Welcome To The Transportation Research And Analysis Computing Center (TRACC)

Chartered in 1946 as the nation's first national laboratory, Argonne enters the 21st century focused on solving the major scientific and engineering challenges of our time: sustainable energy, a clean environment, economic competitiveness and national security. Argonne is pursuing major research initiatives that support the U.S. Department of Energy's goals to create innovative and game-changing solutions to national problems, including state-of-the-art transportation research.

In today's world, increased productivity and the quick adoption of new capabilities are essential to maintain a competitive edge. This is particularly true for the complex transportation system in the United States, which is the backbone of much of its economic success. This complex network of highways, bridges, port facilities, and rail lines has been built over many decades, and modern operation of these facilities pushes traffic to the limits. Congestion in many major metropolitan areas is rampant and a major cause of lost revenue, and congested transportation systems are an enormous challenge for large scale evacuations in case of natural or man-made disasters. Bridges and highways are hard to maintain in tough economic times, and the demands on our transportation system are expected to grow continuously.

To respond to these challenges, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) wants to deploy state-of-the-art modeling and simulation capabilities. As an effective strategy, this requires not only the development of appropriate computational tools, but also the development of a work force that is trained in deploying such tools, the scientific research that validates the deployed methodologies, and the availability of computational resources to achieve the targeted goals.