Desert Skies and Margaritas --
Headlines from the Phoenix Board Meeting

MWITE International Director’s Update
By Stephen J. Manhart, P.E., PTOE, PTP


It is hard to believe that I have entered my third and last year serving the Midwestern District as International Director. Time truly does fly when you’re having fun. I look forward to encouraging both District Director candidates from the Illinois Section, Bob Seyfried and Ray Benekohal, to savor this opportunity that the District membership bestows.

Last weekend, March 19 and 20, 2009, I attended the International Board of Direction meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, held in conjunction with the ITE Technical Conference and Exhibit. The Board was joined by selected ITE Staff and the 2009 Candidates for ITE International Vice President, Hibbett Neel and Robert Wunderlich.

MWITE’s own Ken Voigt, 2009 ITE International President, presided over this meeting. Several issues were pervasive during the course of the meeting -- the country’s state of the economy, the recent stimulus monies to states, and the upcoming transportation reauthorization bill.


Membership

ITE’s Executive Director and CEO Tom Brahms reported to the International Board that the downturn in the economy is having an impact on our membership and the Institute’s principal revenue sources. The extent of impacts on public and private sector members is directly dependent on the condition of public agency budgets. Although collections of 2009 membership dues are ahead of 2008 collections (in part due to earlier and more frequent billings), Tom anticipates that collections in the next nine months will fall behind to reflect the increasing layoffs of our members and severely constrained budgets. Nevertheless, ITE publications, professional development and contract revenues are on budget. Organization advertising and meeting revenue are below budget, and if they continue at the current rate, will be 79% of budget. The Board is monitoring all revenue and expenses, and has been assured by Tom that he will take the necessary steps to meet the budget.

As of March 10, 2009 we have received 80% of the budgeted 2009 membership dues. Of the 196 agency members, 177 have paid in full, 2 have made partial payments, and 8 have decided that they would not be renewing. Fortunately, none of those agencies not renewing are within the Midwestern District.

Tom Brahms informed the Board that ITE will be doing what we can to keep our members active -- even in the event of layoff or unemployment. If members face the prospect of losing their jobs, Tom encourages them to contact ITE Headquarters for consideration of a “Hardship Waiver” rather than dropping membership.

Due to budget constraints this past January, ITE had suspended hosting ITE Student and Member Receptions during TRB. After further consideration, the International Board felt that it is important to interact with future and existing members of our profession at ITE Headquarters. It is one time every year when many from our profession travel from around the world to be in Washington, DC. Therefore, ITE will resume its tradition next January of hosting a Student Reception during TRB, and a decision will be made by August 1 whether to hold a Member Reception likewise during TRB.


Publications

This month, ITE will deliver three major publications -- Traffic Engineering Handbook 6th Edition, Transportation Planning Handbook 3rd Edition and the Traffic Signal Timing Manual. Sales from these three publications, as well as continuing sales from Trip Generation 8th Edition and Geometric Street Design Handbook should result in record publication revenue, and should allow ITE to recoup the costs associated with publishing these books.

Other key publications that are or soon will be produced include:

• Parking Generation, 3rd Edition,
• Manual of Transportation Studies,
• Trip Generation Handbook,
• Introduction to Transportation Engineering,
• An initially biannual academic journal.

There was discussion about on-line delivery options for future ITE publications. For instance, an on-line version of Trip Generation is being considered. Options would be to pay a subscription for the data you need, and to be able to plot your data directly onto the overall trip generation plot, etc. In addition, ITE is considering 24-7 availability of webinar podcasts, and even a student webinar competition.


Initiatives

In 2009, ITE continues to expand its professional development Web seminar offerings. All of the seminars developed as part of the Investment in the Membership program have been completed, scheduled and in many cases conducted. So far this year 39 Web seminars/briefings were held. For those modules, there were 545 registered sites reaching more than 1265 participants. Thirty-three new web seminars and 14 new planned seminars will be offered.

ITE has sent to Congress a recommended proposal to fund a “Traffic Signal Timing” program as part of the stimulus package. The benefits that were touted are:

• Reduction in gasoline consumption;
• Improved safety;
• Savings of electric power by completing the relamping to LED signal heads;
• Revision of pedestrian walk time when appropriate using new walking speeds;
• Time savings;
• Reduction of emissions;
• Facilitation of rubber-tired transit; andImproved freight movement.

ITE’s draft positions on reauthorization have been revised in response to the many comments that were received. These will be sent out to ITE’s Policy and Legislative Committee for their review, and then on to the International Board for review and approval.

ITE staff continues to reach out to existing and potential partners and clients to seek opportunities to collaborate and fund projects that are within the Institute’s strategic objectives. We have expanded efforts with AARP, FHWA, EPA and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA).

To serve our audience outside of North America, ITE has an RFP on the street to co-fund the development of a web seminar with partners in Australia and/or New Zealand. We are continuing to search for and publish information in the e-newsletter and ITE Journal from outside the United States and Canada. ITE intends to expand these efforts in 2009.

The recession has created an interesting circumstance for ITE Headquarters in Washington, DC. The lease for ITE Headquarters office space expires on August 31, 2010. Tom Brahms is working with office space brokers to see what options exist in DC for securing a more favorable lease arrangement, either with the existing landlord or with landlords of other office space. Time is of the essence, since it is expected that the Federal Government will be seeking an additional 2 million additional square feet of office space in Washington very soon. To this end, the International Board authorized Tom to seek all options and report back his recommendations.


Make A Difference!

I was proud to inform the International Board that the Lincoln-Omaha Chapter (LOCATE) of the Missouri Valley Section (MOVITE) received a recognition from the State of Nebraska regarding their "Make A Difference" (MAD) campaign. They received a 2008 Governor's Safety Challenge Award under the category of Engineering.

I reported to the Board that if ITE needs a “poster child” activity to highlight our Core Value of Social Responsibility, this is it! I had attended the Fall 2008 MOVITE Section Meeting in Omaha, and was given an update of their Make a Difference Campaign. 2008 MOVITE Section President Matt Selinger had 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. In response, the Lincoln and Omaha, NE local chapter, LOCATE, established a MAD Committee and they conducted several presentations at the local high schools on the use of seat belts, the impacts of drinking & driving, and the effects of driver distractions. Their goal was to make young drivers more aware, and thus, save lives. By the end of 2008, they presented this life saving message to hundreds (or maybe thousands) of teens in Nebraska and Iowa. They want this to be a model for other chapters, sections and districts to use to increase safety awareness. Kudos to 2008 MOVITE President Matt Seligner and to LOCATE Chair Mark Lutjerharms for their great work in raising driver awareness among high school aged drivers.

The ITE Board was genuinely impressed with this campaign, and felt that ITE does not do enough to encourage driver safety and responsibility. Many felt they would spread the word of this success, and work to encourage their districts, sections and chapters to adopt similar initiatives.


The Future

As ITE looks into the future, funding of transportation system capital, operations and maintenance will be an increasingly common discussion item for local, regional, state/provincial and national governments. ITE sees that the many-decade-long dialog of multimodal transportation system planning, operations, maintenance, objectives by modes and funding will expand to include the potential of the reorganization of the U. S. Department of Transportation and Congressional committee responsibilities.

The economic recession is impacting many of the employers of our members, resulting from the reduction of development and the reduction of tax revenues. The Federal stimulus “package,” along with the approval of FY2009 funding, should help to provide funding to keep more of our members working. ITE will be monitoring all revenue streams and making any necessary modifications to expenditures as required.


Desert Skies and Margaritas

While in Phoenix, the Board worked diligently during the day on the organizational matters. In the evenings, we were treated to drinks and fellowship at the conference hotel patio. On Saturday and Sunday nights, ITE Past President Jenny Grote and her local arrangements committee for the Phoenix conference, led attendees to the new light rail system, The Valley Metro, and to one of their favorite Mexican restaurants. It was great for this Northerner to wear shorts and sandals again, feel the warmth of the desert sun, enjoy the taste of margaritas and nachos, and to revel in the camaraderie that is our organization! Here’s to ITE!