MTC Asset Newsletter Summer 2005

From the MTC Director: After 17 years, the MTC gets a raise

by Tom Maze, MTC Director, Iowa State University

You've probably heard by now that the transportation authorization bill, SAFETEA-LU, was signed into law by President Bush this summer. This $286.4 billion bill contained funding increases for many transportation programs, including the University Transportation Centers (UTC) program. The Midwest Transportation Consortium is the UTC for Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.

A brief history

Back in 1987, the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act (the transportation appropriation bill for that year) established a program of 10 regional centers, one in every federal region. Each center was funded at $1 million per year to be matched by $1 million in non-federal dollars. Each center was to be lead by a university within the region and involve other universities in the region through a consortium. Lead universities and their consortium universities were to be selected through a competition.

In 1988, Iowa State University and its consortium member, the University of Iowa, won the competition and became the center for then Federal Region 7.

Meanwhile in 1991's ISTEA and 1998's TEA-21, congress expanded the UTC program by adding new centers and selected the universities to operate those new centers. Although ISTEA and TEA-21 also increased the funding for the UTC program, the original regional centers were left with the same level of funding and had to re-compete for the regional center.

In 1995, a consortium lead by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln won the Region 7 center. In 1999, Iowa State, along with its partner universities, won back the lead through another competition.

Impact of SAFETEA-LU

SAFETEA-LU continues down the path of the two prior authorization bills. It expands the number of congressionally selected centers and continues the regional, competitive centers. In SAFETEA-LU congress even selected two universities to receive two separate centers.

However, unlike its predecessors, SAFETEA-LU increases funding for the 10 original regional UTCs.

In the upcoming fiscal year, the regional centers will continue to receive $1 million, but in fiscal year 2006–2007, federal grants increase to $2 million, the first increase since 1988.

One million dollars is a lot of money, and we are grateful for the opportunity to participate in the U.S. DOT's UTC program. However, one dollar today is only worth about 60 percent of what it was worth in 1988 (according to the consumer price index). Therefore, when the amount of funding the regional centers receive doubles, we will be about 20 percent ahead of where we were in 1988.

As in the past, we are committed to building human capital. The majority of the funding we receive will go towards supporting students pursuing transportation-related education. Since re-winning the regional center in 1999, we
estimate that we helped to support approximately 240 students through assistantships spread across all the consortium universities and some at non-consortium members such as the University of Kansas. These students are now working at a variety of local, state, and federal transportation agencies and for private sector organizations like consultants, transportation carriers, logistics firms, shippers, and transportation industry associations.

Re-competition for UTC

In addition to the changes in funding, the new legislation also requires that the regional centers re-compete for their grant. Iowa State University and our consortium partners—the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Lincoln University, and the University of Northern Iowa—will be competing with other universities in the region. This competition is part of what makes the regional centers strong and responsive to our sponsors.

We are glad and grateful to be getting a long-awaited raise. The increase will expand our research and outreach mission. But mostly it will be reinvested in building human capital by supporting students working on university-based transportation projects.