Recognizing Our Traffic and Transportation Legacy

“It so happens that the work which is likely to be our most durable monument, and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote posterity, is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, not a palace, but a bridge.”

-- Montgomery Schuyler, writing upon the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, New York.

'The Bridge as a Monument', Harper's Weekly (26 May 1883), 27, 326. In David P. Billington, The Tower and the Bridge: The New Art of Structural Engineering (1983), 17.

It is true that, for the most part, our life’s work goes unrecognized. The roads we plan, design and build; the studies we conduct for large corridor projects; the intersections we signalize; the signs we design, install and maintain; the traffic models we calibrate and test; the reports we write and the meetings we attend – our efforts go largely unrecognized by the general public.

Nevertheless, our work is a critical element of our civilization’s success. That’s why transportation infrastructure improvements have been a key initiative in the President’s Recovery Act.

And that is why ITE is important to us as transportation professionals. We exist to be together with our compatriots, our mentors, our competitors and affiliates. We exist to share the state-of-the-practice, as well as the state-of-the-art. We share our lessons learned and our current standards. Through it all, we strive to have our work recognized.

It reminds me of the current television commercial for Intel, which features Ajay Bhatt, co-inventor of the USB (Universal Serial Bus for computers). Ajay, who from the outside appears to be a mild-mannered scientist, saunters through the break room, adored by his fans who are hounding him for autographs. The tag line reads, “Our rock stars aren’t like your rock stars.”

Who are our rock stars? What have they done to deserve “rock star” status? Over the nearly-three years I have served you as Midwestern District Director to the International Board of ITE, I have come to meet several people I would classify as “rock stars” in our district and profession.

Unbeknownst to many of you, and prior to every International Board meeting I attend, ITE Headquarters asks district directors to identify “Rising Stars” in his/her district. ITE HQ then uses those names for consideration for various committees and task forces. My travels throughout the district have allowed me to nominate several members as “Rising Stars”. I am happy to say that we are blessed with many talented and dedicated members who serve our district well as industry leaders.

So it is gratifying to see that our District Board is promoting the creation of a district-wide Transportation Achievement Award. It will be a way to publicly honor and recognize our “rock star” projects. As we recognize our district’s distinguished projects, it will be important to share that information with all sections and with local media. Doing so will build our legacy among members in our district, and to promote our professional image to those outside our organization.

We are a great organization, and despite what you may think, we are doing well! My past three years has taught me that ITE is a solid organization that has weathered the economic storm. In fact, we have seen an increase in recent membership. The Annual Meeting in San Antonio garnered a greater attendance than was anticipated (final count -- over 1000 attendees).

And we are branching out. We have undertaken the first steps toward publishing a “learned journal” focusing on technical papers and research. We are publishing a traffic engineering textbook. We are also including the mega-issue of sustainability into our strategic plan.

While every organization has been hit by the economic downturn, the International Board has taken steps to lessen the financial impact that the economy has had on our membership. We voted to freeze 2010 member and agency dues at 2009 rates. We voted to freeze 2010 Technical Conference and registration fees not to exceed 2009 rates. We also voted to freeze the 2010 Annual Meeting registration fees not to exceed the 2009 rates as a parameter for developing the annual meeting budget. Furthermore, ITE HQ has enacted a series of internal cost-saving measures to ensure that member services will not been adversely affected.

In addition, the International Board has brainstormed ways to make the Annual Meeting more attractive to members. Strategies to accomplish this include the creation of full tracks of professional training courses. These could include the offering of live versions of the training topics found in the ITE Web Seminars. Thus, the Annual Meeting would become a more thorough and cost-saving professional development opportunity for attendees than ever before.

One new service that ITE HQ is providing is the service of the professional meeting planning firm, Helms-Briscoe to assist chapters, sections and districts in the selection and contracting of their meeting venues. Their expertise in planning meetings, negotiating hotel rates, and evaluating contracts is unparalleled. Best yet, they will assist ITE at no charge.

As I have traveled around our district, I have been amazed with the level of enthusiasm that is growing in all levels of our district. Our meetings are attracting more attendees – even from those outside our organization. Despite this time of budgetary cutbacks and restricted travel, we are seeing members finding ways to attend our meetings.

We remain a vital and important source of professional development. ITE and its Transportation Professional Certification Board remain great sources for professional certification and learning. The Midwestern District currently has 1765 members, or 9.75% or the total membership of ITE. Nevertheless, our district has certified:

• 381 Professional Traffic Operations Engineers^® (or 16.9% of all PTOEs),
• 24 Professional Transportation Planners^® (or 10.8% of all PTPs),
• 4 Traffic Operations Practitioner Specialists^® (or 7.3% of all TOPS), and
• 5 Traffic Signal Operations Specialists^® (or 6.8% of all TSOSs).

As I complete my elected role as Midwestern District Director at the end of the year, I thank all of those who have assisted me during my term, especially my MWITE mentors on the International Board – ITE International Past President Earl Newman, and 2009 ITE International President Ken Voigt. Thanks, too, to the Midwestern Board of Directors, ably led these last three years by Kyle Anderson, Jeff Young and John Davis. I also thank each section of the Midwestern District – Illinois, MOVITE, NCITE and Wisconsin, who were each gracious and accommodating when I attended their meetings. I thank Tom Campbell, MWITE District Administrator, for providing the District with continuity and history. I thank Todd Szymkowski for his efforts in managing the MWITE website. I also thank our scribe, Mark Rinnan for doing a great job as MWITE Newsletter Editor. I especially thank you, the membership of MWITE, for allowing me the privilege to serve as the conduit of information between the International Board and the District.

I wish to thank my employer, Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., and especially my supervisor, Dave Warzala, for allowing me to serve the profession as District Director during these three years. I appreciate their support.

As I close, I cannot forget to thank my wife, Teresa, and my daughter, Kristen. I greatly appreciate their love and understanding as I travelled (often too much) to various meetings.

The friendships I have made while serving this office will last a lifetime. The camaraderie that I have been able to develop with Board members from around the world has been quite rewarding. The ability to see and be a part of the inner workings of an international professional organization has been awe-inspiring. I will treasure these times always.

And so to bring this discussion of legacy full circle, as midnight December 31, 2009 becomes the morning of January 1, 2010, I will pass the torch of MWITE District Director to Robert K. Seyfried, P.E., PTOE. The page turns, and the chapter begins anew. Good luck, Bob, as you carry on. Our district will be in good hands!

-- Stephen J. Manhart, P.E., PTOE, PTP

Midwestern District Director (2007-2009)