About

As part of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the University of Michigan, along with its partners, have created the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT). CCAT aims to significantly advance the evolution of the U.S. next-generation transportation systems with emerging technologies on safety, mobility, cybersecurity, and fairness. CCAT serves as the Region 5 University Transportation Center designated to address the field of comprehensive transportation safety, congestion, connected vehicles, connected infrastructure, and autonomous vehicles.

Located at the focal point of the U.S. auto industry, CCAT will play a unique regional role in promoting connected and automated transportation research, education, workforce development, and technology transfer activities, which are of critical importance to the future of the region’s economy. The CCAT team’s extensive and substantive collaborations with stakeholders such as the region’s state DOTs, local governments, and the CAV industry will ensure that its research translates to practical outcomes through prototypes, field tests, technology transfer, implementation, and policies.

The USDOT invests in the future of transportation through its University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program. The UTC Program advances the state-of-the-art in transportation research and technology and develops the next generation of transportation professionals. UTC awards and administers grants to consortia of colleges and universities across the United States. In 2023, the USDOT renewed CCAT under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

U-M’s partners include the University of Akron, Central State University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Northwestern University, Purdue University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Washtenaw Community College.