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paul Brubaker, administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation visits Berkeley Transportation Programs

Paul Brubaker, (center, in photo at left), Administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) of the federal Department of Transportation, spent a day visiting the transportation programs at UC Berkeley on March 11.

Brubaker's program, RITA, provides half the funding for the University of California Transportation Center (UCTC), which amounted to some $1.7 million for 2006-2007. (The California Department of Transportation matches the federal dollars on a one-to-one basis.)

UCTC, which is housed on the Berkeley campus, is the University Transportation Center for Region 9. Its director is Elizabeth Deakin, Professor of City and Regional Planning, co-director of the Global Metropolitan Studies program, and a faculty affiliate of the Institute of Transportation Studies.

Brubaker's visit included a stop at UCTC headquarters and sessions in the ITS Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library for presentations by Library Director Rita Evans (seen at left) and short research presentations by UCTC students. He said he found the presentations very relevant to U.S. transportation policy and the research direction of RITA.