Send the Committee your questions about travel schedules and fun things to do before and after the conference to ite2011ak@gmail.com.

Visit the Alaska 2011 conference website.

• Accessible Design and Active Living
• Low Cost Safety Measures
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety
• ITS Planning and Design
• GIS Applications
• Signal Operations
•Sustainable Communities
• Rural Road Safety
• Intermodal Planning
• Complete Streets
•  Safe Routes to School
• 2009 MUTCD- What’s new
• Transit and Light Rail
•  … and many others!

Join us at this year’s QUAD conference to learn from your Pacific Northwest transportation community! This is a great opportunity

to share your projects, program successes, and innovative approaches.

The 2011 conference will be held on April 18th and 19th at the Embassy Suites in Lynnwood, Washington. We have planned an
exciting two-day program that will feature a wide array of presentations and networking events. An optional tour of Boeing’s “Future of Flight” Museum is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. Rooms are available for out-of-town attendees.

“On behalf of the Washington State Section of ITE, I
look forward to meeting with you as we engage in an
exciting dialogue and learn more about the best that this
area has to offer for all things transportation.”
Katherine Casseday
President, ITE-WA Section

To submit an abstract, please send a Word document
to <jamal.mahmoud@kingcounty.gov>.
Abstracts must be limited to 250 words.

Visit our website!

New Arizona Section Officers (left to right): Mark Hickman, Secretary; Karen King, Vice President; Chris Williams, Past President; Ray Yparraguirre, President; Edgar Perez, Western District President; and Dave Sabers, Treasurer.

We had 45 attendees at our October luncheon on the campus of the University of Arizona, in conjunction with the Southern Arizona Chapter of ITE and the U of A student chapter of ITE. Several awards for SAITE members were presented, and the new officers of the Southern Arizona Chapter (Jorge Riveros, President; Rick Robinson, Vice President; and Darlene Danehy, Secretary/Treasurer) were sworn in by Ray Yparraguirre (see photo).The interactive presentation featured Michael Graham, spokesman for the City of Tucson Department of Transportation, and Andrea Kelly, reporter for the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson. They discussed working with the media and how to explain technical concepts in common language.

New Southern Arizona Chapter Officers (left to right): Darlene Danehy, Secretary/Treasurer; Rick Robinson, Vice President; Jorge Riveros, President; and Ray Yparraguirre, Arizona Section President

We had 80 attendees at our November 18 luncheon in Phoenix and listened to a fascinating presentation from Paul Basha, EPS Group, who provided results on their study of light rail collisions conducted for the City of Phoenix. The November luncheon was hosted by the City of Peoria who also provided a tour of their new, state of the art traffic operations center for ITE members after the luncheon.

On December 7, the Arizona Society of Professional Engineers (ASPE), ITE and ITS Arizona hosted the 9th Annual Holiday Party. At the party, a silent auction benefiting Chrysalis Shelter, a local crisis shelter, raised nearly $1000 including donations of toys, personal and household items. The Arizona Section also financially supported the Future Cities Competition and the related golf tournament in Phoenix.

SFBayITE Co-Scribe and Technical Programs Co-Chair

The following are a brief discussion of the previous monthly section meetings/activities, and future events:

September 2010 Monthly Meeting:

On September 16, 2010, the San Francisco Bay Area ITE Section (SF Bay ITE) held its monthly meeting at Osha Thai Restaurant in San Francisco. There were 55 people in attendance. The theme of the meeting was “From Vision to Groundbreaking: Transit Projects in the Bay Area”. Nate Chanchareon, the Past President for the section, began the meeting with the swearing-in of the new section Board Members for the upcoming year. The new elected Board Members are: Shruti Malik, President; Kamala Parks, Vice President; Mousa Abbasi, Treasurer; and Jia Hao Wu, Secretary. Following the swearing-in, Mark Spencer, the Chair of the 2010 Local Arrangements Committee, was presented with a shadowbox of memories from the very successful Western District ITE Meeting held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco last June. Nate was then presented with the Past Presidents Plaque.

The first technical presentation was given by Jim Cunradi, the BRT Project Manager at AC Transit. Mr. Cunradi, whose presentation was titled “Whose Vision is it Anyway: How the Public Influences Transit Projects for Good and Bad”, described the ongoing public influence on plans for the East Bay BRT Project. The proposed BRT line, which is to replace the system’s most heavily-traveled bus line through 15 miles of San Leandro, Oakland, and Berkeley, has seen strong public input from a variety of stakeholders, including merchants in Oakland and Berkeley, motorists, developers, residents, environmental groups, and faith-based organizations. Issues of key concern include the proposed loss of 850 out of 2,700 parking spaces along the corridor, impacts from construction, and increased congestion. The final EIS for the project is to be completed in early 2011.

The second technical presentation was given by Robert Beck of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority. Mr. Beck’s presentation, entitled “Transbay Transit Center: Bringing Bus, Commuter and High Speed Rail Service Together”, focused on the design and construction details of the new center and how it improves upon the former Transbay Terminal. Seventy-five percent of workers in downtown San Francisco take transit to work, so the center is a critical component in the Bay Area transit network. The new facility will have direct ramps to the Bay Bridge, and will consist of 6 levels. The lowest level will have two platforms for High Speed Rail and one platform for Caltrain, which currently terminates in a far less convenient area of San Francisco. The excavation is set to begin in July 2013, with below-ground construction beginning in June 2014. Bus operations are expected to begin in 2017.

ITE Section Membership Coordinator Tiffany Barkley prepared this report.

October 2010 Monthly Meeting:

On October 14, 2010, the San Francisco Bay Area ITE Section (SFBayITE) held a joint meeting with American Planning Association (APA) at the Caltrans District 4 Headquarters in Oakland.  The topic of the meeting was “Sustainable Communities Strategies for Transportation and Land Use”.  There were 70 people in attendance.

Shruti Malik, the SFBayITE section President, started the meeting.  After the self-introductions and announcements the first presentation was made by Ann Cheng, with Transform.  Ann, who is the Director of Green TRIP (Traffic Reduction + Innovative Parking) Certification Program, presented the highlights of this program, which rewards residential in-fill projects that help reduce traffic and greenhouse gas emissions. To get certification, developments must be located near transit stations in walkable neighborhoods and apply traffic-reduction strategies such as offering discounted transit passes or car-sharing memberships to residents.  The Green TRIP Certification Program eases the project approval process, increases project’s marketability, creates markets and demand for Transportation Demand Management (TDM) programs, and is a model for inspiring changes to local policies.  The minimum criteria for a residential development to participate in this program is:

• Primarily multi-family housing, with some mixed use
• Maximum of 20% single family homes
• Density at least 20 units/acre
• Size is at least 50 homes
• Within urban growth boundaries

The second presentation was made by Andrea Osgood, Project Developer, with Eden Housing, Inc., in which she discussed the affordable housing criteria and the proposed South Hayward BART development.  This is a residential development which is approved for the Green TRIP Certification and is going through public processes and design review.  The funding for this affordable housing project is through Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and Infill Infrastructure grant programs.

ITE Section Co-Scribe and Technical Programs Co-Chair, Afsaneh Yavari prepared this report.

November 2010 Monthly Meeting:

On November 18, 2010, the San Francisco Bay Area ITE Section (SFBayITE) held a joint monthly meeting with the South Bay Traffic Officials Association (SBTOA) at the Gordon Biersch Brewery and Restaurant in San Jose. The theme of the meeting was Rail Projects in the South Bay. Shruti Malik, the Section President, began the meeting with some announcements. The section now has a LinkedIn Group which can be found by going to www.LinkedIn.com and searching for SF Bay ITE under groups.

The first technical presentation was given by Mr. Ben Tripousis, who is the Transportation Policy Manager for the City of San Jose and the project manager for the High Speed Rail (HSR) project through San Jose. He discussed the evolving plans for 20 miles of HSR line through San Jose, and the impact that this would have on the city’s economy and community. While the Central Valley section of HSR is the first to be shovel-ready, Mr. Tripousis considers the stretch between the Central Valley and San Jose to be Phase 1B, to serve as California’s gateway to the Bay Area. The final project will connect between San Francisco, San Jose, Fresno, Los Angeles, and Anaheim, with a travel time of 2 hours between San Jose and Los Angeles. From the city’s perspective, one goal of the project is to turn San Jose’s Diridon station into a world-class transit hub with a quality design that fits into the fabric of the community. The city is also evaluating alternatives for attractive and non-intrusive designs of the railway itself, and is currently considering an aerial railway to avoid potential conflicts with the new BART tunnel and to deliver an attractive design.

The second technical presentation was given by Mr. Henry Servin with the City of San Jose, who spoke about the BART extension into Silicon Valley. So far, $900 million has been spent on the extension to acquire right-of-way and downtown property. The estimated total cost of the BART extension from Fremont to San Jose is $5.2 billion. The completed line will serve an estimated 99,000 daily riders. The first phase of the project is to extend BART by 6 miles from Fremont to Warm Springs, which is estimated to be complete by 2014. The next phase will extend the line an additional 10 miles to Berryessa by 2018. The final phase will ideally connect Berryessa with downtown San Jose and Santa Clara. One of the technical challenges of the first phase is constructing a subway tunnel to go beneath Lake Elizabeth. From a station design perspective, project managers are hoping to give each of the new stations along the line a unique theme- Environment and Natural Setting for the Berryessa station, Diversity for Alum Rock station, and Creativity for the Diridon station.

ITE Section Membership Coordinator Tiffany Barkley prepared this report.

SF Bay ITE Section Annual Recognitions Awards Meeting:

Annual SF Bay Area ITE Modeling Workshop:

Following the great success of our last three Annual SF Bay Area ITE Modeling Workshops, with participants gathered from around the world, the San Francisco Bay Area ITE is organizing the Fourth Annual San Francisco Bay Area ITE Modeling Workshop.  This workshop will be held on March 4^th 2011, in San Francisco. The theme of our workshop this year is “Modeling for Sustainable Transportation and Land Use Developments”.  Please visit the SFBayITE Section website at http://www.sfbayite.org for more information on all the above events.

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Utah, along with many sponsors, have been sponsoring building of a new transportation research facility (the new Utah Traffic Lab), which is under construction. All the ITE members and transportation students will be actively involved in research projects at the new lab.

The ITE student chapter has seminars once a week, where usually one of students makes a presentation about his/her research work to the rest of the group. We invite students from other departments that are interested in our research to attend, which provides more opportunities for collaboration. This practice has inspired us to share our work and ideas even more.

Some of the members will attend the 90^th Annual TRB meeting in Washington, D.C. this January, where they will present their papers based on the research they are working on. They will also be attending ITE receptions organize during the conference, where they will hopefully be in a position to share their work and experience with other ITE members.

The Region X Student Transportation Conference is a showcase for student transportation research in the Pacific Northwest (Federal Region X) which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. Region X serves as a microcosm of transportation for the entire country, with a diversity of modes, infrastructure systems, and area types that make it a prime testing ground for studies in transportation operations and planning.

Past Region X Student Conferences have been held at the University of Washington (2003 & 2008), Portland State University (2004 & 2007) and the University of Oregon (2009). The conference is entirely run for and by students. Students are able to present their research and exchange ideas with their peers in an environment that does not exist in the classroom or in other conferences. The conference includes both student presentations and a poster session to showcase the great student-led transportation research being done in the Northwest.

The 2010-2011 conference is hosted by the Oregon State University Student Chapter of ITE and sponsored by the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC).

Please join us in exploring student research in the transportation field!

Free Food: The conference will include a catered breakfast and lunch.

Free Registration: Registration is free for any student enrolled in a transportation program at a University in the Northwest. Online registration is now available and must be completed by Friday, February 4th. For more information, please contact Jon Mueller at jonathan.d.mueller@gmail.com.

Student Presentations and Poster Session

Interested students are invited to prepare a poster for general display, a 10- to 15-minute presentation, or both. Space is limited for both, so early registration is recommended. Presentations and posters can be on a range of topics, and collaboration with other students is welcomed. Students will vote on the best presentations and posters with an award ceremony at the end of the conference. Here are some guidelines and tips to assist you in preparing your poster. Contact Jon Mueller at jonathan.d.mueller@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding posters and presentations.

December luncheon meeting (12/06/10)

Wedge between the all day training on the Highway Safety Manual, this month’s luncheon meeting was held in the Old Redmond School Community Center in the gymnasium turned lunchroom turned auditorium.  Each of the tables filled with transportation professionals debriefing on the morning’s training as well as greeting those that were only attending the luncheon portion.  With a Taste of Spain buffet to warm the appetites, ITE Washington Section Vice President, Kevin Chang, introduced the speaker, John Milton (WSDOT) to talk about Risk Management for Transportation Professionals working in Washington State.

Mr. Milton began his presentation with an overview including:

1. Steps in a Lawsuit in which he presented the process with which lawsuits are brought forth and addressed.
2. Understanding Perspective and how it may be used against the professionals.
3. Documentation in the Real World with quantifiable words and figures.
4. Mitigating Risk in Documentation with just the facts and not opinions.

As a demonstration, a volunteer was selected from the attendees to simulate a trial or deposition experience.  Mr. Milton began to ask questions that would have the transportation professional link their work with that of “safety.”  At this point, the attorney can trap him in the corner requiring a yes or no response to the question is it safe.  If answered “yes”, then the attorney would argue that it was not safe because their client died or was severely injured and if answered “no,” then the attorney had proven the liability.  It would be a no-win situation

With a gloomy outlook for transportation professionals to design by fear, Mr. Hilton provided examples of ways to emphasize facts rather than opinions to mitigate the exposure to legal risks.  For example, rather than describing an area as “icy conditions” the document can say “there was ice on the shoulder.”  Instead of “striping was added to improve safety,” a better description would be “striping was added to provide additional driver information.”

We will never to be able to prevent every accident from happening nor from any more injury or deaths to occur on the roadways.  But, we can be very mindful of the words that are based on opinions or can have a broad spectrum of meaning.  By keeping to factual, quantifiable words and figures, we can continue to better service the community; including exposure to lawsuits won not on engineering deficiency but poor documentation.

A few moments of question and answers followed the presentation.  Before dismissing the members, Dongho Chang (City of Everett) thanked the speaker and provided logistics for the after session of training.

President/CEO, Sanderson Stewart

At Sanderson Stewart, we are proud to be the first private company recognized as a Gold Level contributor to the Western District’s student endowment fund.  You might ask, “Why would we do that?”  What is the benefit for a company like ours to contribute significant money to an endowment for students?  Well, if you’re one of those types who require hard numbers that demonstrate a direct and measurable return on investment, then it might be hard to explain, but I’ll try.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m no bleeding heart.  As a private business, we need to justify our expenses.  If it doesn’t ultimately drive value to the bottom line, then it’s probably not worth doing.  But what could be more valuable than ensuring the long-term viability of our profession. To do that, we need more top students to pursue transportation as a profession. Whether they go to work for my firm, a competitor, or a public agency or a client that we might work with, we are all better off if the level of talent, expertise and enthusiasm in our profession is greater not less.  And, in my experience, getting students to attend a District ITE meeting and connect with ITE students and professionals from other places is the most certain way to hook them into our profession.  Can I calculate an ROI for Sanderson Stewart from helping to develop future traffic engineers? No, but I’m certain it’s in our best interest.

Recruiting is the other payback we get from supporting ITE students.  Many of my firm’s talented traffic and transportation engineers came to us because we knew them first as students.  We often identify ITE student chapter leaders that show promise, get to know them at Section and District ITE meetings and then recruit them when they graduate.  So I can say that our firm’s success in transportation is a direct result of student involvement at ITE meetings.  My own first connection to the transportation profession came when I attended the Intermountain Section meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, when I was a student.

At the beginning of this article, I said that I’m no bleeding heart.  However, the last reason I will give for supporting the endowment fund is this – it’s the right thing to do.  Somewhere along the line someone supported each of us in our early careers.  Now it’s our turn to pay it forward. So Sanderson Stewart is proud to be the Western District’s first Gold Sponsor, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because we think it serves the best interests of our company and our profession.