Mission
Safe-D endeavors to maximize the potential safety benefits of disruptive technologies through targeted research that addresses the most pressing transportation safety questions. The Safe-D Center focuses its efforts in three key areas:
- cutting-edge research by leading transportation safety experts and their students;
- education and workforce development with programs for all levels from K-12 to higher education to continuing education for professionals; and
- fully supported technology transfer including practitioner training partnerships, social networking, commercialization, and intellectual property management.
Theme Areas
- Connected Vehicles
- Automated Vehicles
- Transportation as a Service
- Big Data Analytics
Partnership
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute has formed a mentoring collaboration with the new transportation research group at San Diego State University, a Hispanic-serving institution known for educating the transportation workforce. This geographically balanced consortium encompasses the largest collection of transportation safety researchers in the nation and provides unparalleled expertise, facilities, and resources to conduct impactful research towards the center’s long-term vision: a nation with a systemically safe transportation system.
History
The Safety through Disruption (Safe-D) University Transportation Center (UTC) was established in November 2016 as a National level center funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation with a planned $2.8 million in federal funding each year from 2016-2020, with equivalent matching from university, state and private sources.
Safe-D was one of 32 UTCs selected through a highly competitive program and funded under the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (Pub. L. No. 114-94). The UTC program is administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation and has a mission to develop new programs in transportation research, education and workforce development, and technology transfer.