"...ITE meetings expanded his learning professionally as well as personally..." This is how Eric Bollich, P.E., PTOE (M), acting assistant director of the Austin Transportation Department in TX, USA, describes his experience.
More often than not, when attendees listen to a presentation during a meeting, they do not necessarily know the full background on the speakers or how the topic was developed. As part of the ongoing series showcasing the upcoming ITE 2020 Annual Meeting and Exhibition, we turn to learning more about the individuals presenting in the conference. This series is meant to help you identify shared connections, gain an understanding of their viewpoint, and develop a deeper insight on the topic all with the goal to better facilitate your interaction during their presentation.
The Story Behind: Managing Speeds through Traffic Calming and Design: Why (& How) The City of Austin Moved Toward Integrated Strategies in Speed Management
Eric Bollich, P.E., PTOE (M) is the acting assistant director of the Austin Transportation Department in TX, USA, and Lewis Leff, MPA, CNU-A, is the Transportation Safety Officer for the City of Austin, TX. Eric graduated from Louisiana State University and the University of Texas-Austin, and joined the City of Austin more than 10 years ago after a few years working as a consultant. He attended the ITE Annual Meeting in Austin in 2019, and quickly surmised that safety has become an elevated topic within ITE. This emphasis aligned with his understanding of the industry focus on safety and accommodation of all users over a small emphasis on volume and auto performance.
Eric joined ITE as an engineering student member at Texas at Austin, and continued his membership professionally, becoming an officer of the Capital Area ITE Section. He was inspired to participate in LeadershipITE in 2015. The experience opened his eyes to the organization and provided a greater window to the fast-changing transportation industry. He found that ITE meetings expanded his learning professionally as well as personally. Lewis is a graduate of the LBJ School of Public Affairs and has worked at the City of Austin his entire career. He migrated into transportation in 2019 from a policy background. ITE’s workshop on Speed Management in Austin was a point that ignited his vision of working within multi-disciplinary teams to advance transportation safety policy goals for the community. With a background in politics and policy, he came to transportation through the ITE Speed Management workshop and was intrigued by the openness to new ideas and best practices.
They both have been inspired by people along their journeys in the pursuit of this topic. Eric reflected that the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) outreach on speed limit reductions was very influential. Lewis felt that insights from Leah Shahum with the Vision Zero Network, Stephen Radke with FHWA Safe Systems, and Gina Fiandaca, Austin’s assistant City Manager, were informative and inspiring.
When it comes to presenting to groups, you can image Lewis finds it exciting and loves the learning, sharing, and professional development. While he has little fear of presenting, Eric feels somewhat nervous presenting to groups. He is more comfortable speaking to engineering audiences that are into the nuts and bolts of transportation. Both have used their experience speaking to the community to aid them in technical presentations and have benefited from employer support of professional development activities.
Austin had a traffic calming program for more than a decade that was primarily driven by ad hoc requests and community complaints. The city was experiencing upward trends in serious injuries and fatalities, which led to taking a more comprehensive and holistic approach to safety that proactively evaluated the needs of the entire community. The team took a step back to closely examine community values, leading to increased interest in the relationship between vehicle speeds and crashes. Austin sought a Vision Zero approach toward addressing speed management, focusing on context of facilities plus emphasis on reduction of serious injuries and fatalities. There was plenty of research that guided their consideration of safe systems. The first applications in the community (and subject of their presentation) was met with positive community response and an understanding of trade-offs. Going faster became the new issue.
No journey is complete without overcoming barriers. There was concern that the public might not react positively to the trade-offs between congestion, speed, and safety. Many public opinion surveys have historically shown congestion as a priority. ITE was helpful in accelerating the safety nexus and establishing emerging priorities in the community. Lewis notes that public safety had always been a community goal—but how do you operationalize a policy goal to reality? They clearly had a track record of serious injuries and fatalities that was not moving in the right direction. To achieve a different outcome, they needed a different set of discussions, inputs, approaches and messaging to relate to the policy goal of safety. ITE was there to help, and today Austin is one of the first cities in Texas to apply this approach. There to help Shape Your Community.
Eric and Lewis will be presenting on Thursday, August 6, 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. in the session Speed Management Action Plans. Learn more about this session here. Take advantage of discounted rates by registering by July 15.