Within a year of its launch (which was in May 1996) the Transport Research Institute (TRI) has succeeded in attracting a major Research Development Grant from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council. This award, of £695 000 over the next three years, is intended to strengthen TRI's research capability. It will enable the creation of two new Chairs and a Readership, covering the economics and policy aspects of transport, and the social aspects of transport. It will facilitate the development of research and data links with the City of Edinburgh Council. And it will enable the development of a Resource Centre at Redwood House, and enhancements in information provision. Redwood House itself opened for business as the base for the TRI central team in February, when the new Director took up his post, with an inaugural event led by Pierre Laconte (UITP), and followed by the first meeting of the Advisory Board. As a way of facilitating interaction between end-users and academics, TRI has reached agreement with the Scottish Transport Studies Group and Chartered Institute of Transport (Scottish Section) that their secretariats be based at Redwood House, and is exploring the scope for further mutually beneficial developments with other professional bodies. To help focus the interests of the many different departments involved in TRI, there have been some changes in group structure. These include the developments of a 'Clean vehicle technology' group, led by Professor Sinclair Gair (Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering); this includes not only science and engineering but also design interests, and is focused primarily on the bus as the target vehicle. To prepare the way for the growth in the social and economic aspects of research facilitated by the SHEFC award, a new 'Social, legal and behavioural' group has been formed, under the leadership of Professor Norman Bonney (Department of Pyschology and Sociology). Professor Ian Pyrah has taken over the leadership of the Transport infrastructure group.
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