Center for Urban Transportation Research at USF

What Center for Urban Transportation Research at USF does

The Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) is a non-profit, university-affiliated transportation research center established in 1988 by the Florida Legislature and operated within the University of South Florida's College of Engineering in Tampa, Florida. CUTR delivers research, training, education, and technical assistance services to a sponsor base spanning federal, state, and local transportation agencies as well as selected private-sector partners. The center is mandated as a continuing resource under Florida Statute 334.065 and was designated by Congress in 1991 as a University Transportation Center, later becoming in 2019 the National Institute for Congestion Reduction (NICR) — the first national UTC in Florida. Approximately 190 full-time research faculty, staff, and student research assistants support the center's work.

CUTR operates a portfolio of roughly 14 specialized research programs covering advanced air mobility, autonomous and connected mobility evaluation (including the THEA CV Pilot), driver behavior and human factors, intelligent transportation systems and traffic operations safety, motorcycle injury prevention, resilient transportation infrastructure, transit management and innovation, transit safety and workforce development, transportation demand management, and transportation planning and policy. Technical capabilities include connected vehicle data analytics (e.g., the THEA CV Pilot Performance Evaluation Dashboard), AI-based video analytics for real-time pedestrian crash risk estimation at signalized intersections using a physics-informed road user safety field theory, and advanced statistical and econometric methods for highway safety and travel behavior analysis. Supporting outputs include the open-access Journal of Public Transportation, the CUTR Transportation Webcast, the Out of My Lane podcast, the OERTransport multimodal planning textbook, and an extensive publications repository.

CUTR is largely self-supporting through contracts and grants, receiving nearly $30 million per year in research awards from sponsors that include the Florida Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, multiple transit authorities (HART, Jacksonville Transportation Authority, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, Tampa Bay Regional Transportation Authority), Hillsborough County, City of Tampa, Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway Authority, Google, MobilityData, and others. The center supplements contracts with state base support under Florida Statute 206.606 and pursues both in-state and out-of-state opportunities, typically serving as a non-exclusive research subcontractor rather than competing with private consulting firms.

Name

Center for Urban Transportation Research at USF

Legal name

Center for Urban Transportation Research

Website

https://cutr.usf.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida is a non-profit, state-mandated transportation research center in Tampa, FL, delivering research, training, and technical assistance to federal, state, and local transportation agencies, transit authorities, and select private-sector partners through contracts and grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Transportation Research Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Road Transportation (4884)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Transportation & Traffic Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAC)

Keywords

• Transportation research
• Urban mobility planning
• Transit safety research
• Transportation policy analysis
• Intelligent transportation systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Tampa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Research Contracts and Grants: CUTR is largely self-supporting through contracts and grants from transportation agencies at local, regional, state, and national levels. They receive nearly $30 million per year in awards through contracts and grants to support research, education, training, and technical assistance missions.
2. State Funding Base: State-funded base support provided by Florida Statute 206.606, with additional state funding through chapter 216 budget process.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CUTR conducts applied transportation research, training, and technical assistance for public-sector sponsors through sponsored contracts and grants. Its work spans urban transportation, multimodal planning, traffic safety, connected and autonomous vehicles, transit operations, infrastructure resilience, and transportation policy. Deliverables include research reports, datasets, dashboards, professional training, and policy analysis used by federal, state, regional, and local transportation agencies.

Product overview

The Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida is a research-focused organization established in 1988, not a commercial product company. CUTR operates as a portfolio of specialized research programs and educational offerings rather than a unified commercial product. The portfolio includes approximately 14 research programs covering areas such as autonomous and connected vehicles (ACME), advanced air mobility, traffic safety, transit management, and infrastructure resilience. Supporting these programs are digital content platforms (webcasts, seminars, podcasts), training programs (TDM Professional Learning Series), educational resources including the open-access Journal of Public Transportation and OERTransport textbook, and research publication repositories. CUTR generates nearly $30 million annually in research awards and employs approximately 190 full-time researchers, faculty, and staff across its various programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• National Institute for Congestion Reduction (NICR): A national university transportation center focused on congestion reduction research
• National Center for Transit Research (NCTCR)

Products and services

• National Institute for Congestion Reduction (NICR) A national university transportation center focused on congestion reduction research, designated in 2019. Conducts sponsored research and publishes findings for federal, state, and local transportation sponsors.
• Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly $30 million per year in research awards through contracts and grants
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major, significant, regional, innovation, academic, specialized and industry.

• Florida Department of TransportationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary state sponsor providing significant research funding. CUTR serves as a continuing resource for FDOT in areas of urban transportation research, policy analysis, and technical assistance.
• Federal Highway AdministrationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal research funding and collaboration on national transportation initiatives, connected vehicle programs, and safety research.
• Federal Transit AdministrationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFTA Standards Development Program partner, supporting transit safety, workforce development, and electric bus deployment research.
• U.S. Department of EnergycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner$3.5M contract recipient for clean energy transportation research, including $17M federal grant to boost railroad workforce.
• National Academy of SciencesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on transportation research through National Academies, including NCHRP projects and transportation security initiatives.
• MobilityDatasignificantTechnology or IntegrationPartnership to improve real-time transit information using GTFS and other transit data standards. CUTR software tool implemented internationally.
• Hillsborough Area Region Transit AuthorityregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal transit authority partner for transit management, innovation, and safety research programs.
• ENSCO Inc.significantStrategic or Co-development PartnerIDIQ contract partnership for USDOT's Transportation Technology Center (TTC) task orders, including transportation emergency management and security.
• Mineta Transportation InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner$15M Mineta Consortium partnership for transportation research. CUTR named as partner in multi-university research consortium.
• GoogleinnovationTechnology or IntegrationAdvanced Air Mobility research collaboration, including flying taxis and connectivity software research.
• Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway AuthorityregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerConnected vehicle pilot program (THEA CV Pilot) for crash-avoiding technology testing and evaluation.
• University of Central FloridaacademicStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity consortium partner for transportation research, education, and technology transfer.
• University of FloridaacademicStrategic or Co-development PartnerInter-campus transportation research collaboration among Florida universities as mandated by Florida Statute.
• Auburn UniversityacademicStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity Transportation Center consortium partner for joint research projects.
• Portland State UniversityacademicStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity consortium partner for transportation research collaboration.
• Critical Ops LLCspecializedStrategic or Co-development PartnerAwarded contract from National Academies of Science to host Transportation Emergency Management and Security Summit & Exchange.
• Association for Commuter TransportationindustryStrategic or Co-development PartnerBest Workplaces for Commuters program partnership, managing over 700 named organizations for commuter benefits recognition.
• ForthinnovationTechnology or IntegrationElectric vehicle and charging infrastructure research partnership.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI): One of CUTR's stated university consortium partners; TTI is a similarly statutorily-aligned university transportation research center performing sponsor-driven research for federal, state, and local agencies across safety, mobility, and infrastructure — directly comparable mission, funding model, and customer base.
• Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San Jose State University: Named CUTR partner in the $15M Mineta Consortium; MTI is a congressionally-designated UTC with overlapping surface transportation, transit, and workforce research scope, and a comparable grant-funded operating model.
• Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE) at NC State University: University-based transportation research center providing contract research, training, and technical assistance to DOTs and transit agencies — a direct functional analog to CUTR's 14 research programs and grant-driven model.
• Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI): Leading university-based transportation safety, driver behavior, and connected/autonomous vehicle research center; closely mirrors CUTR's ACME and Driver Behavior programs and competes for overlapping federal UTC and safety-research funding.
• University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI): Major university transportation research institute with similar federal- and state-funded research portfolio in safety, driver behavior, and mobility — comparable in scale and academic positioning to CUTR.

Broad incumbents

• AECOM: Global engineering/professional services firm with a large transportation practice that competes for many of the same state DOT and federal research and consulting contracts that CUTR services — broader portfolio but overlapping buyer set.
• WSP USA: Large engineering consultancy with a dedicated transportation and transit advisory practice addressing the same DOT, FTA, and transit authority clients that fund CUTR research — competitor for sponsor-funded work at a broader scope.
• ICF International: Public-sector consulting firm with deep transportation research, climate, and policy practices serving federal agencies (USDOT, DOE) — comparable research-and-advisory model at a larger commercial scale.

Emerging players

• Kittelson & Associates: Specialized transportation engineering and planning firm with strong overlap into traffic operations, safety, and ITS research areas CUTR works in; a credible non-academic competitor for state and MPO contracts.

Others

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL): DOE national lab active in clean transportation, mobility, and vehicle electrification research; CUTR holds a $3.5M DOE contract, making NREL both a potential partner and a competing recipient of federal clean-mobility research dollars.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/CUTRUSF
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCuciPnooGK5VyEHtFBCqVIg
• Facebookfacebook.com/CUTRUSF
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cutrusf
• Instagraminstagram.com/cutrusf

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Center for Urban Transportation Research at USF