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Washington, D.C. --- The U.S. House of Representatives today approved a giant transportation bill that included $19.4 million for two Rutgers University transportation programs---the National Transit Institute and the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation, said U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), who requested the funds earlier this year.
The funds were included in a Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users ("TEA-LU") conference report, a $286.4 billion multi-year transportation reauthorization bill that the U.S. House of Representatives approved today. The conference report reconciled separate transportation bills passed earlier this year by the House and Senate. The Senate is expected to vote on the conference report later today and then the bill will go to President Bush for his signature.
The House approved $17.2 million for the National Transit Institute (NTI) at Rutgers University. The NTI was established to meet the dynamic training and development needs of the transit industry's workforce. The New Jersey congressman said these federal funds would help the NTI to continue to play a major role in designing, developing and conducting training in response to the needs of the transit industry.
Pallone also secured $2.2 million for The Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) at Rutgers University, one of ten competitively funded University Transportation Centers across the country. The center works on research, education, and technology transfers in all of the major surface transportation categories, including highways, bridges, intermodal passenger and freight facilities, bus facilities, and bicycle and pedestrian pathways.
The CAIT focuses on maintenance and operation of high-volume transportation infrastructure systems. Its goal is to be a catalyst for creating a multi-modal transportation infrastructure research and education paradigm that incorporates input from members of the TIS community.
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