Kansas (KU), and the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). The USDOT Research, Development, and Technology Strategic Plan (2022- 2026) governs MATC-TSE research philosophy. Using the USDOT Innovation Principles as benchmark, MATC-TSE hopes to address the grand challenges of Vision Zero, Resilient Supply Chains, Equitable Mobility for All, Net Zero Emissions, and the Transportation System-of- Systems of the Future. Guidance for MATC-TSE comes from the USDOT Strategic Plan (2022-2026), the US National Roadway Safety Strategy (2022), and the USDOT Equity Action Plan (2022).
PROGRAM GOAL
The overall goal of MATC-TSE is to improve safety of the surface transportation system with emphasis on addressing equity related issues. Areas of interest include improving transportation safety, education, and workforce development in Federal Region VII, especially on Native American Reservations located in this region. MATC-TSE hopes to address equity issues in design guidelines, specifically the current American Association of State Highway and Transportation (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). The MATC-TSE program is also focused on areas addressing traffic safety for those that face challenges in health, gender, race, and socioeconomic conditions.
SCHEDULE
Submitted proposals will be sent to external reviewers within one week of submission, with reviews due to MATC approximately four weeks later. MATC staff will review budgets of proposals recommended for funding for compliance with federal guidelines and USDOT rules and will request budget adjustments as necessary. Note that a 1:1 match from nonfederal sources is a requirement as well as 5% of the budget should be toward technology transfer activities. The external reviews will be evaluated by the MATC Executive Committee, and it is anticipated that the final funding decisions will be made by July 1, 2024 (or sooner). The MATC Program Coordinator will inform all PIs of the status of their proposals via the email address submitted with the proposal.
The projects selected as part of this solicitation will be funded for the period July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025.