U.S. Department of Transportation Funds Academic Consortium Led by The University Transportation Research Center at The City College of New York at CUNY

Dr. Camille Kamga, Director of UTRC, and Matthew Daus, Transportation Technology Chair at UTRC

Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced up to $435 million in grant awards for 34 University Transportation Centers (UTC) that will help the next generation of transportation professionals make our roads, bridges, rail, shipping, and airspace safer, more innovative, and more efficient. UTCs advance transportation expertise and technology in the varied disciplines that comprise the field of transportation through education, research, and technology transfer activities. Project focus areas include, but are not limited to, improving the mobility of disadvantaged populations to mitigating impacts of extreme weather impacts on our Nation’s transportation systems to identifying and mitigating cybersecurity risks.  

“We are proud to support University Transportation Centers across the country that are developing cutting-edge technologies to improve our transportation systems for years to come,” said Secretary Buttigieg. “With this investment, we’ll be able to support a new generation of leaders as they continue to pursue research that will usher in safer, cleaner, and more accessible ways to get people where they need to go.”   

“The work performed by our next generation of diverse transportation researchers at these Centers will help the American people travel more safely, quickly, and affordably. The Centers at these two-and-four-year colleges and universities advance U.S. technology and expertise in the many disciplines comprising transportation through education, solutions-oriented research and technology transfer, and the exploration and sharing of cutting-edge ideas and approaches,” said Dr. Robert C. Hampshire, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology.”   

President Biden’s historic infrastructure package included $90 million in funding per year for the competitively selected UTC Program grants.  Reflecting the popularity of the program, the Department received a total of 230 grant applications during this competition, which represents the largest number of applications ever submitted in the 35-year history of the UTC Program.  

“City College of New York, through its University Transportation Research Center, was selected to lead a Regional UTC (Region 2) focused on “Improving the Mobility of People and Goods.” The Region 2 UTC Center for Social and Economic Mobility for People and Communities through Transportation will receive $3 million/year each. Consortia members include CUNY Bronx Community College, New Jersey Institute of Technology, New York University, Princeton University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rutgers University, SUNY University at Albany, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, SUNY Stony Brook University, and the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez.

Dr. Camille Kamga is the UTRC Region 2 Director and Matt Daus serves as Transportation Technology Chair at UTRC. “We are pleased that the US DOT selected City College to spearhead transportation equity research in our region, returning funding to our historic center after 6 long years,” said UTRC Transportation Technology Chair Daus.  “Congratulations go out to not only Dr. Kamga for his dedication and vision, but to City College management, UTRC staff, and our many elected and appointed officials who supported our bid - including US Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, and U.S. Representatives Grace Meng, Adriano Espaillat, Jerry Nadler, and Yvette D. Clarke. This is not only a victory for the academics, researchers, and government mobility officials in our region, but for all passengers and communities that will benefit from our future work to mitigate congestion, and promote sustainability, accessibility, safety, and equity.”

City College of New York is also a consortia member of the National UTC that will receive $4 million/year under the leadership of the University of Texas at Austin to execute the Transportation Heartbeat of America Survey to collect longitudinal data to understand how travel behavior and demand are evolving. By undertaking this breakthrough research for measuring, monitoring, modeling, and managing traveler behaviors, aims to foster the design, development, and operation of a people-centric, multimodal, intelligent transportation system that meets the needs of people, institutions, and businesses. Consortia members: Arizona State University, California State Polytechnic University Pomona, City College of New York, Diné College (Navajo Nation), Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, and the University of Washington.

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MTA Kills $50 Million Contract to Fix Paratransit, With Little Delivered in 4 Years

The MTA has terminated a multimillion-dollar contract with a company that was supposed to improve the agency’s paratransit performance but instead delivered a string of failures, THE CITY has learned.

StrataGen Systems Inc. was awarded the $49.6 million deal by the MTA board in September 2018 to replace Access-A-Ride’s “outdated” scheduling and dispatch operations, and to deliver technology that monitors the real-time speed, location, and direction of paratransit vehicles.

The MTA moved to end its contract with StrataGen after the Redmond, Washington company repeatedly ran into delays in delivering critical service improvements for New Yorkers who rely on the blue-and-white Access-A-Ride vehicles because their disabilities keep them from riding subways or buses.

Less than one-third of the $50 million was spent, a source familiar with the contract said.  The MTA, which has often been criticized for overspending, would not say how much was spent on the troubled effort.
“We won’t comment on contract disputes, even when they involve a vendor’s poor performance and project delays,” MTA spokesperson Tim Minton said in a statement. “The MTA’s priority must be efficient expenditures of taxpayer funds to deliver reliable and safe service.”

StrataGen is owned by Vancouver, Canada-based parent company DDS Wireless.  The firm’s longtime partnership with New York City Transit — which goes back to at least 2002 — had been strained since 2019 by the agency’s dissatisfaction with StrataGen’s delays and performance. That dissatisfaction resulted in penalties, according to internal agency documents.

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Hyundai and Kia Forced to Update Software on Millions of Vehicles Because of Viral TikTok Challenge

Hyundai and Kia are offering free software updates for millions of their cars in response to a rash of car thefts inspired by a viral social media challenge on TikTok.

The so-called “Kia Challenge” on the social media platform has led to hundreds of car thefts nationwide, including at least 14 reported crashes and eight fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Thieves known as “the Kia Boyz” would post instructional videos about how to bypass the vehicles’ security system using tools as simple as a USB cable.

The thefts are reportedly easy to pull off because many 2015-2019 Hyundai and Kia vehicles lack electronic immobilizers that prevent thieves from simply breaking in and bypassing the ignition. The feature is standard equipment on nearly all vehicles from the same period made by other manufacturers.

Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia are offering to update the “theft alarm software logic” to extend the length of the alarm sound from 30 seconds to one minute. The vehicles will also be updated to require a key in the ignition switch to turn the vehicle on.

The software upgrade modifies certain vehicle control modules on Hyundai vehicles equipped with standard “turn-key-to-start” ignition systems. As a result, locking the doors with the key fob will set the factory alarm and activate an “ignition kill” feature so the vehicles cannot be started when subjected to the popularized theft mode. Customers must use the key fob to unlock their vehicles to deactivate the “ignition kill” feature.

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