Two Berkeley Transportation Groups Form
New Technology-Focused Research Center
New Technology-Focused Research Center
January 18, 2011
BERKELEY - The California Center for Innovative
Transportation (CCIT) is merging with the California Partners for
Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH), it was announced today by the
Institute of
Transportation Studies at the University of California,
Berkeley, the organized research unit that houses both research
centers. The merge has been in the planning stages for many months
and is effective today, the opening of the spring
semester.
"The PATH-CCIT union is a positive and exciting
development for the two merging centers and for ITS Berkeley as a
research organization," said Thomas West,
CCIT's director for the past four years, and the co-director, along
with Roberto
Horowitz, of the newly merged center. Horowitz is the
James Fife Professor in Mechanical Engineering at UC
Berkeley.
The new center will retain the PATH acronym and 25 years
of cutting-edge transportation research it represents. However, in
the new organization, the letters will now indicate the Partners
for Advanced Transportation TecHnology, reflecting a mission that
is foremost concerned with innovation through technology, rather
than with any specific mode of transportation.
PATH will remain a UC-wide program headquartered at UC
Berkeley. It will have locations on campus, in downtown Berkeley,
and at the Richmond Field Station.
Building on existing
expertise
Horowitz said that the goal of the merge is to be able
to better respond to California's mobility and safety
needs.
"The synergy of these two efforts will enable us to
tackle some of today's most complex transportation challenges
through the implementation of transformative ideas," Horowitz
said.
Horowitz said the new group will build on PATH's
research expertise and retain CCIT's focus on
deployment.
"Our mission is to conduct research, but also to ensure
that our work lands in the hands of the practitioners who can
change California to improve the lives of travelers-that's what
sets us apart," Horowitz said. "As both PATH and CCIT have done, we
will continue to develop advanced technology to make the average
person's effort to get from point A to point B safer, faster, less
stressful and more environmentally sound," he said.
The co-directorship is key to the vision of the new
organization, according to both new leaders. "With research
deployment so central to our mission, we need both perspectives-of
academics developing ideas and practitioners making them work in
the real world," said West. Both of these types of expertise are
required to select, oversee and deploy projects, he
said.
The new center incorporates much of the former PATH and
CCIT research leadership, and will be supported by a faculty
advisory team and external advisory board composed of
transportation leaders from around California.
Organizational History
PATH started in
1986 as a research entity focused on large-scale technical
innovations for transportation. It was first the U.S. research
center dedicated specifically to intelligent transportation
systems. It has been instrumental in the development of major
transportation innovations such as vehicle automation and
IntelliDrive, and has produced alumni-both students and faculty-who
are transportation leaders and educators around the state, the
U.S., and the world.
CCIT was
created in 2002 to focus on accelerating the implementation of
ready-to-deploy transportation research innovations. Its impact is
visible in projects throughout California, including freeway signs
that compare and display driving and transit times, pioneering work
in transportation corridor management, and the development of
mobile phones as traffic sensors.
But over the past decade, both organizations have
evolved to develop both research and deployment-focused
projects.
West said combining resources at two centers with
closely related goals is just smart management.
"The result will be a leading center for transportation
technology research and deployment, one that starts with a
collective 35 years of innovation research, and also builds on
existing relationships with Caltrans, the U.S. DOT, other
transportation agencies and the private sector," West
said.
Technology and Data Focus
Projects and areas of work already underway at the new
center include:
• Maximization of the benefits of transportation data
• Evaluation of the performance of transportation systems
• Development of multimodal integrated systems
• Continued corridor planning and management
• Development of safety technology
• Continued Intellidrive-related research
• Development of technology to support sustainable transportation systems
• Maximization of the benefits of transportation data
• Evaluation of the performance of transportation systems
• Development of multimodal integrated systems
• Continued corridor planning and management
• Development of safety technology
• Continued Intellidrive-related research
• Development of technology to support sustainable transportation systems
Both co-directors stressed that change is a process, one
that will continue to unfold in the coming year as the two
organizations combine their operations.
In the meantime, Horowitz said, "We are excited to
continue the work that is already underway and to begin making the
new PATH home to the ideas that will transform the future of
mobility in California and beyond."
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Sources:
Thomas West
(510) 642-5224, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(510) 642-5224, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Roberto Horowitz
(510) 642-4675, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(510) 642-4675, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it