KU Transportation Research Institute (KU TRI) was started in 2005 after acquiring $14.5 million in federal appropriations. In June of 2006, Dr. Robert Honea became the first director for the Institute. Under his leadership, KU TRI seeks to build upon the strengths of KU research efforts in transportation by fostering a cross-disciplinary inquiry into a wide spectrum of emerging transportation issues.
KU TRI provides an organizational framework that focuses on current and future research activities primarily focused on six interrelated areas: vehicle technologies and alternative fuels; safety and human factors; information systems and logistics; transportation infrastructure; socio-political and economic issues; and, environmental assessment. Currently, the Institute is emphasizing three areas: prolonging life and safety of transportation infrastructure, developing advanced vehicle and fuel technologies, and improving safety for inattentive and aging driver population. KU TRI encourages faculty members, staff researchers and graduate students from across campus to take part in KU TRI’s multidisciplinary program and its annual solicitation for proposals.
The Institute has over 100 people including faculty, technical and administrative personnel, undergraduate and graduate students and other support staff working in its research program from a variety of disciplines. The Institute has also formed important partnerships with research centers on and off campus, various universities, industry, government, and nongovernmental organizations. Also, KU TRI is an umbrella organizational structure that encompasses the following KU research centers: the Transportation Center, the Flight Research Laboratory, and the Infrastructure Research Institute. These centers perform large, diverse, and continually changing research, education and community outreach including workshops, annual conferences, and newsletters.
The Institute works with the following departments at the University of Kansas to offer a broad range of transportation courses at the graduate and undergraduate level: the School of Business, Department of Urban Planning in the School of Architecture, the Department of Geography, the School of Engineering, the Policy Research Institute, the Medical Center, the School of Journalism, the School of Fine Arts and Design, and numerous other departments. The Institute's academic curriculum and involvement as partners in research prepares students with the technical and critical thinking skills they need to contribute to the decision-making process.
KU TRI also cooperates with industry and government partners on various other public education endeavors as well. Furthermore, the Institute serves as a host for visiting scholars from the U.S. and abroad in order to facilitate cooperative research and information exchange; it also sponsors conferences and colloquia to disseminate research results. Finally, the Institute's outreach program, in concert with its research and education activities, offers real-world input to the university, and, in turn, provides policymakers and the public with new research and information on emerging transportation technologies and trends.
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