University of Texas at Austin chosen to help with the future of transportation

The University of Texas at Austin was chosen to be one of 18 institutions to address major transportation challenges that the U.S. Department of Transportation says will affect our country in the next three decades. 

"In the next 30 years, our country will have 70 million more people competing for the use of our roads, transit and rail networks, and airports, and we are going to have to make some big choices about how we fund and prioritize transportation," U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement.

The statement cited "population growth, increased freight shipping, and the movement of people into concentrated megaregions," as some of the trends leading to transportation challenges. USDOT released a full report Monday.  

The same report predicts by 2050, nearly 70 percent of Texans will live in the four metropolitan areas alone.

UT Austin is designated a Beyond Traffic Innovation Center to lead research. 

"The Beyond Traffic Innovation Centers will bring together researchers, students, and thought leaders to develop the ideas we need to keep Americans moving and build a transportation system that works for everyone," Foxx said.