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Transportation Research Center Inc. Celebrates a Half-Century of Helping Make the World’s Vehicles and Highways Safer

50 years ago, a Central Ohio cornfield was transformed to become a world-class automotive test center and an influential force in the state’s new tech-focused economy.

East Liberty, Ohio – Transportation Research Center Inc., North America’s most comprehensive automotive research organization, test center and proving grounds, is celebrating 50 years as an independent partner with many of the world’s leading mobility and technology companies.

 

Throughout those years, nonprofit TRC has been front and center in the development of passenger-safety systems and advanced mobility innovations that have made today’s vehicles and highways safer and more efficient.  Today, TRC supports clients across industry, government, and academia, helping them take the lead in developing the latest technological advances in autonomous and connected-vehicle transportation.

 

TRC Inc.’s main 4,500-acre research campus (TRC Ohio) is located in East Liberty, 40 miles northwest of Columbus.  A recently developed west coast facility, TRC California, is located near San Francisco and Silicon Valley, and has proven to be a pipeline to TRC’s Ohio facility.

 

“No one in North America can point to a longer, more successful history of cutting-edge vehicle and highway safety research, and nowhere will you find a stronger team of professionals than the people we’ve assembled here,” said Brett Roubinek, president and CEO of Transportation Research Center, Inc. 

 

Congratulating TRC on its golden anniversary, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said, “Over the past five decades, the people of TRC have worked to advance cutting-edge technologies in industries that help drive our state’s job base and economic growth.  This work will take on even greater significance in the years ahead as Ohio continues to build our technology-oriented economy.”

 

Development of TRC Ohio began in the late 1960s, fulling a dream of then-Governor James A. Rhodes to build a state-of-the-art transportation test track and research center in rural Logan and Union counties.  The goal was to make Ohio a nexus for automotive research, draw manufacturers to Ohio and boost the state’s economy.  Since its official dedication in July 1974, TRC has developed a comprehensive range of testing capabilities and professional expertise that has attracted transportation industry leaders to Central Ohio to test and refine their newest innovations.

 

“While this 50^th anniversary celebrates TRC’s past, our focus is firmly fixed on the future,” Roubinek said.  “We may be world-acknowledged leaders today, but we know we must always be preparing ourselves for what’s next in advancing technologies in order to be leaders for the next 50 years and beyond.”

 

As an example of TRC’s forward-looking mindset, Roubinek cited major upgrades being made at its highly regarded Impact Laboratory, thanks to a $25 million economic-development grant from the State of Ohio. “Research conducted at our Impact Lab has made crucial, lifesaving contributions to highway-safety advances over the years, and TRC is committed to keeping it a go-to resource for industry leaders,” Roubinek said. 

 

The innovative TRC SmartCenter, a new 540-acre complex the TRC Ohio campus, has been specifically designed for cutting-edge testing and research of autonomous driving systems and other advanced mobility technologies. 

 

In addition to the Impact Lab and SmartCenter, key facilities at TRC Ohio include a 7.5-mile highspeed oval test track and a 50-acre vehicle dynamics area as well as a number of challenging road courses and off-road trails.  The U.S. 33 Smart Mobility Corridor, Ohio’s first smart highway, starts near TRC’s front gate and runs 35 miles east to Columbus.  Equipped with a high-capacity fiber optic network and state-of-the-art sensors, the roadway instantaneously links researchers and traffic monitors with data from the roadway and wirelessly connected vehicles.

 

Working 24/7 throughout the year, TRC specialists and client engineers use the center’s broad array of specialized facilities to study vehicle performance, noise, crash simulation and crash worthiness.  TRC programs evaluate the performance of passenger cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, airplanes, off-road, tracked, alternative-fueled vehicles and their components.

 

For more information about Transportation Research Center, Inc. and highlights of its first 50 years, visit https://bit.ly/4cuvPtp.