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RESEARCH
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The
Mineta Transportation Institute research program seeks
to involve a diverse and growing number of certified
Research Associates (RA) and student research assistants
in a wide spectrum of research projects judged by peers
and other experts to advance the body of knowledge in
transportation policy and management from an intermodal
perspective.
All completed research reports and the proceedings or
reports of MTI events can be accessed using the
Publications link on this page. Also available are
Project Descriptions of research in progress, individual
pages for Research Associates, the forms used to apply
for RA certification, manage research projects, respond
to the annual request for proposals, and a database of
refereed journals that publish in the areas of MTI
interest.
Research Teams
MTI actively recruits academic involvement by San José
State University (SJSU) faculty. However, the program is
different from most other transportation centers because
research teams may also include faculty from other
colleges and universities and private sector
consultants. Each team includes at least one SJSU
academic member and one SJSU student.
MTI certifies all Research Associates prior to their
involvement in any project. Certification requires a
completed application with references, a résumé, and a
sample of published research. The Research Associates
Policy Oversight Committee (RAPOC), composed of the
department heads or representatives of the SJSU academic
departments with which MTI works, reviews the
applications and recommends certification where
appropriate. Certification is approved by the executive
director and must be renewed every five years.
Research Projects
Project selection begins with an extensive needs
assessment process by staff, Caltrans, and MTI’s Board
of Trustees (BOT). The staff researches needs identified
by federal agencies and seeks input from the U.S. DOT
Western Resource Center. Following the needs assessment
process, the institute issues a formal Request for
Proposals (RFP). RAPOC, Caltrans, and a representative
from the U.S. DOT subject all proposals to peer review
and rigorous discussion before selection.
MTI emphasizes policy and management research, rather
than technical research, and selects only research
projects with immediate and practical value for
transportation officials and practitioners. To that end,
MTI has adopted the following areas of emphasis:
- safety and security of transportation systems
- financing of both public and private sector
transportation improvements
- transportation, land use, the environment, and the
economy interrelationships
- transportation planning and policy development
- intermodal connectivity and integration
- sustainability of transportation systems
- labor and workforce issues
- transportation decision-making and consensus
building
Transfer of Research Information
All research is posted in the Publications section of
this website, and each report is also professionally
published and printed following successful peer review,
author revisions, and editing. MTI has developed a
number of other approaches to information transfer,
including sponsoring symposia, funding post-research
travel for researchers to address professional
conferences such as TRB, providing financial incentives
for publishing in peer-reviewed journals, and developing
cost-effective formats to present research summaries for
distribution to practitioners. |
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