Huntsville, Ala., April 13, 2018—Alabama A&M University (AAMU) and Toyota Motor North America today announced a collaboration to launch a student-led mobility initiative.  The aim of the program, which begins the fall semester of 2018, will bring the local community together with students to find better ways to connect people to things like education and jobs, and expand usage of zero or low emission vehicles.
 
The initiative will bring together an interdisciplinary team of students and faculty to facilitate a project called “Clean Low Emissions Approach & Novel Transportation Innovation Practice” (CLEAN-TRIP).  The project is the first of a series of university mobility initiatives across the U.S. to be announced by Toyota.
 
“Creating a clean, safe and more efficient environment for the campus proper, as well as the immediate and larger community, has been a major thrust of AAMU for decades,” notes Dr. Ernst Cebert, facilitator of the project and professor within the College of Agricultural, Life and Natural Sciences.  “Through this project, we will engage students with hands-on learning to address real world problems.”
 
Toyota is providing an initial grant of $300,000 to fund the initiative, which includes scholarships for students accepted into the program.  In addition to funding support, students will work with Toyota to learn Toyota Way problem solving and critical thinking skills. Once in the program, the students will collaborate with community residents to better understand their mobility challenges, and then designing, prototype and implement a pilot program.   
 
“We partnered with AAMU because of their focus on renewable energy, strong STEAM programs, and history of preparing well-qualified graduates,” said Al Smith, group vice president, Toyota Social Innovation. “By developing a mobility solution through collaboration with the community, we can help guide students to create better ways to move that also improve quality of life.”
 
In 2017, AAMU also received funding from the Federal Transportation Agency to purchase zero/no-emission electric buses for its fleet.