Pactrans Region 10 University Transportation Center

What Pactrans Region 10 University Transportation Center does

PacTrans Region 10 University Transportation Center, formally the Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium, is a federally designated Regional University Transportation Center (UTC) serving U.S. Department of Transportation Region 10 (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska). Founded in 2012 and hosted at the University of Washington's More Hall in Seattle, PacTrans operates as a non-profit research consortium across six universities (UW, WSU, UAA, PSU, UI, and NWIC), with Professor Yinhai Wang serving as director. Its core function is to coordinate applied transportation research, technology transfer, and workforce development for state DOTs, federal agencies, private industry, and students in the Pacific Northwest.

The consortium's technology footprint spans multimodal systems, safety and reliability, human-system integration, connected vehicle technologies, and winter weather mobility, with notable proprietary projects including a low-cost Road Weather Information System (RWIS) prototype developed with Weathercloud, a network-level pavement decision-making tool, a 3D structural information sensing system (3D-SISS), a virtual reality vehicle simulator, and lane-free multi-agent reinforcement learning traffic control research. The only consumer-facing product identified is the Seattle Bus Buddy Android application, built with Sound Transit data to provide location-based stop notifications for transit riders, particularly those with visual impairments. Outputs are disseminated via quarterly newsletters, annual reports, the Region 10 Transportation Conference, and student-focused events.

PacTrans is funded primarily through USDOT/RITA UTC grants with a mandated 1:1 match from consortium partners, primarily the four state DOTs of Region 10 (WSDOT, ODOT, ITD, AKDOT&PF), supported by private industry partners and a Technology Transfer Advisory Board. It does not charge for research outputs or publications and has no disclosed commercial revenue, operating budget, or private capital. Governance is provided by a Board of Directors plus External and Technology Transfer Advisory Boards, and the organization is functionally an academic research consortium rather than a standalone corporate entity.

Name

Pactrans Region 10 University Transportation Center

Legal name

Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans)

Website

https://pactrans.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Short description

PacTrans Region 10 UTC is the federally designated university transportation center for the Pacific Northwest, coordinating multimodal, safety, infrastructure, and connected-vehicle research across six universities (UW, WSU, UAA, PSU, UI, NWIC) in service of USDOT, state DOTs, and students.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

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, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. USDOT/RITA Federal Funding: Primary funding from the United States Department of Transportation via the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) as the Region 10 University Transportation Center.
2. Matching Funds from Partners: Participating research programs develop relationships with transportation agencies, private industry, and research institutes that provide matching funds for UTC-funded research projects (1:1 match requirement).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

PacTrans is a federally-funded university transportation research consortium that conducts applied research on data-driven, sustainable, multimodal transportation solutions for the Pacific Northwest. It operates as the Regional University Transportation Center for USDOT Federal Region 10, coordinating research, workforce development, education, and technology transfer activities across six Pacific Northwest universities in partnership with state DOTs, federal agencies, and private industry.

Product overview

Pactrans Region 10 University Transportation Center is a university transportation research consortium focused on transportation research, education, and workforce development for the Pacific Northwest region. The organization does not offer commercial products; its primary offerings are research projects, publications (newsletters, annual reports, UTC reports), and student fellowship programs. The only consumer-facing product is the Seattle Bus Buddy mobile application.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Seattle Bus Buddy A GPS-enabled Android mobile application that allows transit users (including those who are visually impaired) to set location-based alarms for their bus stops, helping riders avoid missing their stop. Developed with data support from Sound Transit.
• Transportation Research Services Collaborative funded research projects spanning multimodal systems, safety and reliability, human-system integration, connected vehicle technologies, and winter weather mobility, conducted through the consortium's six universities for federal, state, and industry partners.
• Technology Transfer Services Programs and resources that move research outputs into practice, including monitoring panels, success story funding, presentation opportunities, and a Technology Transfer Advisory Board (T2AB) connecting research to transportation agencies and industry implementers.
• Transportation Workforce Development Programs Student fellowships, graduate and undergraduate research opportunities, student transportation conferences, and educational programs that equip students and practitioners with skills for the transportation workforce of the future.

Quantifiable outcome

• Six consortium universities collaborating on transportation research for Federal Region 10
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 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

Feature6 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core lead institution, core consortium member, project partner, key agency partner and tech transfer advisory board.

• University of Washington (UW)core lead institutionStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Washington serves as the lead institution for PacTrans, hosting the headquarters at More Hall in Seattle. UW provides administrative infrastructure, faculty researchers, and serves as the primary research engine for the consortium. The UW CEE department hosts capstone showcases and research seminars.
• Washington State University (WSU)core consortium memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerWSU is a core consortium member contributing research across multiple transportation domains including pavement engineering, freight mobility, and safety analysis. Multiple WSU faculty lead funded research projects.
• University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA)core consortium memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerUAA represents Alaska in the consortium, contributing expertise in winter maintenance, rural transportation, and climate resilience. Leads research on RWIS development and avalanche assessment.
• Portland State University (PSU)core consortium memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSU contributes transportation research expertise, particularly in urban mobility, safety analysis, and infrastructure engineering through civil engineering faculty.
• University of Idaho (UI)core consortium memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerUI participates in multi-institutional research projects focusing on rural transportation, bridge safety, and traffic operations. Faculty lead projects on rural highway safety and infrastructure.
• Northwest Indian College (NWIC)core consortium memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerNWIC participates in the consortium bringing tribal transportation perspectives and indigenous community mobility research to the Pacific Northwest transportation research agenda.
• Weathercloud, Inc.project partnerTechnology or IntegrationWeathercloud partnered with PacTrans on the low-cost RWIS development project. The company collaborates on developing specifications based on market requirements and testing prototype systems for field deployment.
• Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)key agency partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerWSDOT is a key agency partner providing matching funds for research projects and offering research topics that shape the direction of transportation research in Washington State.
• Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT)key agency partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerODOT collaborates on regional transportation research addressing safety, infrastructure, and mobility challenges in the Pacific Northwest.
• Idaho Transportation Department (ITD)key agency partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerITD partners on research including rural highway safety, bridge evaluation, and transportation infrastructure projects.
• Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (AKDOT&PF)key agency partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerAKDOT&PF participates as a key agency partner, particularly for winter maintenance, rural transportation, and climate resilience research projects.
• Transpo Grouptech transfer advisory boardImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerBruce Haldors, CEO of Transpo Group, serves on the PacTrans Technology Transfer Advisory Board (T2AB), providing strategic guidance on technology transfer programs.
• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)tech transfer advisory boardStrategic or Co-development PartnerShin-Che Huang from FHWA-Washington Division serves on the T2AB, contributing federal perspective on transportation technology implementation.
• Coral Salestech transfer advisory boardImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDiane Grant, President of Coral Sales, serves on the T2AB, providing industry perspective on sales and implementation of transportation technologies.
• Local Highway Technical Assistance Counciltech transfer advisory boardStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaila Kral, Deputy Administrator, serves on T2AB representing local highway technical assistance perspectives.
• Connected Transportation Systems and Network Consulting (CTSN)tech transfer advisory boardImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerHamed Benouar, Managing Director, serves on T2AB providing expertise in connected transportation systems.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Southeastern Transportation Center (STC): USDOT regional UTC consortium of universities serving the southeastern U.S., directly comparable as a multi-university, federally-funded transportation research consortium with a state DOT partner network.
• Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT): USDOT-funded UTC led by the University of Michigan focused on connected and automated vehicle research, directly comparable as a federally-funded, multi-university transportation research consortium with industry partnerships.
• Midwest Transportation Center (MTC): USDOT regional UTC hosted at Iowa State University serving Federal Region 7, with the same federal grant + matching model and applied transportation research focus on safety, infrastructure, and workforce development.
• Center for Transportation Research (CTR): University-based transportation research center at UT Austin with broad multimodal research, workforce development, and state DOT partnerships — closely analogous to PacTrans in mission and structure though larger in scale.
• C2SMART (Connected Cities for Smart Mobility toward Accessible and Resilient Transportation): USDOT UTC at NYU focused on smart mobility, connected infrastructure, and data-driven transportation — overlapping PacTrans's connected vehicle and traffic management research with the same federal funding structure.
• Western Transportation Institute (WTI): University-based transportation research center at Montana State University with a rural and winter-weather research mandate overlapping PacTrans's Alaska/Idaho-focused cold-region and rural safety work.
• Mountain Plains Consortium (MPC): USDOT-designated Regional University Transportation Center covering Federal Region 8 (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, etc.), directly comparable to PacTrans in mission, funding model (USDOT grants with matching), consortium structure, and research focus on rural, safety, and mobility topics.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Pactrans Region 10 University Transportation Center