by Zaki Mustafa

The International Board of direction met on August 6th, 7th and 8th  at College Station Texas in advance of our upcoming annual meeting and exhibit to be hosted  August 9-12th in San Antonio. While at Texas A&M University, we toured TTI and our tour included a visit to the Riverside Campus for a crash test. TTI agency Director Dennis Christiansen was a gracious host as TTI celebrated its 60 years  strong and productive association with ITE. TTI is the single most active organization within our association. and currently there are approximately 60 TTI employees who are members of ITE and 450 ITE members who are Texas A&M University (TAMU) graduates.

Highlights from our business meeting are as follows:

Strategic Plan

HQ has made good progress in implementing a number of the 2009 tactical steps related to the Strategic Plan.  The Board reviewed and approved revised strategies and tactics for two of the Goals of the Strategic Plan.  The goal “The transportation profession will be recognized for technical excellence for contributing to sustainable communities” was discussed extensively.  The issue of sustainability is very broad and, as with the climate change and energy issue, can be difficult to determine what it means to our profession and how we can best address it.  A committee will continue to discuss this issue and develop appropriate steps.

Finances

HQ constantly monitors the Institute’s financial condition, and adjusts as necessary.  Three staff members were laid off in March and another three in July.  Tom Brahms has also assisted these staff members in obtaining new positions. Recognizing that layoffs can be difficult even for those who keep their positions, Tom has worked to maintain staff morale.

The Institute is using this economic downturn to look at technology and demographic changes and re-shape how we do business in the future, while maintaining member services.  For example, the process for reviewing abstracts for next year’s technical conference and annual meeting will be done virtually, without bringing everyone to HQ.

Membership

Even with the poor economy, membership remains strong, with paid voting membership up over 3% over the same time period in 2008

Technical Conference and Annual Meeting:

It is anticipated that the Tech Conference and the Annual Meeting will operate at a loss.  Travel bans, particularly for government employees, are a significant issue.  A committee of the Board is looking at new options related to the Tech Conf and Annual Meeting.  The board spent some time brainstorming ideas related to key issues for the Tech Conf and Annual Meeting.

The 2009 Annual Meeting included a Student Hub, a place for students to gather and meet other students, and some interactive workshops.  Staff is looking at further developing new approaches for next year’s meetings.  There will most likely be more workshop sessions, conversation circles, interactive or hands-on sessions, with fewer of the “talking heads” type of presentations.   The registration fees for 2010 will be no higher than in 2009.  The Annual Meeting will be in Vancouver, BC, and it is not known at this time what the currency exchange rate may mean for the Institute.

ITE Headquarters

The lease for the new ITE Headquarters is still in negotiations. The current lease is good through August 2010.  The new space would include a recognition of donors to the Institute, including those who contributed to the Millennium Fund which was used for outfitting the current space.

Publications and Webinars

Key publications that are in progress include: Parking Generation 3rd Edition, Manual of Transportation Studies, Trip Generation Handbook, Introduction to Transportation Engineering , Traffic Signal Maintenance Manual and a biannual academic journal.  This peer-reviewed academic journal will be semi-annual.  It will be published electronically and a search is underway for an external sponsor for a printed version.

The earliest ITE will receive the MUTCD for publication would be December, but the end of the first quarter of 2010 is more likely.  Once they receive it, they can turn it around in under three months.  This is a major revenue stream for ITE.

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