Transportation Sustainability Research Center

What Transportation Sustainability Research Center does

The Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) is an academic research unit housed within the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. The center was established to study the economic, social, environmental, and technological aspects of sustainable transportation. Its research is organized around two principal pillars: Innovative Mobility Research — covering shared mobility, carsharing, microtransit, pooling, shared micromobility, transportation network companies (TNCs), automated vehicles, advanced air mobility and urban air mobility, mobility on demand, goods movement, curbside management, road charging/tolling/pricing, smart cities, travel behavior, and mobility for special populations and social equity — and Advanced Vehicles & Energy Infrastructure, which addresses advanced vehicles and fuels plus energy and infrastructure. TSRC does not produce commercial software or products; instead, it delivers peer-reviewed journal articles, research reports, policy toolkits (including the Shared Automated Vehicle Toolkit and the Shared Micromobility Policy Toolkit), annual industry reports (produced with NABSA), carsharing research and planning guides, and a weekly newsletter. The team is led by three co-directors — Susan Shaheen (innovative mobility), Timothy Lipman (energy and environmental policy, also a research affiliate at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and director of NorthCAT), and Arpad Horvath (life-cycle assessment) — supported by research staff, support personnel, and student researchers who are all University of California employees.

TSRC operates on a non-commercial, grant-funded model typical of university research centers. Revenue is generated primarily through research grants and contracts with federal, state, and local transportation agencies, supplemented by industry research partnerships with automotive manufacturers, transit agencies, and mobility service providers, and a modest recurring revenue stream from publications and reports. The center does not publish pricing for its outputs, and research services are delivered via contracted partnerships rather than fee-for-service commercial transactions. Its customer base comprises three principal segments: transportation policymakers (federal/state/local agencies) seeking evidence-based guidance, academic institutions that consume its peer-reviewed research, and transportation industry participants pursuing collaborative pilots and impact studies. The center maintains an advisory board composed of senior executives from Toyota Motor Sales, Nissan Technical Center North America, BART, AC Transit, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, providing industry and policy perspective.

The center's competitive position rests on its UC Berkeley affiliation, the international reputation of its co-directors, and the accumulation of decades of proprietary survey data on shared mobility and automated vehicles. Geographic focus is anchored in California and the San Francisco Bay Area, with broader North American and global research collaborations. As a unit of the University of California system governed by the UC Board of Regents, TSRC does not have independent ownership, outside investors, or commercial equity instruments, and there is no record of acquisitions, divestitures, or structural reorganizations in the source materials.

Name

Transportation Sustainability Research Center

Legal name

Transportation Sustainability Research Center, University of California, Berkeley

Website

https://tsrc.berkeley.edu

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

TSRC is an academic research center at UC Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies studying sustainable transportation through innovative mobility, automated vehicles, micromobility, and advanced vehicle research, producing policy toolkits and industry reports for government agencies, academic peers, and transportation industry partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Transportation Research Services

NAICS

Other Support Activities for Transportation (4889)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Transportation & Infrastructure Planning (BPAHAKAF)

Keywords

• Sustainable transportation research
• Shared mobility research
• Automated vehicles research
• Transportation policy analysis
• Micromobility research

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Contracts: Primary revenue source from federal, state, and local government transportation agencies contracting TSRC for research on sustainable mobility, automated vehicles, shared mobility, and related topics.
2. Industry Research Partnerships: Collaborative research with transportation industry partners including automotive manufacturers, transit agencies, and mobility service providers.
3. Publication and Report Sales: Revenue from publishing research reports, policy toolkits, and academic publications available through institutional repositories.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

TSRC conducts applied research on the economic, social, environmental, and technological aspects of sustainable transportation. The center produces peer-reviewed publications, policy toolkits, industry reports, and expert analyses covering shared mobility, automated vehicles, micromobility, carsharing, advanced vehicles and energy infrastructure, and mobility equity.

Product overview

The Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) is an academic research center at UC Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies, not a commercial product company. TSRC does not offer a unified product or platform; instead, it conducts research and produces publications, reports, and policy analyses on sustainable transportation topics. The organization's work encompasses research areas including Innovative Mobility Research (covering shared mobility, micromobility, automated vehicles, urban air mobility, goods movement, curbside management, road pricing, smart cities, and travel behavior) and Advanced Vehicles & Energy Infrastructure (covering advanced vehicles, fuels, and energy/infrastructure). TSRC's primary outputs are academic research publications, policy toolkits (such as the Shared Micromobility Policy Toolkit, Shared Automated Vehicle Toolkit, and Carsharing guides), industry reports (including annual Shared Micromobility State of the Industry reports produced in partnership with NABSA), and expert commentary in news media.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Publications and Reports Academic journal articles, research reports, policy briefs, and book chapters covering shared mobility, automated vehicles, micromobility, carsharing, and transportation equity.
• Shared Micromobility State of the Industry Reports Annual industry reports tracking shared micromobility (bikesharing and scooter sharing) trends, metrics, user profiles, employment, equity, and community benefits across North America, produced in partnership with NABSA.
• Shared Micromobility Policy Toolkit A toolkit outlining policies and practices for cities integrating shared micromobility into the built environment, covering definitions, user demographics, market potential, and best practices for curb space management.
• Shared Automated Vehicle Toolkit A framework providing public agencies and transportation stakeholders with tools and strategies to assess programs, plan infrastructure, and implement policies addressing mobility on demand (MOD), automated vehicles (AVs), and emerging transportation modes.
• Carsharing Research and Guides Research publications and planning guides on carsharing programs, including guides for local planners, impact analyses of car2go in North American cities, and studies on peer-to-peer carsharing.
• Weekly Newsletter Archive A weekly newsletter archiving TSRC research updates, news, and current events in sustainable transportation, with archives dating back to 2022.

Quantifiable outcome

• Researchers speculate SAVs could result in 55% reduction in energy use and ~90% reduction in GHG emissions
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Institute of Transportation Studies, UC BerkeleycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTSRC is housed within the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Berkeley, serving as an integral part of the university's transportation research ecosystem. This affiliation provides access to faculty, students, and research infrastructure.
• California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCaltrans partnered with TSRC to host the 'Shared Mobility: A Sustainability and Technologies Workshop' in 2015, facilitating dialogue among nearly 100 participants representing 28 organizations.
• North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Association (NABSA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTSRC collaborates with NABSA on annual shared micromobility industry reports, collecting and analyzing data across North America including operator surveys (n=29) and agency surveys (n=52).
• Toole DesignmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTSRC researchers collaborate with Toole Design on shared micromobility industry metrics data collection and analysis for annual state-of-the-industry reports.
• Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratorymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTimothy Lipman serves as Research Affiliate at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, enabling collaborative energy and environmental research.
• Toyota Motor SalesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBill Reinert, National Manager in Charge of the Advanced Technology Group at Toyota Motor Sales, serves on TSRC's Advisory Board, providing industry perspective.
• Bay Area Air Quality Management DistrictmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDamian Breen, Director of Strategic Incentives at Bay Area Air Quality Management District, serves on TSRC's Advisory Board.
• Bay Area Rapid TransitmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGail Murray, Director at BART, serves on TSRC's Advisory Board, providing transit agency perspective.
• Nissan Technical Center North AmericamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHiroshi Tsuda, Executive Principal Engineer at Nissan Technical Center North America, serves on TSRC's Advisory Board.
• Contra Costa Transportation AuthoritymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRandy Iwasaki, Executive Director at Contra Costa Transportation Authority, serves on TSRC's Advisory Board.
• AC TransitmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJamie Levin, Director of Alternative Fuels Policy and Marketing at AC Transit, serves on TSRC's Advisory Board.
• Northern California Center for Alternative Transportation Fuels and Advanced Vehicle Technologies (NorthCAT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTimothy Lipman serves as Director of NorthCAT, an effort focused on alternative transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Carnegie Mellon Traffic21 Institute: University research initiative deploying transportation technologies and smart-city innovations through university-industry partnerships. Comparable in deploying research outputs into real-world mobility deployments.
• Mineta Transportation Institute: San Jose State University-affiliated transportation policy research center producing studies on multimodal mobility, equity, and surface transportation. Comparable in academic policy research mission and California footprint.
• MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics: MIT-based research and education center covering transportation systems, logistics, and mobility innovation. Comparable as an elite university research center generating policy-relevant transportation research.
• UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies: Sister University of California transportation research institute studying sustainable mobility, vehicle technologies, and transportation policy. Most directly comparable peer given shared UC affiliation, policy-research focus, and overlapping research themes with TSRC.
• UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies: Another University of California transportation research institute focused on sustainable mobility, urban transportation, and emerging vehicle technologies. Closely comparable in mission, funding model, and academic-research positioning.
• University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI): Major university-affiliated transportation research center studying vehicle safety, mobility, autonomous systems, and sustainable transportation. Comparable in scale, research breadth, and university-based funding model.
• Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI): Large university-affiliated transportation research agency conducting multimodal safety, mobility, and infrastructure research. Comparable in grant-funded applied research model and policy-facing output.

Broad incumbents

• Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability: Cornell University sustainability research hub spanning energy, mobility, and climate. Comparable as a university-based sustainability research organization, though broader in scope than TSRC's transportation focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tsrcitsberkeley
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCnuUpU1bqmIj34BXrU9bvCQ/featured
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/transportation-sustainability-research-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Transportation Sustainability Research Center