By Doug Smith, P.E. Western District President

I was listening to a webinar related to the changes to the new MUTCD 11 Edition and it made me think about how much our transportation and traffic engineering industry has changed over the last few years. It is an incredibly exciting time to be a transportation engineer or planner. The focus of our work has gone from building large capacity increasing projects to more sustainable mobility improvements that focus on the vulnerable road users, safety and mobility for all! There is so much to keep updated on and so many emerging technologies to be aware of that can shape our day to day professional lives. I believe ITE does an amazing job of providing technical content to our membership and keeping up with professional development. That is why we need and depend on our Western District sponsors to help us maintain these standards.

I want to thank all of our Western District Sponsors for 2024, without them we could not provide the incredible programs to our members. These sponsors include:

PRINCIPAL:

• LLG Engineers
• Michael Baker International
• Q-Free America
• Iteris
• Kimley Horn

FELLOW:

• DKS Associates

SUPPORTER:

• Wilson Okamoto Corporation
• Gandinni Group
• Gibson Transportation Consulting, Inc.

All of these companies support the District and help us provide the best possible experience for our professional and student members!

I had the pleasure of attending several Western District Section events including the RSBITE annual Vendors Show and the annual Golf Tournament at the end of March. April and May are shaping up to be busy months for Section activities and I look forward to seeing many of the section leaders at ITE events, including this summer’s ITE International and Western District Annual Meetings.

Continue to check your e-mails and the District Annual Meeting website for more details about events that will be taking place in Sacramento. Western District members will have the opportunity to join many events such as the Get Acquainted Social, our Family Night event on the evening of Monday, June 24^th, the Annual Awards Banquet on Tuesday and our Annual Business Meeting at lunch on Wednesday, June 25^th. For our Young Members, please plan to arrive early to participate in the Kell Competition and other Student related sessions.

The 2024 Western District elections are underway! We are pleased to announce Cameron Shew as our Secretary/Treasurer candidate and Kimberly Leung and Joe De La Garza, PE, TE as our International Director candidates. Learn more about our candidates through their introductory videos and candidate statements. ITE International has also announced the winners of their recent elections. The Western District would like to extend our congratulations to Karen Aspelin, P.E., PTOE (F) and Gordon Meth, P.E., PTOE, PTP, RSP2I (F) on their elections as 2025 International President and Vice President, respectively.

If you would like to talk about the ITE Western District, please reach out to me. I’m never too busy to make time to discuss ITE.