Georgia Tech hopes to serve as headquarters for a southeastern U.S. transportation research consortium, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Tuesday.

The so-called Regional University Transportation Center would link together researchers from universities across Georgia and the Southeast with the goal of tackling the southeast’s growing logistics – car, truck and train traffic -- problems.

The U.S. Department of Transportation will ultimately decide if Georgia Tech houses the regional transportation center. The R.W. Woodruff Foundation will put up $300,000 per year for three years as “seed money” to push the university’s bid and get the research ball rolling, said Ken Stewart, a Georgia Tech senior advisor. Public and private matching funds are also needed.

Congress could ultimately kick in $2.25 million annually to further Georgia’s Tech’s research.

“We need to be looking at the efficient movement of people and freight,” said Stewart during the 2011 Georgia Logistics Summit at the Cobb Galleria. “The idea is to think truly regionally for a change and to put Georgia in a leadership role.”