The following article was written by Cathy Liu, President of the Universityof Washington ITEstudent chapter, about their Traffic Hero game:

Last year, a proposal entitled Traffic Hero, submitted by Yegor Malinovskiy and Runze Yu of the UW ITE Chapter, was selected as the winner of the James H. Kell competition held for the 2011 ITE Western District Annual Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. Traffic Hero presents automated traffic data collection in an engaging way that not only utilizes video gaming skills for a real-world problem, but also allows students an inside look into some of the algorithms that go into vehicle detection. The game, developed at the Universityof Washington STARLab, involves combining your honed “Guitar Hero” skills with advanced video detection techniques. Given guitar game controllers connected to a computer, two players (from the same team) collaborate to manually count vehicles on a recorded video segment of a multilane highway. Detections made by the player are compared to those made by the KLT Feature Tracking algorithm and determine the awarded points for the team. Difficulty is determined by the number of lanes being concurrently counted, vehicle volumes, as well as the collaboration strategy of both players. Traffic Hero attempts to make the otherwise mundane, yet common and important task of traffic counting using video detection more interesting and entertaining.

Last year’s event was a huge success, with heated competition and enthusiasm amongst students. The game attracted student teams from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Brigham Young University, University of Wyoming, California State University, Fullerton, UCLA, Montana State University, San Diego State University and California State University, Sacramento. UW ITE officers Runze Yu and Cathy Liu, UW students Yegor Malinovskiy (inventor of Traffic Hero), and Kelly Pitera hosted and facilitated the competition. The participating students enjoyed the game and learnt principle ideas of video-based traffic detection. The designed game received great feedback and acknowledgment from the ITE community. This year, the UW team offers Traffic Hero to help fundraising efforts for the Student Endowment Fund at the 2012 Western ITE Annual Meeting in Santa Barbara.

Join us in Santa Barbara on June 23rd from 3-5 PM for the next installment of the MiteY Race.  This year’s MiteY race is presented in conjunction with the 2012 Western District Annual Meeting as a fundraiser for the Student Endowment Fund.

The inaugural race held in San Francisco in conjunction with the 2010 Western District Annual Meeting was modeled after the hit television series “The Amazing Race.”  Over 30 teams followed clues through the city visiting popular landmarks such as Fisherman’s Wharf and Lombard Street.  The success of the inaugural MiteY Race inspired the Endowment Fund Committee to work with San Francisco’s Race Coordinator, Patty Camacho, to bring you this year’s race which is themed “Life’s a Beach.”

This year’s MiteY Race is being held on the Saturday preceding the Annual Meeting and will take teams along the Santa Barbara waterfront.  Student, family, and professional teams will follow clues and complete challenging but fun tasks.

To get everyone in the spirit of the race, we’ve included a photo hint for the upcoming race.  For information or to register, visit the MiteY Race website.  You can also follow us on Facebook (“MiteY Race”) to see team photos and more photo hints!

President:                    Walter Okitsu
Vice President:            Karen Aspelin
Secretary-Treasurer:    Justin Link
                                     Carlos Ortiz
International Director:  Jenny Grote

We need volunteers to assist with this new effort.  While all it takes to be on this committee is the time and strong desire to promote ITE, we will need some people with direct public relations experience, including preparing and issuing press releases.  We need people to help in three main areas: 1) Establishing and maintaining communications channels with District leaders, committee, and members, to obtain promotion-worthy information; 2) Assisting the PR chair with developing a media/contact database, reviewing all obtained information, and determining who it should be disseminated to; and 3) Developing information output in various media and forms, and distributing it as appropriate.

Be a part of this exciting new opportunity within the Western District!  12-15 committee members is the target.  If you’re interested in joining or would like more information, contact Chuck Huffine, Public Relations Committee Chair, at chuck.huffine@jacobs.com.

Reconnecting:

Ten years ago I was newly employed in the Las Vegas Valley. I attended the local ITE chapter meetings, but as I considered my own fledgling ITE career it was difficult to imagine serving on the board anytime soon.  A few months later, I was invited to run for the Nevada Chapter board, and now I am serving as Western District President.  I am so grateful for this opportunity, and a feel a lot of responsibility to do a good job.

As I have moved through the leadership positions in the Nevada Chapter, the Intermountain Section, and the District, I have noticed a phenomenon that concerns me.  I believe that the average ITE member has become disconnected from the Western District.  Did you vote in the last election?  Do you know who won the election?  Can you name all the officers on the Board? 

What do the committee chairs do? What are your dues used for? Do you know what the District President is supposed to do (besides write this column)?

If you can’t answer these questions, you’re not alone.  I don’t believe we’ve done a good job at sharing that information, so, over the next year, we plan on changing that.  Expect more outreach from our committee chairs and officers.  Anticipate more information in the WesternITE newsletter regarding District functions and activities.  Look for opportunities to participate.  We’ll do our best to reconnect.

Arizona Section Travels

My travels so far have taken me to St. Louis, Missouri; Sacramento, California; Phoenix, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; and Albuquerque, New Mexico.  In each of these places, I was pleasantly reminded of the dedication and enthusiasm of ITE members.  Some of the highlights included: witnessing Brigham Young University’s success in the student traffic bowl, attending the awards ceremony where two District members, Brian Hoeft and Gang Xie with RTC FAST, won the Management and Operations/ITS Council Best Project Achievement Award, learning about Northern California’s efforts to recruit and retain membership, touring the 2013 conference site in Phoenix, and witnessing the innovative efforts to involve all members in meetings in the Colorado-Wyoming Section.  I’m looking forward to future section and chapter visits.

In the spirit of information exchange, please share your activities, successes and concerns with us.  And make sure that you update your contact information with ITE headquarters (www.ite.org).

By Dalene J. Whitlock, Western District International Director

The International Board of Direction met on August 11 and 12, 2011, in conjunction with the Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri.  Representing the Western District were Senior Director Ken Ackeret, whose term expires at the end of 2011, as well as Dalene J. Whitlock and Michael Sanderson.  The early part of the meeting had a somber note to it as Executive Director Tom Brahms reported on the Institute financial status, including the projected loss at the St. Louis Meeting.  Mr. Brahms noted that he has not hired staff to fill positions established by the Board during the meeting in Orlando due to the economic forecasts.  While the Institute is doing well in terms of the income from publications, it is anticipated that about $300,000 will need to be taken from reserves to cover actual expenses.  The Institute continues to lose members as those who have lost their jobs often cannot afford to maintain their membership.

Progress has been made in terms of the electronic distribution of information, with two e-newsletters to be issued monthly.  Staff is working towards getting all reference materials into digital format, then decisions will need to be made about what to index based on its content, timeliness, topic, and applicability.  All of the Institute’s safety related publications have been digitized and are available on the ITE Bookstore for purchase and download, and work proceeds on conversion of the Safety 101 series to be available 24/7.  As work progresses staff will also be working on the look of the website to make it more appealing.

President Robert Wunderlich and Executive Director Tom Brahms reported on their attendance at a recent Global Road Safety Partnership meeting, and noted that while the Institute is committed to the underlying principles, it was decided not to invest in full membership at this time, but rather to offer to serve as a technical resource. 

President Wunderlich discussed issues relative to International elections, including the amount of travel that candidates are doing and also the way that social networking has impacted the way candidates run their campaigns, and noted that the Institute’s rules do not always provide sufficient guidance relative to new technologies.  The Board concurred with his recommendation to establish a panel to solicit input from various types of members, including younger members and those who have been nominated to run for International Vice-President in the past, on what changes we should consider in terms of the format of our elections.  It was noted that consideration will be given to the cost of candidate travel and the benefit to the Institute versus having the elected officers traveling more.

The Board took action to allow the use of social media, specified what meetings can be attended that are not counted towards the maximum a candidate can attend, noted that logos of other organizations cannot be used on ITE-sanctioned media, and resolved that candidates cannot accept any new appointments to ITE committees or other positions during candidacy.  The Executive Board was asked to prepare updated rules to be voted upon in October.  

Vice-President Rock Miller noted that he hopes to have ITE co-sponsor the Pro-Walk-Bike conference that will be in Long Beach next year.

Though the 2012 budget was not adopted until the October Board Meeting, the Institute’s finances were reviewed and feedback provided to staff for their use in developing next year’s budget.  The need to raise dues to close the gap between income and expenditures was discussed and were reviewed further in October along with spending cuts to try and achieve a balanced budget.

The cost of annual meetings was a topic of great concern, as always, but especially in these difficult economic times.  It was noted that the “welcome” event was moved out of the vendor area and made a theme event (Route 66) this year, and lunches were included as part of the base price rather than being an added cost.  Rock Miller noted that there are many issues that underlie the attrition in meeting attendance, including the cost, the economy, and a sense of needing more value for the cost.  It was suggested that staff try to build on what works, which are the District meetings, and to depend more on volunteer time to cut staff time allocated to each meeting.  Another suggestion was to change the format of the meetings as there have been no big changes in a long time, and changes may be needed to find something that members can get at the Annual Meeting that they cannot get anywhere else.  The potential to eliminate the Spring conference should also be considered. 

Coordinating Council Chair Pat Noyes reported that all of the Councils have been working on action plans to support and align with the Institute’s Strategic Plan.

Michael Sanderson gave the report for the Leadership Development Committee. He presented the results of a member survey that indicated there is strong support for the training.  He noted that the program developed by the Southern District would likely need some changes to work at the International level. President Wunderlich thanked the Southern District for their work, and said he would appoint a new committee to work on developing a program to develop ITE leaders at the International level. 

The Board’s next meeting was on October 14-15 in Washington, D.C.

By Walter Okitsu, Western District Vice President

The Western District leadership met on July 10, 2011, at the Anchorage Hilton for the Annual Board Meeting. More than 30 people attended the Board meeting, including committee chairs, chapter and section officers, candidates, and student officers. This meeting focused on how the District would weather through tough economic times.

President Edgar Perez opened the meeting by asking the committee chairs to each read a paragraph from the Western District Strategic Plan. Over the past year, he had issued presidential proclamations to Constantinos Papacostas of Hawaii Section, Bill Coleman of New Mexico Section, Melissa Rosas of Colorado-Wyoming Section, Bob Johnson of San Diego Section, and Pierre Jomini of Intermountain Section.

Vice-President Alyssa Reynolds reported on the WesternITE Committee’s plans on raising advertising revenue, which has dropped in recent years. They had set the front page website ad price of $300 for 90-day placement. She had revised the leadership organization chart, greatly simplifying the layout.

Secretary-Treasurer Walter Okitsu forecasted the District financial reserves as possibly being drained within two years, due to sharp revenue drops in membership dues and advertising, unless budget deficits were reduced and eventually eliminated. He recommended a combination of dues increases and expenditure cuts. Any dues increase in

excess of 10 percent per year would require a vote of the membership. He suggested an increase of dues, currently at $22 per year, to $40. For comparison, the Texas District’s dues are $50. He presented a draft budget with broad cuts in expenditures for Board review.

Monica Suter, who served as Past President for the first half of 2011, announced that Patti Boekamp and Wes Pringle would join the Advisory Committee when the terms expire for Rich Romer and Rory Grindley at the end of this meeting. Bob Crommelin was added earlier at the Mid-Year meeting. The Advisory Committee had been asked to consider a means to reduce the workload on the District Secretary-Treasurer. The Committee strongly recommended against splitting the office into two positions, and suggested consideration of delegating some treasurer duties to the District Administrator. Using a bookkeeping service could cost as much as $1,000 per month. A survey of other professional societies of similar size found that none use outside bookkeeping services.

International Director Ken Ackeret recommended a District election rule change to have petitioning candidates show the names of nominated candidates on the petition. The Board approved the rule change. He also recommended that, as he had done this past year, future Senior Directors review the travel reimbursement requests of officers.

International President Robert Wunderlich described the Institute’s Strategic Plan that emphasized road facilities first and leadership training next. International Vice President Rock Miller informed the District Board that he is available to help deal with the 2014 joint Western-Midwestern Annual Meeting in Rapid City. ITE Executive Director Tom Brahms announced changes for International Annual Meetings such as posting papers in advance, shifting Annual Meeting dates into the weekend, and making documents available on tablet computers.

In her District Administrator’s report, Jenny Grote announced she could make Certificates of Achievement for student groups and/or their professors. The mileage rate for Board and committee chair travel was revised to 55.5¢ per mile. The Board passed a motion accepting the bylaws and charter for the University of Southern California student chapter. Draft bylaws were also presented for the University of Colorado, Denver.  Their Charter was approved at the Mid-Year Board meeting in February.

WesternITE Managing Director Zaki Mustafa described the measures taken in response to reduced advertising income, such as sending printed issues only twice a year. Advertising Manager Ahmed Aburahmah reported revenues of $7,000 this year.

Website Manager Nathan Mustafa exhibited the new District website format, using a magazine format to replace the previous blog format that could not show certain displays. Committee chairs and Local Arrangements Committees would be able to create sub pages. Some ideas that he might implement soon include displaying ads from non-industry firms like Toyota, posting annual meeting compendia on-line, and displaying recorded presentations of winning papers.

Technical Committee Chair Karen Aspelin announced that four Data Collection project reports have been submitted. Patty Camacho de Cano, the Career Guidance Committee Chair, described awards and mentoring activities of the past year. Janna McKhann, the vendor Committee Chair, reported coordination with IMSA has improved to get better vendor sponsorship.

Student Endowment Chair Cathy Leong announced a $5,000 donation was received from the Washington Section. The Endowment Fund is now invested at a 70:30 split between fixed income and securities, respectively. The Board considered but took no action to adjust that ratio. A student raffle would occur at the Anchorage Get Acquainted event, requiring a state gaming permit.

Future Annual Meetings

The District Board selected the San Diego Section as the host for the Annual Meeting in 2017. Although originally considered for 2016, the Board felt that having a meeting in San Diego the same year as the International Meeting in Anaheim would hurt attendance at both meetings. Invitations will be sought from sections outside of California to host the 2016 Western District Annual Meeting.

Tom Mericle of the Central Coast Section provided an update on the Santa Barbara Annual Meeting, to be held June 24 to 27, 2012 at the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort. He anticipates a good turnout from vendors, filling out all available booths.

Kim Carroll and Andrew Smigielski, co-chairs for the 2013 Annual Meeting in Phoenix, outlined their activities to date. That meeting will be held at the Arizona Biltmore Resort from July 14 to 17, 2013.

Western District will hold a joint 2014 Annual Meeting with the Midwestern District June 28 to July 2 in Rapid City, South Dakota. President Edgar Perez appointed Randy McCourt to be the Local Arrangements Committee General Chair.

Other Business

The Cal State Long Beach student chapter, who defeated three other schools in the Southern California Section traffic bowl competition, arrived in Anchorage to discover all nine slots for the Annual Meeting’s Traffic Bowl were filled. Patti Camacho worked with the Anchorage LAC to set up another round to allow for three more teams.

Budget Discussion

The Board amended the Secretary-Treasurer’s draft budget for Fiscal Year 2011-2012. For the next year, the Board authorized a 10 percent increase in dues for all categories. Eliminated budget items included cash prizes for professional Traffic Bowl winners, a scholarship award, student books for new chapters, and travel reimbursements for Council Chairs. Cash awards were not included in the budget for next year for section membership increases, section activities, the WesternITE Editorial Award, Annual Meeting Best Papers, and travel for the student chapter traffic bowl winners to the International competition. Expenses and stipends were reduced for the WesternITE Managing Editor, Advertising Coordinator, and Web Manager, Only two printed issues of WesternITE would be mailed out. Endowment fund financial expenses, which had been subsidized by the District, would be paid for by the Fund itself, and the Fund would also pay for Student Chapter reports and the Student Data Collection Program.

This budget, to be presented to the general membership at the subsequent Annual Business Meeting, would still result in a $17 thousand deficit. The Board therefore moved to hold a special vote of the membership under an expedited process to increase the authorization of dues under certain categories to a maximum of $40 per year.

Annual Business Meeting Highlights

At the Annual Business Meeting on Tuesday, July 12 President Edgar Perez led a moment of silence for District members who passed away since the last Business Meeting, including Robert Bernstein, Thomas Ferrara, John Komaru, Paul Steiner, and John Taylor.  His State of the District report showed membership in the District’s 16 sections totaled 4,696, a 6 percent decrease. He presented the steps to improve the District according to its Strategic Plan.

International President Robert Wunderlich provided an update on ITE’s activities. During his presentation, he obtained a pledge from the audience to stop using mobile phones while driving.

Secretary-Treasurer Walter Okitsu showed that while total District financial assets appeared healthy at over $300,000 for the past 4 years, accounts not tied to the Endowment Fund have shrunk rapidly because of loss of membership, reduction in WesternITE ad revenue, operating subsidies to the Endowment Fund, and Annual Meeting registration discounts to students. To avoid depleting cash reserves, he presented a plan to reduce expenditures by 25 percent, increase dues by 10 percent, and have the Endowment Fund, presently at $280,000, begin to pay for Student Initiatives immediately instead of waiting for the balance to reach $500,000. Even with these measures, he projected a $17 thousand deficit for the coming year. To avoid depleting the District’s financial reserves the Board will pursue a future special vote of the membership to increase dues to $40 The budget was approved by voice vote of the members.

President Perez announced that the San Diego Section would host the 2017 District Annual Meeting. Because the 2016 International meeting would be held in Anaheim, he invited sections outside of California to submit for the 2016 District Meeting. He announced he was leaving the District, having been transferred by his employer to Qatar.  He accepted the tellers committee report and announced the newly-elected 2011-2012 District officers:

President Alyssa Reynolds

Vice President Walter Okitsu

Secretary-Treasurer Karen Aspelin

International Director Monica Suter (3-year term begins January 2012)

The meeting was adjourned until the 2012 Annual Meeting in Santa Barbara.

March 31, 2012

From Transportation Issues Daily:

On Thursday, September 15, the President signed legislation to extend SAFETEA-LU through March 31 and aviation programs through January 31.  The House had passed the legislation unanimously on Tuesday, September 13.  The Senate passed the bill on Thursday after a delay over a demand to eliminate the Transportation Enhancements.  The program funds mostly bicycle and pedestrian projects and accounts for less than 2% of SAFETEA-LU funding.

The agreement authorizes SAFETEA-LU funding at fiscal 2011 levels, but the final funding level will be subject to fiscal 2012 appropriations agreements.

The deal may be bittersweet for advocates of the Transportation Enhancements program.  To gain passage of the extension, Senate leaders agreed to include language in the multi-year bill changing the program.  However it is not entirely clear what the change will be.  Senator Tom Coburn (Oklahoma) believes the language will allow states to opt out of the program.  Senator Barbara Boxer disagreed and said the language provides “more flexibility” to the states on the use of the Enhancement funds.

The extensions give legislators more time to reconcile the Senate-House differences on the highway/transit bill.  However, most stakeholders are pessimistic about a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill passing before 2013.
From Cronkite News, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ:

Navajo leader bemoans tribes’ lack of control over transportation funds

In Washington DC on Thursday, September 15, the Navajo Nation’s top transportation official complained to Congress that his tribe’s members are treated as “second-class citizens” when the government allocates road funds.

“Our nation still finds itself being held to different standards and in many regards as second-class citizens,” said Paulson Chaco, director of the Navajo Division of Transportation, in testimony to a Senate Indian Affairs Committee oversight hearing.

Chaco and other witnesses said tribal governments can currently get transportation funds directly from the federal government in only a handful of cases.  Most of the time, they said, tribes must have a state-government partner in order to apply for federal grants, a pairing that typically benefits nearby state highways more than it benefits projects deep within Native communities.

Chaco called for legislation that put tribes on equal footing with state governments when applying for transportation funds.  Direct funding would give the Navajo more power to maintain the rural roads across their 25,000-plus square miles in parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, he said.

Recognizing tribes at the same level as states would allow “more services to be provided in areas not of interest to any particular state government,” he said.

But a Federal Highway Administration official testified that tribes have benefited under the current system. John Baxter, FHWA’s Associate Administrator for Federal Lands, pointed to a Year 2010, $31 million USDOT TIGER Fund award to the Navajo Nation and the state of New Mexico, who used the money to add two lanes on US 491 and make safety improvements to a highway that connects the tribe to the rest of the state of New Mexico and Colorado.

The committee hearing brought together federal transportation officials and representatives of several tribes and umbrella Indian organizations.

Chaco said that tribal governments are additionally handcuffed by the fact that they cannot collect taxes the way local and state governments do, even though the tribes pledge to maintain new roads.  Because the federal government generally does not allocate funds for maintenance – opting to create new roads instead – highways on Navajo lands are falling into disrepair.

“Unlike state governments that have an array of methods for generating revenue to assist in road maintenance, the Navajo Nation is not so fortunate,” Chaco said.

“It’s basically an unfunded mandate,” he said after the meeting. There is a federal pot of money dedicated solely for Indian road projects. Tribes do not need a partner to apply for funds from the Interior Department’s $450 million Indian Reservation Roads program. But even that ends up being shared with state and local governments, witnesses testified Thursday.

Paul Tsosie, the Chief of Staff for the Assistant Interior Secretary for Indian Affairs, testified that the department is currently reviewing the program to make sure that the money is going to roads that primarily benefit the 565 member tribes

He said the department has hired an independent auditor to review 75 percent of the projects. That will help determine which projects are primarily maintained by state or local governments and could be reclassified.

Legislative News Column:  State Legislation

California poised to give speed power to local governments

September 21, 2011

By Steve Eagan, ITE Western District Legislative Committee Chair

From Land Line (Trucking Industry Blog):

On Thursday September 15, 2011, it was reported by Keith Goble, Land Line state legislative editor, that a bill that has completed its trek through the California statehouse would give communities leeway in setting speed limits and, as a result, reduce yellow light intervals.

Since 2004, California law has required cities to round up their speed limits starting at the 85th percentile of travel speeds.  The posted speed must be rounded to the nearest 5 mph increment.

Assembly lawmakers voted to sign off on Senate changes to a bill – AB529 – to give local governments the option to round speed limits down after a traffic study. The bill moved to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk, and he signed it on October 7, 2011 .

Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, said the current setup allows speeders to dictate the limits set.

Another issue resulting from lower posted speeds is shorter yellow times.  In California, the yellow signal cycle phase time on roads posted at 30 mph is 0.4 seconds less than at 35 mph.

The issue is of particular concern in California because communities throughout the state use red-light running automated enforcement cameras. Billed as increasing safety on roadways, violators face fines topping $500 with court costs.

Critics of the plan to authorize lower speeds say the change provides communities an opportunity to set up speed traps. They say if politicians in California and elsewhere are truly concerned about safety, they should make a point of extending yellow times or providing advance warning signs.

Scott Keller provides STI students a tour of a Montana DOT- constructed wetland project

I am always impressed by how much the Montana Chapter accomplishes with few members spread over a large distance. Our membership continues to be in the mid thirties spread across our large state. The cities in Montana with pockets of members are separated by 90 miles or more. Over the past year, the chapter has held a number of technical presentations, facilitated webinar training sessions for the new Highway Capacity Manual, and Donated over $2,475 to student initiatives at the district, section and chapter levels. Here are some highlights from the last few months.

In June, the Montana Chapter supported the Summer Transportation Institute (STI) both financially and with volunteer faculty.  STI is a program coordinated by the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University that provides a two-week program for group of high school students from around the country to learn about different areas and careers and transportation engineering and research through field trips and classroom activities.

Pierre Jomini (left) receives a presidential proclamation from International Director Michael Sanderson (right)

Pierre Jomini, who received special recognition by a Western District presidential proclamation at the Intermountain Section meeting last May, continues to contribute to the Chapter by spearheading a technical project. The chapter members are currently collecting data on cell phone use while driving by conducting counts across Montana. The results of the project will help connections between the level of cell phone usage with different demographics.

Our members continue to have leadership roles in ITE. I would like to congratulate DJ Clark from Billings, MT as the next Secretary/Treasurer for the Intermountain Section, and Danielle Scharf from Bozeman, MT as the Western District student initiatives chair. I would also like to thank Michael Sanderson from Billings, MT for his service as an International Director for the District and Danielle Scharf for her service as an Intermountain Section officer (currently past president).

D.J. Clark, newly elected secretary/treasurer for the Intermountain

The Chapter has put together a great set of speakers for the transportation track of the Montana Joint Engineers Conference. The conference will be held in Helena, MT November 2^nd-4^th. Further information can be found at https://www.jecregistration.com/index.php.

Submitted by Montana Chapter Officers:

Patrick McGowen, President

Erin Claunch, Vice President

Joseph Staszcuk, Secretary/Treasurer

In 2011, the University of California, Berkeley ITE student chapter (also known as Cal ITE) has planned to host many of its historically successful events while working to branch out to new audiences. While Cal ITE has elections on a semiannual basis, the officer team for the upcoming academic year consists of almost all  new officers.. Our roster shows 72 active ITE student chapter members for the past year consisting of a blend of both graduate and undergraduate students. We hope to increase our membership base.

The Department of Civil & Engineering, the Department of City & Regional Planning, the University of California Transportation Center, and the SF Bay ITE Professional Chapter have all be vital to our student chapter’s success, and we continue to collaborate with them to provide a truly engaging and inclusive transportation experience for our members.

The ITE student chapter is planning to focus our events on internship opportunities, the bridge between engineering and planning, as well as international transportation. We have organized technical tours and office receptions to various places in the Bay Area, which allow our members to integrate their knowledge of transportation from academia with the real world. We keep our members updated on upcoming graduate transportation seminars, transportation conferences, and employment opportunities, and always do our best to sponsor a select group of our members to attend the ITE Western District Annual Meetings.

Many of our members attended the 2011 Western District ITE Annual Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska as events like this are great ways to connect with other students and transportation professionals. Even though the University of California, Berkeley ITE student chapter’s goal is to enhance the overall transportation experience here at Berkeley, our chapter hopes to continue providing these amazing opportunities to our members.

Thomas Wong, Student Chapter President