Founded in 1965, UMTRI is a global leader in transportation research and a partner of choice for industry leaders, foundations, and government agencies. UMTRI is one of the largest research institutes at U-M in terms of research expenditures, at $20 million annually. The institute has conducted over 1,000 research projects and collected hundreds of terabytes of data. Our multidisciplinary research includes short and long-term projects in areas involving social and behavioral analyses, accident data collection, traffic safety analysis, and standards development and testing, as well as the deployment and evaluation of new safety and mobility technologies.

UMTRI’s faculty and staff include full-time researchers, technical and administrative personnel, teaching faculty affiliated with university academic departments, as well as graduate and undergraduate students. UMTRI research scientists collaborate with many academic, government and industry partners to accomplish interdisciplinary research, generating new knowledge and providing students with experiential learning opportunities.

The last half-century has seen dramatic economic and technological changes in the automotive industry. Those changes are now accelerating as the industry strives to transform the “intelligence” of the global transportation system. UMTRI is helping to lead that change by expanding and leveraging the vast resources of the University of Michigan in key fields such as engineering, urban planning, behavioral science, emergency medicine, gerontology, public health, business, public administration and policy, and community service.