Research Centers

Center for Advanced Infrastructure & Transportation (CAIT)

The home for Transportation Infrastructure Research and Education at SOE

With more travelers per square mile than any other state and a location in the heart of the Northeast Corridor, New Jersey is America's proving ground for human and freight transportation and the perfect setting for the Center for Advanced Infrastructure & Transportation (CAIT). The Center, which is funded by the federal University Transportation Centers program (UTC), is University's technology base for transportation. It is an active member of the Rutgers Transportation Council, established by President McCormick in March of 2004 to promote collaboration among university programs in transportation engineering, planning, policy and other related fields.

Based at the School of Engineering at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, CAIT is now in its sixth year of advancing the maintenance and upkeep of our region's transportation infrastructure and helping to ensure the safety and security of our lifeline systems through research, education, and technology transfer.

CAIT activities have attracted the attention of transportation professionals, government officials and students alike. Activities include efforts to develop better pavements; improve the safety and security of transportation facilities and emergency management systems; optimize how we monitor bridges, tunnels and portways; alleviate traffic congestion; improve transit operations; develop intelligent transportation systems; and minimize transportation's effects on the environment. Since the Center was established, over 4,000 transportation professionals annually from regional municipalities have looked to CAIT for workforce training and the number of students completing transportation courses at Rutgers has risen 32 percent.

Some CAIT highlights for the past year include:

Groundbreaking for CAIT Headquarters - On February 12, ground was broken for a $4.3 million, 15,000-square-foot, two-story structure on the Busch campus. Funded by Rutgers, Federal and State Departments of Transportation, and transportation industry groups, the building will house research, conference and training facilities. Completion is scheduled for May 2005.

Transportation Safety Resource Center - with $2M in annual federal funding this program was established to consolidate safety efforts championed by the Federal Highway Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The program will provide technical and training services to local communities in New Jersey to increase traffic safety and reduce the economic impact of traffic accidents. The program will be a national model for taking safety measures to where they are needed the most, the local municipalities and communities in the state.

Maritime Infrastructure Engineering Program - CAIT's national profile as a multi-faceted Center rose as it began researching ways to manage sediment under New York's and New Jersey's 250 miles of harbor channels. The initial project, after three years of collaboration with New Jersey Maritime Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers involves solidifying soft sediments under the Passaic River. The program will address the multi-modal port and harbor infrastructure management issues through research and implementation and in collaboration with the public and private sector stakeholders.

Recycled Tires as Road Pavement Material - Americans discard about 240 million tires per year, but much of this rubber can be recycled, shredded and mixed with other materials to develop more durable pavement that keeps noise levels down. CAIT is active in this research.

Technology Transfer Program - CAIT's T2 program encourages replacement of outdated transportation industry practices, products and materials. An essential component of T2 is the federally funded Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), which establishes CAIT as the regional Center for municipal transportation professional to learn about new technologies and best practices.

Homeland Security - The NY/NJ metropolitan areas are especially sensitive to homeland security issues. In response, CAIT is working with the federal and state agencies to research the potential damage weapons of mass destruction could cause in a heavy populated and congested region of the country.

Medical Facilities Emergency Response Program - Evacuating a hospital during an emergency, finding space for the patients and recovering from a disaster all involve movement of people under the most dire of circumstances. CAIT is working with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to establish a Hospital Emergency Response Program that can be used locally and rolled out to hospitals nationwide.

Publication Success - CAIT made its mark at the nation's premiere transportation meeting in January 2004 when the Center's Intelligent Transportation Systems/Planning Group presented seven peer-reviewed scientific papers at the Transportation Research Board conference in Washington.