University of South Florida

After an extensive search, USF and CUTR are pleased to announce that Jason Bittner has accepted the position of Director of CUTR. Bittner currently is Deputy Director of the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He will assume the new position in January 2012.

Bittner also holds a research appointment with a focus on freight transportation in the College of Engineering’s Wisconsin Transportation Center. During his previous 12 years in university-based transportation research and education, he has held progressively responsible positions including tenure as Acting Director. He also is a lecturer in transportation management and policy at UW–Madison and was instrumental in establishing a multidisciplinary graduate certificate program in transportation at the institution. Previously, he was an adjunct professor of political science and public affairs at Edgewood College in Madison, held an administrative management position with the Municipality of New Lebanon, Ohio, and worked for U.S. Senator Howard Metzenbaum.

As a researcher, Bittner generated over $1.2 million in total research funding as either a PI or Co-PI in the last three years. He has managed large-scale, regional, and national transportation programs and initiatives, analyzed trends in intermodal freight transportation, and built traditional and non-traditional collaborative partnerships. He was program chair and part of the planning and development of national peer exchanges and conferences on freight, transportation asset management, and maintenance quality assurance and has completed state level assessments of mobility programs for older residents.

Bittner co-chairs the Transportation Research Board Committee on Conduct of Research and serves as a lead member of the committee on transportation asset management. He also is actively involved in the Council of University Transportation Centers and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Research Advisory Committee.

Bittner will take the helm at CUTR in January 2012, shortly before the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. He will be CUTR’s third director since its establishment in 1988, following Gary Brosch, the organization’s founding director, and Ed Mierzejewski, who ended his term last year. Steve Reich, who has been Acting Director since Mierzejewski’s departure, will resume his responsibilities as Director of CUTR’s Transportation Program Evaluation and Economic Analysis Program.

Bittner is married and has three daughters, ages 10, 7, and 3 months. He holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the American University in Washington, D.C.