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Transportation Research Center Inc. to Assume Management of California AutoTech Testing and Development Center

Transportation Research Center Inc. to Assume Management of California AutoTech Testing and Development Center

TRC’s nearly 50 years of experience will help grow the facility and advance innovation in region

MERCED COUNTY, CALIFORNIA – North America’s most comprehensive automotive testing organization, the Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC Inc.) in East Liberty, Ohio, has assumed day-to-day management of Merced County’s California AutoTech Testing and Development Center (CATDC) at Castle to help expand testing services for automotive manufacturers, suppliers and transportation innovators in mid-California’s technology hub.

TRC Inc. signed a ten-year agreement with the Merced County Board of Supervisors to manage the 225-acre CATDC testing complex and bring TRC Inc.’s nearly 50 years of technical expertise as an engineering services firm to help create a one-stop-shop approach to affirming the safety, quality and competitiveness of new technologies.

TRC Inc. was selected to manage and expand the county-owned research center after an extensive RFP process conducted by KPMG International for the Merced County Board of Supervisors.

Since its inception several years ago, CATDC has attracted innovators in and around Silicon Valley and the wider San Francisco Bay region.  CATDC currently operates high-speed and urban-grid automotive test zones on a substantial system of existing infrastructure.  A range of US-based, Asian and European OEMs and technology firms are presently conducting testing and development on the site. 

“In addition to Castle’s airport operations, the auto testing is a key part of our vision for the future of  Castle as a dynamic, jobs-creating engine for our county and the region” said Daron McDaniel, Chairman of the Merced County Board of Supervisors.  “Under the leadership of respected experts in automotive technology and research, we will make Merced County a destination for the high-tech firms and innovators who are reshaping transportation worldwide.”

“As one of the world’s most respected leaders in advanced transportation engineering and research, TRC Inc. has the know-how and experience to take this facility to the next level, attracting more innovators and ultimately bringing jobs and economic development to our communities,” said Mark J. Hendrickson, Merced County’s Director of Community and Economic Development.

“We are excited to bring our engineering and technical experience to Merced County to help this growing facility reach its full potential,” said Brett Roubinek, TRC Inc.’s president and CEO.  “With this strategic location adjacent to Silicon Valley and the Bay Region, CATDC and TRC Inc. give the West Coast’s automotive innovators, start ups as well as OEMs, convenient access to the testing facilities and expertise needed to validate their advanced mobility technologies.”

When TRC Inc. assumes management of the Merced County facility, it will work to complete development of advanced testing facilities, especially new capabilities geared toward research on autonomous and connected vehicles. In Ohio, TRC Inc. operates a 540-acre SMARTCenter which provides transportation innovators with a roadway complex especially designed for testing automated and connected vehicle systems in a safe, secure and repeatable real-world environment.

Since 1974, TRC Inc. has been an acknowledged leader in transportation research and innovation, providing a full range of engineering and automotive research expertise to the world’s leading OEMs, suppliers and systems innovators. TRC Inc.’s 4,500-acre campus in East Liberty, Ohio has attracted more than 800 clients by offering North America’s most advanced automotive testing facilities and proving grounds along with a comprehensive array of research and evaluation services. As a fully independent, 501c3 nonprofit organization, TRC Inc. provides these services with the strictest respect for each client’s security, confidentially and proprietary interests.

TRC Inc. engineers, test drivers and other technical specialists are skilled at testing for active and passive safety, fuel economy, durability, emissions, noise, crash simulation and crashworthiness as well as autonomous and connected mobility testing of passenger cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, aircraft, off-road, tracked, alternative-fueled vehicles and vehicle systems. 

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