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Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute seeks funding for autonomous trucking center, AI tools and CO2 transport model
Summary
UGPTI director Denver Talover asked the Senate panel for one-time and base funding to develop autonomous-surface freight research, AI for transportation and a multimodal CO2 transport model; the institute highlighted county road and bridge investment needs and ongoing data projects.
Denver Talover, director of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute at North Dakota State University, told the Senate Appropriations —Government Operations Division that the institute needs targeted funding to support autonomous freight research, artificial intelligence for transportation, and a multimodal model for moving captured carbon dioxide.
"We estimate not only the condition of of the paved roads, but also the investment needs," Talover said, summarizing UGPTI's biennial road-and-bridge needs study and the institute's ability to provide data and analytics to state and local governments.
Talover asked for one-time funding of $1,400,000 to establish an autonomous surface freight transportation center (initial center startup) and requested $575,000 in added base funding to bring a national expert and support related program work. He also requested $355,000 in base funding to develop long-term artificial-intelligence capabilities for surface-transportation assessment and $408,000 in one-time funding to develop a multimodal transportation network model for carbon dioxide movement and sequestration logistics.
Talover described UGPTI's ongoing statewide data work: a biennial county and township road-and-bridge needs study (covering more than 70,000 miles of road), an online asset-management system counties use to record conditions and traffic, and a new transportation data intelligence lab that archives camera feeds and will support AI algorithms for vehicle counts and roadway-condition analysis. He said recent legislative funding helped establish the lab and that UGPTI uses federal and partner grants alongside a modest general-fund base.
Scott Zainhofsky of the North Dakota Department of Transportation said NDDOT relies on UGPTI for research, needs analysis and workforce training, and supported the institute's requests. Senators asked follow-up questions about drone use for inspections, the composition of unpaved-mile estimates (township vs county), and the timing and matching requirements for federal grants. Talover emphasized the institute's match needs and the importance of general-fund support to secure and leverage federal grants.
No formal committee votes were recorded in the transcript segment provided.
