Mission and Vision

Mission

The SPTC’s mission is three-fold: i) to develop innovative, cost-effective, equitable and imminently implementable solutions to critical infrastructure durability-related issues in Region 6, particularly those caused by extreme weather and climate change; ii) to train the next-generation, climate-expert transportation workforce for careers and leadership roles in the transportation sector; and iii) to empower historically underserved and under-represented communities in rural, urban, and peri-urban settings through education, research, and training.

Vision

SPTC’s vision is to be a strong, diverse, and inclusive consortium dedicated to finding innovative, cost-effective, deployable, and equity-focused solutions to pressing transportation infrastructure durability problems in Region 6 while producing highly trained and skilled transportation professionals. The Center particularly focuses on under-represented professionals – Native Americans, Latinx, Hispanics, African Americans, and people with disabilities – to lead current and future public and private sector efforts. With 69 tribes, sizeable rural and coastal areas (>6 million rural lane miles), and a disproportionate number of underserved communities, Region 6 is a fertile ground for infusing equity and environmental justice in all UTC activities. SPTC aims to empower historically underserved communities by leveraging transportation-centric opportunities through research, education, and training.

About SPTC

SPTC’s research efforts will address the USDOT statutory research priority “D: Improving the Durability and Extending the Life of Transportation Infrastructure.” Under this statutory priority, the research program will address the USDOT strategic goal “Climate and Sustainability” as primary and “Economic Strength and Global Competitiveness” and “Safety” as two complementary, secondary strategic goals. SPTC will assess and mitigate vulnerability of transportation infrastructure to climate change, extreme weather, and sea-level rise through innovative research, effective implementation, trained workforce, strong leadership, and well-organized programs. Improving the resilience of at-risk infrastructure will enhance economic competitiveness and safety.

Consequently, SPTC’s research program will focus on the following five integrated topics that are strategically aligned with the selected USDOT priorities: (1) Novel Technologies and Tools for Extreme Weather Predictions and Assessment of Impact on Infrastructure Durability; (2) Leveraging Novel Materials and Emerging Technologies to Enhance Durability, Sustainability, and Extend Infrastructure Life; (3) Innovative, Cost-Effective and Nature-Based Solutions to Improve Durability of Coastal, Rural, and Tribal Infrastructure; (4) Performance-Based Infrastructure Life-Cycle and  Asset Management; and (5) Vulnerability Assessment and Safety Enhancement of Interdependent and Multimodal Transportation Systems. SPTC will produce solutions, materials, and tools to change the way extreme weather and climate change is considered in infrastructure design, efficiently assess infrastructure condition, economically rehabilitate existing infrastructure, enhance the resilience of new and existing infrastructure, effectively manage assets, and mitigate system vulnerability that can be scaled to the national level.

However, SPTC is about more than just research, SPTC’s education, workforce development, and technology transfer activities will facilitate widespread access to new knowledge, technologies, tools, and, more importantly, jobs and economic prosperity. This goal will be expedited through the synergy SPTC enjoys with its consortium members and outside partners participating as part of the SPTC Advisory Board and Research/Industry Advisory Committee.