Midwest Transportation Consortium : 2009-2010 annual report.

NHTSA · 2010 · ROSA P / Midwest Transportation Consortium

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Summary

The Midwest Transportation Consortium (MTC) 2009–2010 Annual Report documents the activities of a Tier 1 University Transportation Center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Comprising Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Northern Iowa, the MTC focuses on transportation safety through improvements in management information systems, with a specific emphasis on intercity and rural traffic safety. The report outlines the consortium’s research, education, and outreach efforts during its third year of operation, highlighting strategic investments in transportation technology to support economic recovery and long-term prosperity. The MTC conducts research through two mechanisms: competitively awarded sponsored projects and case-by-case match projects. During the reporting period, the consortium awarded five new sponsored projects and completed 16 projects initiated in previous years. Research topics included crash statistics, human factors, geographic information systems, and specific safety countermeasures. Key completed studies analyzed the effectiveness of red light running cameras, the safety impacts of rural expressway bypasses, and the performance of hybrid electric school buses. Other research evaluated deer-vehicle crash relationships, motorcycle conspicuity, and the efficacy of Iowa’s Driver Improvement Program. Ongoing projects focused on low-cost strategies for reducing speeds on curves, winter weather impacts on mobility, and the use of surrogate safety measures for rural roadway analysis. Findings from completed projects provided specific evidence-based insights for transportation agencies. Research on rural expressway bypasses indicated that bypasses with at-grade accesses performed more poorly in terms of safety compared to those with fully separated accesses. The study on hybrid electric school buses found they were 30 percent more fuel efficient than control buses, offering potential benefits for air quality and petroleum usage. Evaluation of electronic speed limit signs near schools demonstrated that dynamic signs were more effective at reducing speeds than static signs, particularly when drivers could see the school. Additionally, the Driver Improvement Program evaluation showed that 73% of participants had no subsequent driver actions and 93% were not involved in crashes during the probation period, though long-term statistical significance diminished after 13 months. The significance of the MTC’s work lies in its integration of research, education, and technology transfer to advance transportation safety. The consortium supported over 20 graduate students and engaged in workforce development initiatives, including regional summits and K-12 outreach programs like the “Road Less Traveled” conference. By disseminating results through journals, conferences, and online reports, the MTC aims to influence policy and practice. The report underscores the value of university-based centers in addressing complex transportation challenges, such as rural safety and infrastructure asset management, while fostering the next generation of transportation professionals.

Key finding

The document is an administrative annual report and does not present a single primary research finding but rather summarizes multiple completed studies, including the finding that electronic speed limit signs were more effective than static signs in school zones and hybrid school buses were 30 percent more fuel efficient than control buses.

Methodology

other

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• regulatory evaluation

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation
• Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes
• Methodological Resource: dataset resource