After a highly competitive selection process, the U.S. Department of Transportion has announced that WTI has been selected as a Tier 1 University Transportation Center. The Small Urban, Rural and Tribal Center on Mobility (SURTCOM) will receive approximately $1.5 million a year for up to five years to lead research that improves the mobility of people and goods in small urban, rural and tribal areas. Projects will address issues such as enhancing access to public transportation services, implementing innovative multi-modal solutions, exploring alternative transportion such as ridesharing, adapting “smart cities” innovations to small communities, and increasing active transportation modes such as walking and cycling. WTI will lead the center in partnership with the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute at North Dakota State University and the Northwest Tribal Technical Assistance Program at Eastern Washington University. Last week, U.S. Senator Steve Daines released a statement congratulating WTI on the the grant award.