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May 30, 2025

Ranking Members Lofgren and Larsen Call on Trump Administration to Reinstate Canceled Bipartisan Transportation R&D and Workforce Grants

(Washington, DC) – Today, Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and Ranking Member Rick Larsen of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure sent a letter to Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy imploring the Trump administration to reinstate transportation research and development grants to University Transportation Centers (UTCs) after seven were canceled in early May. The bipartisan UTC program was established in 1987 to fund university research in an effort to enhance the safety and efficiency of the U.S. transportation system and develop the next generation of transportation officials. The UTC program is Congressionally directed and funded. 

“We write to express our concern about the Department of Transportation’s May 2nd decision to terminate seven grants to University Transportation Centers (UTCs) on the basis that the grants run counter to changing priorities of the Department,” the Members wrote. “This decision was made without consultation with Congress, State Departments of Transportation, or the Universities, and may undermine the overall program, which is administered on a rigorous and competitive process.”

The Members continued, “While the Administration’s stated reason for cancelling these awards is their supposed ‘radical DEI and green agenda,’ it did not escape our notice that all 7 UTC awards canceled were in majority Democratic communities. However, because each award is run by a consortium, shutting down these UTC programs doesn’t just affect New York, California, Maryland, and Louisiana. Forty-two universities spanning over 15 states lost support for their partnerships on emerging transportation issues. Critically, these centers are all required to match federal funds at 100 percent to 50 percent, depending on the type of center. The Department’s reckless decision to prematurely shut these programs down has endangered millions of dollars in private-sector and state agency funding. It also sets back efforts to address real shortages in the transportation workforce.”

The letter can be found here.