{"id":79127,"date":"2026-09-04T15:53:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T19:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/?p=79127"},"modified":"2026-09-04T16:00:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T20:00:03","slug":"utc-to-play-key-role-in-25-million-carta-autonomous-vehicle-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2026\/09\/utc-to-play-key-role-in-25-million-carta-autonomous-vehicle-project\/","title":{"rendered":"UTC to play key role in $25 million CARTA autonomous vehicle project\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rendering<\/p>\n

Live-Learning Lab rendering provided by CARTA<\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

A $25 million federal grant awarded to Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) will help bring a new generation of transportation technology to downtown Chattanooga.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will play a central role in research, education and workforce development.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CARTA announced at a press conference that it received the funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation\u2019s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program. The award will support the replacement of its downtown electric shuttles with autonomous vehicles, along with the infrastructure needed to operate them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The project will also create an autonomous vehicle command center and the Live-Learning Lab at CARTA\u2019s Shuttle Park South, where UTC students and faculty will be able to study the technology as it operates on Chattanooga streets.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The project will add to years of research by UTC\u2019s Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis project gives us an opportunity to really build on that foundation and have our faculty and students conduct research, develop new intellectual property, move that IP toward commercialization,\u201d Chancellor Lori Bruce said at the press conference.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bruce shared that the lab will allow students and faculty to \u201cconduct their research, do R&D, take courses, and have real-time hands-on activities.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Mina Sartipi, UTC interim vice chancellor for research and founding director of CUIP, said the project will help researchers take their work into an operating autonomous transit system.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRather than studying individual technologies in isolation, we will be able to work alongside an operational autonomous transit system and explore how vehicles, roadway infrastructure, traffic signals, communications systems and transportation operations can work together as one connected ecosystem,\u201d Sartipi said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A major part of that work will focus on connectivity. Autonomous vehicles use cameras and sensors to understand their surroundings, while connected infrastructure can provide additional information from traffic signals, intersections and other vehicles.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Live-Learning Lab will bring that research into the classroom. Located next to CARTA\u2019s autonomous shuttle command center, the lab will allow UTC faculty and students to develop and operate their own autonomous system and learn from the technology in real time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Students will be able to study how autonomous systems are designed and developed, operated, monitored, maintained and deployed in a public transportation setting. Faculty will be able to build curriculum around the technology, test new ideas and involve students directly in research.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I find most exciting is that our students will not simply be studying the future of transportation,\u201d Sartipi said. \u201cThey will be helping create it, right here in Chattanooga.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The experience could prepare students for careers in autonomous vehicle systems and operations, connected infrastructure, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and command center design and management.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe want Chattanooga to be a place where new technologies are not only implemented, but they\u2019re developed, they\u2019re studied, they\u2019re improved and where our graduates truly are leading the industries that those technologies create,\u201d Bruce said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CARTA CEO Charles Frazier said the lab will give students and researchers a chance to learn alongside a working transportation system.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe technology operating on our streets will also become a classroom,\u201d Frazier said. \u201cStudents will learn alongside these living systems, researchers will study them, and existing CARTA employees will develop new skills.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Speakers at the grant announcement also included CARTA Chief of Staff Scott Wilson, Federal Transit Administration Associate Administrator Connor Torossain, Chattanooga City Councilwoman Raquetta Dotley, EPB CEO Janet Rehberg, CARTA Chairman Johan de Nysschen and Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"UTC

Chancellor Lori Bruce speaks at a podium during a CARTA announcement. Photo by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n

Learn more<\/h4>\n

Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP)<\/a><\/p>\n

Visit UTC<\/a><\/p>\n

How to apply<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo gallery by Angela Foster<\/h4>\n
\"UTC, <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"UTC <\/a> <\/div>
\"Renderings <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Interior <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Dr. <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A $25 million federal grant awarded to Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) will help bring a new generation of transportation technology to downtown Chattanooga.\u00a0UTC will play a central role in research, education and workforce development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2000,"featured_media":79139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119405,70,3,124498,122493,122313,7712,64,48007],"tags":[127539,48173,48162,126491,125325,127536,127070,127069,127071,127072,127061,127077,126064,127538,127540,125603,119381,124479,127537,125326,127541],"class_list":{"0":"post-79127","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-community","9":"category-cuip","10":"category-education","11":"category-experiential-learning","12":"category-faculty-and-staff","13":"category-feature-story","14":"category-news","15":"category-research-academics","16":"tag-build-grant","17":"tag-carta","18":"tag-carta-shuttle","19":"tag-chancellor-lori-bruce","20":"tag-charles-frazier","21":"tag-connor-torossain","22":"tag-goal-1-1-expand-utcs-educational-footprint-strategic-plan-2030","23":"tag-goal-1-2-enhance-learner-success-strategic-plan-2030","24":"tag-goal-2-2-faculty-staff-success-strategic-plan-2030","25":"tag-goal-3-1-innovative-and-impactful-research-strategic-plan-2030","26":"tag-goal-5-1-community-engagement-strategic-plan-2030","27":"tag-goal-5-2-community-impact-strategic-plan-2030","28":"tag-janet-rehberg","29":"tag-johan-de-nysschen","30":"tag-live-learning-lab","31":"tag-lori-mann-bruce","32":"tag-mayor-tim-kelly","33":"tag-mina-sartipi","34":"tag-raquetta-dotley","35":"tag-scott-wilson","36":"tag-shuttle-park-south","37":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nUTC 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