UC Davis' National Center for Sustainable Transportation is trying to keep its research pipeline moving after the Trump administration canceled a $12 million federal award, forcing projects, staffing plans and student support into a prolonged reshuffle. Work involving post-pandemic travel, remote work, wildlife crossings and transportation equity has been delayed, redirected or left hanging as the center weighs how much research it can still support.
The funding was cut on May 2, 2025, when the U.S. Department of Transportation terminated seven university grants worth a combined $54 million. In its announcement, the Transportation Department described the UC Davis award as research into accelerating equitable decarbonization and said the canceled grants ran counter to the agency's priorities.
The center, which UC Davis has led since its founding in 2013, halted dozens of projects after the cut and delayed seven more that were scheduled to begin. According to The Sacramento Bee, more than 40 research assistants were moved to other projects, employees reduced their hours and director Susan Handy lost about 10% of her annual compensation, though the center avoided staff layoffs.
Projects And Students Were Forced To Adapt
The disruption was not limited to budgets on paper. UC Davis researcher Fraser Shilling's work on how traffic lights and sound affect wildlife wrapped up in December 2025, while a student working on the project changed her thesis and shifted from a doctoral track to a master's program after the funding picture changed.
That squeeze has left the center choosing between supporting more students and limiting recruitment. Handy told The Sacramento Bee that the center does not promise funding to master's students but needs to provide it for doctoral students, a distinction that has become more consequential as the center carries fewer doctoral students and more master's students than it did in 2025.
The fallout also spread across the broader transportation-center network. CalMatters reported that the termination of three grants led by a UC Davis professor left 77 researchers abandoning 79 projects already underway and forced project leaders to lay off or find replacement funding for more than 40 graduate and undergraduate assistants.
A Court Order Restored Funding But Not Stability
UC researchers sued the Trump administration in federal court, arguing that the grant cancellations were unlawful and violated constitutional protections. On September 22, 2025, Judge Rita F. Lin ordered the federal agencies to vacate and restore grants terminated through form notices that lacked grant-specific explanations, as well as Department of Transportation grants terminated under certain executive orders, according to the federal court order.
The restoration order eventually helped UC Davis regain access to its transportation funding about six months later, but the intervening disruption had already forced the center to rearrange projects, pursue private donations and rely on other sources of support. The center received a $25,000 private donation for its summer undergraduate fellows program, while UC Davis' Institute of Transportation Studies provided state funding to help keep the operation functioning.
That patchwork may not be permanent. The center could lose the federal funding again if the administration ultimately prevails in court, leaving researchers to plan around a grant that has technically been restored but remains tied to an unsettled legal fight.
New Court Filings Keep The Funding Fight Alive
The case gained fresh urgency this month after federal agencies acknowledged using broad keyword searches and other general criteria to identify grants for termination. CalMatters reported that the Transportation Department identified six grants worth about $42 million for termination because they referenced transportation equity, disadvantaged communities or diversifying the transportation workforce.
UC researchers' attorneys are now asking Lin for a final ruling requiring permanent restoration rather than another preliminary injunction. The Northern District of California docket shows the case remains active, with a July 27 status report addressing the anticipated timeline for a settlement involving the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the court docket.
For now, the National Center for Sustainable Transportation is still operating and accepting proposals for some 2026-27 Caltrans-funded research programs, according to its current funding information. But the center's experience shows how quickly a federal transportation award can shift from a research engine into a legal, financial and academic balancing act.
