Book Description

The University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will soon enter its sixth program year. Program goals have been refined, center capabilities to meet goals have grown, and program funding has been reauthorized through federal fiscal year 1997 by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). To solidify these gains, DOT program staff has requested the assistance of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Research Council in developing a formal evaluation process and implementation plan to measure the progress of the centers on an ongoing basis. The recommendations of the study committee convened to carry out this task are presented in this report. The primary goal of the review process should be to provide feedback to centers and DOT on the quality of center programs and opportunities for their improvement. A key component of the review is to assess the extent to which the expected synergy, or value added, from funding centers instead of individual research and education projects is being realized.