(Washington, DC) – Mayor Vincent C. Gray, District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Director Terry Bellamy, representatives from the Federal Highway Administration and Howard University officials celebrated the official opening of the Transportation Safety Data and Research Center (TSDRC) on the school’s historic main campus in Shaw today. Graduate and undergraduate students from Howard’s School of Engineering will work with faculty on research projects at the center, helping DDOT analyze traffic data and design strategies to make the District’s streets safer for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.

“This center will be an invaluable resource for the District, putting our best young minds to work studying one of the important issues that impacts the quality of life in our city, traffic safety,” said Mayor Gray. “If we can better understand what’s happening on our streets and why, we can make adjustments that will save lives and improve our transportation network.”

The center will also help prepare students from Howard and other District universities for careers in transportation. They will collect, compile and analyze a large volume of information, including data on crashes, traffic speeds, traffic volumes, commercial vehicles, and pedestrian and bicycle counts.

Howard University’s partnership with DDOT and the Federal Highway Administration dates back almost 15 years. The Howard University Transportation Research Center was established in 1998, but until now did not have dedicated space for students to conduct their research in support of DDOT.

“This center builds upon a longstanding relationship,” said Bellamy. “And over the years student research has helped us identify areas of concern and shape our transportation system to serve all users. We look forward to strengthening that partnership here in this facility, and we look forward to hiring some of these students to work at DDOT in the coming years.”

For more information about the Transportation Safety Data and Research Center, please visit www.hutrc.howard.edu .