KU Transportation Center keeps Kansans connected

LAWRENCE — In hundreds of Kansas towns, the distance between neighbors is growing — not just in miles, but in access to the things that make community life possible.

As more families consider moving to urban centers, communities across the state face a new question: How do you ensure people can reach work, healthcare and everything they need when the roads between them feel longer and the resources to maintain them are limited?

One University of Kansas School of Engineering program is helping towns across the state maintain safer roads, preserve essential services, expand reliable transit and strengthen the ties that hold communities together.

The KU Transportation Center, known as the KUTC, has partnered with transportation professionals, transit providers and local governments throughout Kansas. Through research, workforce training and technical outreach, the KUTC helps communities navigate challenges and build systems that improve safety, strengthen mobility and help Kansans stay connected to where they live and work.

“We’re trying to support the state's ability and the local communities’ abilities to keep people where they want to live,” said Steven Schrock, director of the KUTC and a transportation engineering professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering at KU.

For him, transportation is about more than just roads. It means making sure older residents can keep living on their own in rural areas, that local road crews have the right training and tools, and that people can reliably get to work, school or medical appointments.

“We’re trying to make life in Kansas better,” Schrock said.

The KUTC was founded in 1977 and serves as a statewide center for transportation research, outreach and education. Its work covers highway safety and operations, infrastructure management, public transit access and new transportation technologies.

Two major statewide programs are at the heart of this work: the Kansas Local Technical Assistance Program (Kansas LTAP) and the Kansas Rural Transit Assistance Program (Kansas RTAP). Together, these programs support the people and systems that Kansans depend on every day.

Building safer and stronger transportation systems

Created through the Federal Highway Administration in 1982, LTAP programs exist in all 50 states to help local agencies improve transportation safety and operations. Kansas became one of the program’s earliest centers in 1983, with the KUTC serving as its home ever since.

The program provides workforce training and technical support for cities, counties and public works agencies across Kansas. That can include everything from gravel road maintenance and snow removal training to leadership development, equipment management and roadway safety guidance.

“If there is a training that is requested that we don’t currently offer, we will work to build a curriculum to offer the training,” said Rebecca Bilderback, director of Kansas LTAP.

KUTC staff travel across the state to deliver workshops and hands-on support in local communities. Schrock said the center is on track to hold nearly 70 workshops this year, which is well above its usual goal of 40.

“We’ve made it an emphasis that we’re going out to the local areas,” Schrock said.

This outreach takes many forms. For example, Kansas LTAP’s equipment loan program lets communities borrow transportation equipment free of charge, including radar speed trailers, speed feedback signs and road tube counters for collecting traffic data.

The KUTC also employs local engineering and field liaisons who travel across Kansas, helping communities address roadway safety concerns and operational challenges.

For Bilderback, the work is deeply personal.

“Getting to connect with locals and work to make Kansas communities safer has been extremely rewarding,” she said. 

Schrock says collaborating with local agencies enhances operations, increases safety and ensures that limited resources go further, making the KUTC a crucial partner for communities in maintaining the infrastructure vital to daily life in Kansas.

Meeting rural communities where they are

Many small communities in western Kansas have a hard time finding specialized transportation training and technical support nearby. Through Kansas LTAP, the KUTC works directly with local departments to offer resources that fit the needs of rural communities.

Greeley County sits on the border of Colorado, nearly 400 miles west of Lawrence. Daniel Smith, superintendent of Unified Greeley County Road and Bridge, has worked with Kansas LTAP throughout much of his career.

“As a small rural community, we often have limited staff, limited budgets and fewer opportunities to access specialized training compared to larger cities or counties,” Smith said.

Smith said Kansas LTAP resources are now part of his department’s daily work. The program helps train both new and experienced equipment operators.

Leadership development programs like the Road Scholar courses, along with resources such as roundabout webinars, have made a big difference for LTAP partners, and both have become a regular part of Smith’s department operations.

“One of the biggest benefits has been the Roads Scholar program,” Smith said. “The courses have been especially valuable in helping build leadership, management and operational knowledge that directly apply to my responsibilities as a supervisor.”

Smith also credited Rebecca Bilderback and the Kansas LTAP team for helping ensure training remains accessible for smaller communities.

“One thing that stands out is Rebecca’s knowledge and willingness to help,” he said. “Whether through in-person classroom training or Zoom courses, she works to ensure that our staff and supervisors can participate in valuable training opportunities without creating unnecessary barriers. For rural counties like Greeley County, having a resource that understands the unique challenges of small communities is extremely important.”

Making an impact beyond roads

Roadway infrastructure is a large part of the KUTC’s work, but transportation challenges in Kansas go beyond highways and maintenance equipment.

Reliable routes and transportation services keep entire communities functioning, connecting residents to the resources and opportunities they need to thrive.

That’s the focus of Kansas RTAP.

The program supports rural and small urban transit providers across Kansas with workforce training, technical assistance and operational support. The KUTC works with transit agencies, drivers, managers and local partners.

“Kansas RTAP is not just a program that focuses on producing materials and offering training,” said Kara Cox, director of Kansas RTAP. “The program is extremely applied and relationship-driven so that we continue ongoing support for transit agencies across Kansas.”

That support can include helping agencies navigate regulations, improve safety practices, adapt to new technologies and respond to changing community needs.

A lasting road map for a community in motion

In Salina, Kansas RTAP partnered with OCCK Transportation and city leaders on a transit feasibility study designed to better understand the community's changing transportation needs.

The partnership is built on a relationship that stretches back nearly two decades. In 2008, OCCK worked with the KUTC on a route study that helped establish Salina's original CityGo fixed-route transit system. At the time, the study estimated the system would support about 110,000 rides annually.

Today, CityGo provides approximately 229,000 rides each year. The city’s population has only grown by about 1,000 in that same time frame.

“That told us that their suggestions and the path that was forged from the recommendations from the study were valid and worked well in a community of our size,” said Trell Grinter, OCCK director of transportation.

As travel patterns shifted and new destinations emerged throughout the city, OCCK partnered with the KUTC again in 2023 to evaluate how the transit system could continue to meet the community's mobility needs.

The study involved community meetings, analysis of ridership and operations data, route reviews and feedback from riders, employers and transit staff. The team then made recommendations to improve service efficiency, expand access and support long-term transit planning.

Several of those recommendations have already produced measurable results.

After CityGo implemented route adjustments in 2025, monthly ridership increased by nearly 30% on its Yellow Route and 13% on the Red Route. Additional recommendations identified opportunities to improve access to employment centers and reduce travel times across the system.

“Working with the KUTC team was incredibly collaborative,” Grinter said. “They took time to listen to us, all while navigating ridership and census data sets. Their approach allowed us to translate more complex data into actions for our community.”

Research that redefines the future of transportation

In recent years, KUTC has expanded its research footprint as well, growing into a larger center focused not only on outreach and workforce support but also on transportation innovation, transportation operations and safety research.

Since Schrock became director in 2017, the center has significantly expanded its research activity and partnerships, while continuing to grow its statewide outreach efforts.

Today, the KUTC researchers study topics ranging from highway safety and traffic operations to connected and self-driving vehicle systems.

One of the center’s newest faculty members, Shi’an Wang, focuses on transportation cyber-physical systems, an area that combines infrastructure, communication systems and artificial intelligence to improve future transportation networks.

Working alongside KUTC researchers and the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), Wang is helping lead projects focused on roadway safety and data-driven transportation planning.

“The KUTC is a special environment because it acts as the vital bridge between academic innovation and practical application,” said Wang, assistant professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering.

One current KDOT-funded research project uses large-scale mobility datasets to better understand how differences in speed and vehicle weight contribute to crash risk across Kansas roadways. The goal is to help transportation officials identify higher-risk areas and make more informed safety investments statewide.

“Knowing that our work could directly prevent a collision and save a life is exactly why I chose this field,” Wang said.

Expanding the transportation conversation

The KUTC’s growing research portfolio reflects a broader expansion of the center's reach and capacity.

In January 2026, the KUTC moved into a newly renovated space in Youngberg Hall in KU’s West District, creating additional room for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and future growth.

This fall, the KUTC will host its inaugural Midwest Innovation and Development in Transportation Symposium, or MIDTRANS. Designed to connect researchers and practitioners from across the region, the event reflects KUTC’s growing reach beyond county lines and city limits, bringing together ideas, research and solutions shaping the future of transportation.

Whether through research, training or community partnerships, Schrock said he remains driven by the KUTC’s purpose.

“Being able to give people the freedom to live in rural Kansas is important,“ he said. “If we do our jobs right, you’ve got a better-trained workforce, the driving public is safer — fewer crashes, fewer people getting hurt. That’s why I come to work.”