Dr. Jill Hough serves as the director of the Small Urban & Rural Transit Center (SURTC) within the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute at North Dakota State University. Hough has more than 19 years of transportation research experience and has published more than 45 reports and journal articles covering public transportation, low-volume roads, logistics, and economic development. She is a graduate level instructor on public transportation. In 2008, Dr. Hough testified before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee regarding the importance of infrastructure in rural areas, with a focus on the mobility of the elderly population. Dr. Hough earned her Ph.D. degree in the transportation technology and policy program at the University of California - Davis. She also has earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in agricultural economics at North Dakota State University.