Partner Organizations

As the national association of transit and urban mobility providers in Canada, CUTA brings a critical perspective to the opportunities and challenges of sustainable transportation and urban development in the 21st century. Within this landscape are many transit associations representing various regions of the world, and organizations representing other specialized sectors that intersect with CUTA’s mission. CUTA recognizes that sharing our research, promoting the work of other credible research centres, and seizing opportunities to collaborate serve to strengthen and amplify the respective missions of our organizations. 

CUTA is proud to highlight our partners on this page. Feel free to contact us for partnership opportunities.

CUTA Collaborative Research Partners

CUTA recognizes the profound value of our collaborative partners and the credible research produced by these organizations. Entering partnerships or joint research with credible organizations enable CUTA to further extend the knowledge base we can provide to Canadian Transit and Urban Mobility stakeholders.

American Public Transportation Association

Association for Commuter Transportation of Canada (ACT Canada)

Canadian Institute of Transportation Engineers

Canadian Urban Institute

Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium

Intelligent Transportation Systems Society of Canada

International Association of Public Transport (UITP)

National Research Council of Canada

Transit Cooperative Research Program

Transportation Association of Canada

University of Toronto Transportation Research Institute

CUTA recognizes the credibility of the research produced by these organizations, and proactively curates and distributes their publications through the Centre of Excellence where it concerns the interests and strategic goals of the Canadian Transit/Urban Mobility Industry.

Federal Transit Administration

National Center for Transit Research

National Transportation Database

Polytechnique Montréal

Shared-Use Mobility Center

Victoria Transport Policy Institute

APTA Logo

American Public Transportation Association

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is the leading non-profit advocacy organization for public transport in the United States, with a mission similar to that of CUTA. Our partnership with APTA empowers both organizations to share knowledge and insights on public transportation initiatives and challenges across North America. APTA and CUTA have committed to share access to all respective publications and libraries to enhance services to members of both associations.

Association for Commuter Transportation of Canada (ACT Canada)

ACT Canada is a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable mobility and transportation demand management, providing quality tools, resources, and services on the subjects. ACT Canada and CUTA collaborate on related projects, initiatives, research programs, and the development of training and education programs. The Chair of ACT Canada also sits on CUTA’s Board of Directors.

Canadian Institute of Transportation Engineers

The CITE is a network of engineers and professionals in the transportation industry in over 70 countries globally. CITE leverages the industry insight of its member network to research and reports on topics of importance to the transportation and transit sectors across Canada, and CUTA recognizes this insight and the quality of CITE publications.

Canadian Urban Institute

The CUI is a non-profit research organization focused on healthy and sustainable forms of urban development, including urban mobility and supportive policies such as complete community development and smart cities initiatives. CUTA recognizes the credibility and value of CUI research publications and policy recommendations.

Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium

CUTRIC aims to make Canada a global leader in low-carbon smart mobility technologies across heavy-duty and light-duty platforms, including advanced transit, transportation, and integrated mobility applications. CUTRIC supports industry-led collaborative research, development, demonstration, and integration projects that bring innovative design to Canada’s low-carbon smart mobility eco-system. CUTRIC was formed as an independent consortium in 2015 with seed financing by CUTA, which recognized the need for more transit innovation.

Federal Transit Administration

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation with a mandate to provide technical and financial assistance to American transit systems, as well as oversight on safety policies and technology research that advances the transit industry. CUTA recognizes the importance of research produced by the FTA in fields that apply to the Canadian transit industry, such as transit technology and safety.

Intelligent Transportation Systems Society of Canada

ITS Canada is a not-for profit professional association. ITS Canada is the national thought leader on advanced technologies and their application to the Canadian transport system. ITS Canada actively supports the use of these technologies by advocating their benefits; by showcasing and demonstrating the expertise of its members through their skills, products and services; and by providing the necessary tools, and platforms for networking, learning and collaboration. ITS Canada and CUTA allow for a sharing of resources and regular consultation on issues of mutual importance.

International Association of Public Transport (UITP)

The International Association of Public Transport (UITP, Union internationale des transports publics) is a passionate champion of sustainable urban mobility, and is the only worldwide industry network to bring together all public transport stakeholders and all sustainable transport modes. As an international organization with a mission similar to ours, CUTA recognizes the significant value of UITP's work in providing a global perspective on urban mobility that can be applied in Canada.

National Center for Transit Research

The National Center for Transit Research (NCTR) is a program within the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR), an organization at the University of South Florida that focuses on research in the transportation sector and workforce development education. The mission of the NCTR is to improve the safety, effectiveness, and desirability of public transit and other travel modes. CUTA recognizes the applicability of CUTR and NCTR publications to the transit industry.

National Research Council of Canada

The NRC is the largest research and development organization in Canada with a government mandate for industrial innovation, the advancement of knowledge, and technology development. CUTA recognizes research from the NRC as an important factor in anticipating future changes in the field of transportation in Canada, and our partnership with the NRC provides representation for the transit sector in their work.

National Transportation Database

The National Transportation Database (NTD) is the central repository for statistics on American transit agencies, maintained by the Federal Transit Administration. It contains wide-ranging data on topics including operations, safety, ridership, and other areas of critical importance. CUTA values the statistical knowledge gathered by the NTD, and considers the NTD to be an authority on data collection standards for public transit.

Polytechnique Montréal

Polytechnique Montréal, a faculty of the Université de Montréal, is one of Canada’s foremost research institutions in engineering and applied sciences.

Shared-Use Mobility Center

The Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMC) is a non-profit organization focused on the research and promotion of shared-use transportation modes (such as bike sharing, car sharing, and carpooling) as part of multimodal public transportation networks in American cities. CUTA has identified SUMC as an authoritative voice on this rapidly evolving segment of the transportation industry.

Transit Cooperative Research Program

The TCRP is a program within the Transportation Research Board (TRB), a division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine of the United States. The TCRP is a non-profit research institution sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to develop innovative near-term solutions to modern challenges facing the public transit industry in the United States and globally. Our partnership with the TCRP furthers CUTA’s mission to seek out and drive relevant, breaking developments in the transit research community.

Transportation Association of Canada

The Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) is a non-profit technical association focused on road and highway infrastructure, including applications in urban transportation. Research conducted by TAC in areas such as road design has implications for all road users including transit and active transportation, and CUTA recognizes the impact of these initiatives on supporting urban mobility. CUTA sits on TAC’s Urban Transportation Council, and on TAC’s Connected and Automated Vehicles Task Force.

University of Toronto Transportation Research Institute

The UTTRI is a leading national academic institute focused on the analysis, planning, and design of urban transportation systems to target equitability, cost-effectiveness, sustainability, productivity, and quality of life. Our partnership with UTTRI empowers CUTA to explore, identify and champion evidence-based policy initiatives, and to strengthen the cooperation between academic research and industry in the Canadian transportation sector. Our latest work with UTTRI includes analyzing recent trends in ridership across Canadian transit industry.

Victoria Transport Policy Institute

The Victoria Transport Policy Institute (VTPI) is an independent research organization that focuses its research on transportation planning and policy analysis.