Perspective
The Trump Administration Takes Aim at Transportation Research
Researchers warn of a “chilling environment” as studies examining road safety and other topics are killed off and layoffs hit federal agencies.
Vehicles travel along Interstate 35 in Austin in 2024.
Photographer: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Just after 6 a.m. on Jan. 30, University of Texas urban planning professor Alex Karner opened his computer to find an unexpected email from the Transportation Research Board, a division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Attached to it was a “notice of Termination for Convenience” ordering him to stop all work on his research project.
“I felt my heart sink,” he said.