Report from the 2008 ITE Techical Conference and Exhibit...
ITE: Miami
By Steve Manhart, P.E., PTOE, PTP
ITE Midwestern District Director
During the last week of March, I attended the ITE Technical Conference and Exhibit that was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Miami, Florida. Prior to the conference, I represented the Midwestern District at the meeting of ITE’s International Board of Direction.
Late last year, the ITE Board authorized the update of the ITE Strategic Plan. On Friday, March 28, Mr. Glenn Tekker of Tekker Consultants led the International Board and ITE Staff in facilitating a Strategic Planning Workshop. The purpose of this session was to update and better define who we are as an organization, and to help us determine achievable goals with measurable outcomes. While not yet fully adopted, the Core Purpose of ITE derived from our session was:
· “To advance transportation knowledge and practice for the benefit of society.”
Aligned with this Core Purpose, ITE’s Mission was identified as being:
· “To be the source of professional expertise, knowledge and ideas promoting transportation science and principles.”
The draft Core Values were identified as
· “Collegiality, Social Responsibility, Integrity and Inspiration.”
The International Board is still working on draft goals to meet and enhance these core values. More information will be forthcoming on the adoption and implementation of the Strategic Plan.
Following this exercise, the International Board met to discuss a variety of issues affecting the organization. President Alf Guebert led the meeting
· The Board was introduced to the two candidates for 2009 International Vice-President:
o Paul Eng-Wong – in 1988, Paul co-founded Eng-Wong, Taub & Associates, a traffic and transportation engineering firm in New York City, serving as President. Over the years, it has grown to a 50-person company celebrating its twenty-year anniversary. Paul’s ITE involvement started at the grassroots level as a member and committee chair in the Metropolitan Section before going on to be elected President and Section Director. He was later elected Chair and International Director of the Northeastern District, and served as Chair for both the Transportation Planning Council and Transportation Consultants Council.
o Gene Wilson – In 2001, Gene founded Wilson & Associates in Laramie, Wyoming, specializing in transportation engineering safety consulting and education. For 22 years prior, Gene was a civil engineering professor specializing in Transportation at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Gene has served in a variety of ITE committees and boards, including ten years as Chair of the Transportation Professional Certification Board.
By Steve Manhart, P.E., PTOE, PTP
ITE Midwestern District Director
During the last week of March, I attended the ITE Technical Conference and Exhibit that was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Miami, Florida. Prior to the conference, I represented the Midwestern District at the meeting of ITE’s International Board of Direction.
Late last year, the ITE Board authorized the update of the ITE Strategic Plan. On Friday, March 28, Mr. Glenn Tekker of Tekker Consultants led the International Board and ITE Staff in facilitating a Strategic Planning Workshop. The purpose of this session was to update and better define who we are as an organization, and to help us determine achievable goals with measurable outcomes. While not yet fully adopted, the Core Purpose of ITE derived from our session was:
· “To advance transportation knowledge and practice for the benefit of society.”
Aligned with this Core Purpose, ITE’s Mission was identified as being:
· “To be the source of professional expertise, knowledge and ideas promoting transportation science and principles.”
The draft Core Values were identified as
· “Collegiality, Social Responsibility, Integrity and Inspiration.”
The International Board is still working on draft goals to meet and enhance these core values. More information will be forthcoming on the adoption and implementation of the Strategic Plan.
Following this exercise, the International Board met to discuss a variety of issues affecting the organization. President Alf Guebert led the meeting
· The Board was introduced to the two candidates for 2009 International Vice-President:
o Paul Eng-Wong – in 1988, Paul co-founded Eng-Wong, Taub & Associates, a traffic and transportation engineering firm in New York City, serving as President. Over the years, it has grown to a 50-person company celebrating its twenty-year anniversary. Paul’s ITE involvement started at the grassroots level as a member and committee chair in the Metropolitan Section before going on to be elected President and Section Director. He was later elected Chair and International Director of the Northeastern District, and served as Chair for both the Transportation Planning Council and Transportation Consultants Council.
o Gene Wilson – In 2001, Gene founded Wilson & Associates in Laramie, Wyoming, specializing in transportation engineering safety consulting and education. For 22 years prior, Gene was a civil engineering professor specializing in Transportation at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Gene has served in a variety of ITE committees and boards, including ten years as Chair of the Transportation Professional Certification Board.
· New Initiatives -- The International Board approved the expenditure of $348,000 from revenues above reserves to fund a variety of new initiatives:
o Professional Development $169,000
o Publications Programs $ 22,500
o Meetings and Conferences $ 10,000
o ITE Journal $ 14,500
o Public Information $ 50,000
o Membership Marketing $ 57,000
o Applications of New Technology $ 25,000
Total $ 348,000
These initiatives include the development of a series of programs and seminars to promote professional development, to assess publication needs, and to promote the application of new technology. In addition, ITE will explore innovative means to bring in international and/or notable speakers to meetings, as well as to simulcast meetings via the web.
· Poster Sessions -- The International Board will explore having poster sessions at future Annual Meetings. Poster sessions have become quite popular with younger members and students. It is also successful to display the posters in the same areas as vendors and breaks. The Board will look at the possibility of holding poster sessions at next year’s Annual Meeting in San Antonio.
· Agency Membership Changes – The International Board approved a new incremental cost structure for agency memberships between existing cost break points.
· New Publications – The next two years will see the release of several new and updated ITE publications, including:
o Transportation Planning Handbook, 3rd Edition (Spring 2008)
o Urban Geometric Design Handbook (Spring 2008)
o Trip Generation, 8th Edition (Fall 2008)
o Traffic Signal Timing Manual (Summer/Fall 2008)
o Transportation Engineering Handbook (Winter 2008)
o Trip Generation Handbook (Summer 2009)
o Rural Geometric Design Handbook (Summer 2009)
o Manual of Traffic Signal Maintenance (Winter 2009)
o Introduction to Transportation Engineering, 3rd Edition (Winter 2009)
o Parking Generation, 4th Edition (Winter 2009)
o Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (2009/2010)
o Intelligent Transportation Primer, 2nd Edition (2010?)
o Freeway and Interchange Geometric Design Handbook, 2nd Edition (2010)
· Expanded Webinar Offerings – The statement was made that ITE webinars are poised to do nothing but grow! They have become a successful means of professional development and education for our members. The release of many of the new publications listed above will be complimented by corresponding webinars to better share information about the changes or new methodologies.
· Decreased Student Membership – Student membership has dropped in the U.S. in the last year. There still are increased efforts to capture these “Millennium Members”, since they reflect the future of the organization. ITE Headquarters will work to reach out through emerging technologies. There was discussion regarding what other districts do for student and youth outreach. The Western District holds a Traffic Bowl competition between schools at their Annual Meeting (which will be held in conjunction with the ITE Annual Meeting this year in Anaheim). They also have an ITE District page on Facebook.
· New Roundabout Task Force – A new roundabout task force will be implemented as part of the Coordinating Council. If participation and interest increase in that area, it may be upgraded to full council status.
The ITE Technical Conference and Exhibit was called to order on Monday, March 31st. The theme of the conference was “Making a Difference in Transportation Safety,” and sessions spanned two-and-a-half days. The Opening Session featured the Director of the Missouri Department of Transportation Peter Rahn and the George Shrut Professor of Human Performance Management David Shinar from the Ben Gurion University of Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
Sessions were split into four tracks – Engineering/Design/Operations Track; Human Behavior/Multi-Modalism Track; Policy and Programs Track; and Planning/Data and Analysis Tools Track.
Highlights included Wayne Tanda of the Monterey County Resource Management Agency (Salinas, CA), who spoke of the Public Sector Perspective in Reducing Exposure to Tort Liability. Wayne stated that up to 2/3 of liability involves maintenance. He recommends performing “Conditions Audits” instead of “Safety Audits”. Furthermore, he suggested that maintenance projects that DON’T get funded should be noted just as much as those that are funded. In addition, he recommends having a good agency policy on records retention.
Another popular session was a Briefing on the Proposed Amendments to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The briefing provided an overview of the significant changes proposed for the 2009 Edition of the MUTCD. The briefing was conducted by Scott Wainwright and Fred Rank both of FHWA and Bruce Friedman of Kimley-Horn. (To view the slide presentation used in this briefing, go to http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/proposed_amend/index.htm
o Professional Development $169,000
o Publications Programs $ 22,500
o Meetings and Conferences $ 10,000
o ITE Journal $ 14,500
o Public Information $ 50,000
o Membership Marketing $ 57,000
o Applications of New Technology $ 25,000
Total $ 348,000
These initiatives include the development of a series of programs and seminars to promote professional development, to assess publication needs, and to promote the application of new technology. In addition, ITE will explore innovative means to bring in international and/or notable speakers to meetings, as well as to simulcast meetings via the web.
· Poster Sessions -- The International Board will explore having poster sessions at future Annual Meetings. Poster sessions have become quite popular with younger members and students. It is also successful to display the posters in the same areas as vendors and breaks. The Board will look at the possibility of holding poster sessions at next year’s Annual Meeting in San Antonio.
· Agency Membership Changes – The International Board approved a new incremental cost structure for agency memberships between existing cost break points.
· New Publications – The next two years will see the release of several new and updated ITE publications, including:
o Transportation Planning Handbook, 3rd Edition (Spring 2008)
o Urban Geometric Design Handbook (Spring 2008)
o Trip Generation, 8th Edition (Fall 2008)
o Traffic Signal Timing Manual (Summer/Fall 2008)
o Transportation Engineering Handbook (Winter 2008)
o Trip Generation Handbook (Summer 2009)
o Rural Geometric Design Handbook (Summer 2009)
o Manual of Traffic Signal Maintenance (Winter 2009)
o Introduction to Transportation Engineering, 3rd Edition (Winter 2009)
o Parking Generation, 4th Edition (Winter 2009)
o Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (2009/2010)
o Intelligent Transportation Primer, 2nd Edition (2010?)
o Freeway and Interchange Geometric Design Handbook, 2nd Edition (2010)
· Expanded Webinar Offerings – The statement was made that ITE webinars are poised to do nothing but grow! They have become a successful means of professional development and education for our members. The release of many of the new publications listed above will be complimented by corresponding webinars to better share information about the changes or new methodologies.
· Decreased Student Membership – Student membership has dropped in the U.S. in the last year. There still are increased efforts to capture these “Millennium Members”, since they reflect the future of the organization. ITE Headquarters will work to reach out through emerging technologies. There was discussion regarding what other districts do for student and youth outreach. The Western District holds a Traffic Bowl competition between schools at their Annual Meeting (which will be held in conjunction with the ITE Annual Meeting this year in Anaheim). They also have an ITE District page on Facebook.
· New Roundabout Task Force – A new roundabout task force will be implemented as part of the Coordinating Council. If participation and interest increase in that area, it may be upgraded to full council status.
The ITE Technical Conference and Exhibit was called to order on Monday, March 31st. The theme of the conference was “Making a Difference in Transportation Safety,” and sessions spanned two-and-a-half days. The Opening Session featured the Director of the Missouri Department of Transportation Peter Rahn and the George Shrut Professor of Human Performance Management David Shinar from the Ben Gurion University of Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
Sessions were split into four tracks – Engineering/Design/Operations Track; Human Behavior/Multi-Modalism Track; Policy and Programs Track; and Planning/Data and Analysis Tools Track.
Highlights included Wayne Tanda of the Monterey County Resource Management Agency (Salinas, CA), who spoke of the Public Sector Perspective in Reducing Exposure to Tort Liability. Wayne stated that up to 2/3 of liability involves maintenance. He recommends performing “Conditions Audits” instead of “Safety Audits”. Furthermore, he suggested that maintenance projects that DON’T get funded should be noted just as much as those that are funded. In addition, he recommends having a good agency policy on records retention.
Another popular session was a Briefing on the Proposed Amendments to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The briefing provided an overview of the significant changes proposed for the 2009 Edition of the MUTCD. The briefing was conducted by Scott Wainwright and Fred Rank both of FHWA and Bruce Friedman of Kimley-Horn. (To view the slide presentation used in this briefing, go to http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/proposed_amend/index.htm
There was also an interesting session on the ITS Safety System being implemented along I-75 “Alligator Alley” in southern Florida.. This seventy-five mile stretch of interstate highway runs through the Everglades between Miami and Naples. Due to its straight alignment, few exits and lack of visual variation for the driver, the crash history is quite high, especially on the last quarter of the trip (near Miami for eastbound traffic, and near Naples for westbound traffic). Furthermore, the 85th Percentile Speed along the stretch is 85 mph (posted at 70 mph). The speaker, Kenneth Vorce of VANUS Engineering Evolution, Inc., described various changeable message boards and other deployments that will be used along the stretch to “relax the eyes” of the driver, and work to reduce driver fatigue.
Sorry, I can’t report on any guest appearances on CSI: Miami (…that I know of). However, there were several opportunities for multi-modal transport in and around Miami (including taxi, bus, people-mover, boat, and air). Also, there were plenty appearances of several ITE members (including yours truly) in South Beach during the week. In all, it was a fun and informative week.
Sorry, I can’t report on any guest appearances on CSI: Miami (…that I know of). However, there were several opportunities for multi-modal transport in and around Miami (including taxi, bus, people-mover, boat, and air). Also, there were plenty appearances of several ITE members (including yours truly) in South Beach during the week. In all, it was a fun and informative week.
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