David Clarke, director of UT Center for Transportation Research, was quoted in USA Today about train crashes. This month’s rash of high-profile train crashes — in Maryland, Missouri and Connecticut — likely represent a coincidence and are not indicative of a trend, he said. “I don’t necessarily think there is any long-term trend that we’re seeing develop here,” said Clarke. The Center for Transportation Research was created in 1970 to foster and facilitate interdisciplinary research, public service, and outreach in the field of transportation at UT.