Institute of Transportation Engineers
International Director Report
(This is the report that the International Director writes prior to ITE International Board of Direction Meetings to brief the ITE staff and others on the Board as to what is happening in their District.)

International Director: Stephen J. Manhart, P.E., PTOE, PTP
Date Submitted: July 22, 2008
District: Midwestern District (MWITE)

I. Issues or topics discussed at chapter, section and district board meetings that may need to have ITE Board and/or staff discussion/action (please list for each issue/topic—the chapter, section or district person to contact for further information):

a. MWITE Strategic Plan -- This effort was begun by the MWITE Board in December 2006, when Ken Voigt led the District Board through the planning efforts. Board members are at the point of adoption of the District Strategic Plan, but will wait to incorporate elements of the Institute’s recent Strategic Plan Update into their own.

b. FOLLOW-UP -- Personal Employment Advertising in District and Section Newsletters – Last spring, I discussed this item with the Board, and had promised to keep everyone informed of this new service, and subsequent reaction from the membership. To review, this past February, Illinois Section President Amarpal Matharu informed the District Board that he had received two requests from Illinois Section members to post personal ads for employment in the Illinois Section Newsletter, Items. He asked the District Board for direction on whether he should post these ads. After much deliberation among the District Board, I asked the IBOD to share any experience their districts or sections had with posting personal ads for employment. Many of you replied, and asked others from your districts to reply. In the end, the spring issue of Items was published with the two personal ads included. I was told one of the two individuals was hired, but it is unknown whether his hire was the result of his ad. The Midwestern Newsletter Editor has kept this option open for others to use, but no one else has requested an ad.

c. FOLLOW-UP -- Transportation Lobbying – This past May, ITE HQ hosted a webinar for the elected leadership regarding Lobbying and Advocacy. The webinar was well attended by many chapter, section, district and IBOD elected members. It was an informative session that basically allowed ITE units to support and/or promote legislative issues pertinent to the organization, but warned of monetary restrictions, as well as against promoting particular candidates. This information provides ITE units with legal guidance as they consider future lobbying or legislative advocacy in their areas. Thanks to the ITE Staff for hosting this important webinar for all to hear.



II. “New” topics and papers that you feel the other Board members and ITE Staff should be aware of that were presented at one of the chapter, section or district:

§ Illinois Section presentation – The Illinois Section hosted the recent Midwestern District Annual Meeting at the Hard Rock Hotel in downtown Chicago, IL. The two keynote speakers during the opening session spoke on two large-scale issues. Mr. John Murray, Chief of Bid Operations for the 2016 Olympic Bid Committee spoke of Chicago’s activities involved in bidding to be the host city for those Olympic Games. Ms. Rosemarie Andolino, Executive Director of the O’Hare Modernization Program, spoke of that airport’s efforts to leap into the 21st Century, and to increase capacity for the future. Both presentations provided the attendees with information on how traffic and transportation improvements assist with each interrelated activity.

§ North Central Section presentation – “How ‘Forgiving Highways’ Can Help Prevent Needless Deaths”, by Mike Dreznes from the International Road Federation. At the April 2008 Section Meeting, Mr. Dreznes’ presentation focused on highway safety by design. His presentation focused on lane departure problems and solutions since one-third of all single vehicle fatal collisions were the result of a vehicle leaving the roadway. His informative presentation laid out the six AASHTO options for increasing safety effects of roadside obstacles. He also detailed the recent improvements in impact attenuators, His presentation was well received, and has been recommended to other groups.


III. Student Chapter or student-related innovative activities and/or products that the ITE Board and/or staff should be aware of:

§ Nothing at this time.


IV. Unique programs or projects of the chapter, section or district:

§ MOVITE Section – Make a Difference -- MOVITE is going MAD this year with some group volunteer activities taking place at the chapter level. MOVITE Section President Matt Selinger has challenged his section and chapters with the following: Find a need in your community that is related to transportation and creates a way to make a difference for the public or for those in need. Each chapter has been contacted and will be proceeding as they desire. The Lincoln and Omaha, NE local chapter, LOCATE, has a MAD Committee put together and they have decided to conduct presentations at the local high schools on seat belts, drinking & driving and driver distractions with the goal of saving lives. By the time the fall section meeting is here, they will have presented this life saving message to hundreds (or maybe thousands) of teens in Nebraska and Iowa. What about your chapter? How can you make a difference in 2008?

§ NCITE New Member Welcome Packets – At the recent Midwestern District Board Meeting held in Chicago, North Central Section President Wayne Sandberg discussed a new effort to welcome new members to NCITE and ITE. He showed off a smart-looking backpack emblazoned with the NCITE logo. He stated that each new member will receive one of these new bags, as well as a Section Membership Certificate and welcome letter from the section president, and several pieces of information to orient the new member with ITE and the North Central Section. Wayne stated that so often in the past, new members never knew whether they were officially members of the section – they would start receiving the ITE Journal and meeting notices, but there was no official notice. It is intended that these new Welcome Packets will increase Section affiliation and loyalty – important early factors toward member retention!


V. General Comments / Other Significant Issues to bring to the attention of the Board and HQ Staff:

§ Talking Traffic Blog – I was searching around the internet for some traffic information, and stumbled upon a very interesting blog that a fellow traffic engineer has posted. The website is http://www.talkingtraffic.org/ and is posted by Bill Rusham, P.E., PTOE, from Marietta, GA. He is currently employed by Greenhorne & O'Mara, inc., and previously worked in the Traffic Office of the Texas Department of Transportation in the Lubbock District. Bill says his professional focus areas are traffic operations, traffic impact studies and highway design.

The interesting thing about Bill's blog is that he has posted several "episodes" involving traffic engineering topics. Not only are these episodes in print, but he has posted audio MP3 files that are playable and downloadable from his website. He narrates each topic himself. His episodes cover a range of topics from "Functional Classification" and "Project Development Process" to "How to Get a Signal Installed" and "Institute of Transportation Engineers".

I e-mailed Bill and complemented him on his blog. I asked him if he would mind if I promoted his blog on my blog (http://www.midwestern-ite.blogspot.com/). He replied, "... I've no problem with you discussing Talking Traffic on the MWITE blog. I'm always happy to find another transportation engineer's webspace as it makes me feel I'm not alone out in the cold, cruel web 2.0." You are not alone, Bill, you are not alone... I invite you to go to Bill's blog, read it over, listen to some of his episodes, and then e-mail him. Let Bill know that "web 2.0" is not so cold and cruel after all!