METRANS, the transportation center which operates as partnership between the University of Southern California and Long Beach State (CSULB), has been awarded two massive grants form the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) amounting to more than $6M.

Established in 1998, METRANS is the first university transportation center in Southern California, focusing on research that is geared towards rethinking the state’s most congested and busiest metropolitan area in order to further the economy, workforce, and education regarding transportation and goods movement.

METRANS will first receive a $1.4M award for two years—with a 50% match from CalTrans—that will total $4.2M to research “system integration,” or the study of how transportation modes such as buses and highways are interdependent on its users such as freight and passengers. The ultimate goal to find more efficient way to sustain urban transportation through a recognition of this interconnected relationship.

“Much of the work is tied to freight, but we are still looking at broader questions of economic competitiveness and the relationship between transportation and competitiveness in large metropolitan areas,” said Thomas O’Brien, director of research for CSULB’s Center for International Trade and Transportation.

The second award, to fund research focusing on workforce development, will provide the center with $500,000 per year for two years, to be matched 100% by an unnamed non-federal source.

“This funding will allow us to continue our efforts with the Town Hall, the Urban Freight Conference and expanding the range of our professional development programs,” O’Brien noted. “It sort of injects new life into the center allowing us to engage more students in our programs, which is really important.”

{FG_GEOMAP [33.7815201,-118.102598] FG_GEOMAP}