UTC, Center for Regional and Rural Connected Communities (CR2C2)

Abstract Project Title: Center for Regional and Rural Connected Communities (CR2C2) Abstract: Driven by transportation challenges and needs within US Southeast, North Carolina Agriculture and Technology State University (NCA&T) proposes to establish the Center for Regional and Rural Connected Communities (CR2C2) as a Regional University Transportation Center in Region 4. Consortium Team Members: CR2C2 brings together a strong and diverse team with complementary research capabilities from NCA&T and its collaborators including Clemson University (Clemson), the University of Alabama (UA), the University of Kentucky (UKY), the University of Tennessee – Knoxville (UTK), University of Georgia (UGA), and Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Targeted Regional Problem: The diverse distribution of CR2C2 across Region 4, shown in Fig. 1, enables the team to properly address the identify and address transportation- related problems across this region. In particular, Region 4 is considerably rural in which sparse and distributed populations limit the mobility options for access and connections to the regional, national, and global resources, opportunities, and economy, yet declining and aging populations of rural areas Figure 1: CR2C2 team members make the situation even worse. Goal and Statutory Research Priority: Focusing on transportation challenges in rural areas and underserved communities in region 4, the primary goal of the CR2C2 is “. . . to develop, plan, implement, and evaluate innovative technological solutions and creative workforce for efficient, effective, and coordinated multimodal connected transportation systems in order to provide and improve equitable mobility of people and goods for rural and underserved communities.” The proposed center, therefore, primarily falls under the first statutory research priority, “Improving Mobility of People and Goods,” while also contributing to other statutory research priorities including “Preserving the Environment,” “Promoting Safety,” and “Reducing Transportation Cybersecurity Risks.” Unique Capabilities of the Consortium Members: The transportation-related capabilities and infrastructure at NCA&T well position it to lead this regional UTC. These include, but are not limited to, Transportation Institute (TI), the existing Center for Advanced Transportation Mobility (CATM) Tier 1 UTC, the NC-CAV Center of Excellence on Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Technology, Cybersecurity Research, Education and Outreach (CREO) Center of Excellence, and other transportation-related laboratories and infrastructure at NCA&T. CR2C2 also leverages the commutative and complementary expertise of collaborators past track record of leading the Southeastern Transportation Center (STC), a 2013 Regional UTC at UTK; the Center for Connected Multimodal Mobility (C²M²), a 2016 Tier 1 UTC at Clemson; Freight Mobility Research Institute (FMRI), a 2016 Tier 1 UTC at FAU. In addition, unique about the assembled team is that NC A&T is the nation’s largest HBCU in engineering degrees awarded to African Americans at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and is the leading producer of African-American female engineers, and FAU is large Hispanic-serving institution. This position CR2C2 to develop and implement equitable transportation-focused equitable and diverse workforce, education, and technology transfer plans.