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November 2025 ITE Journal Director's Message: The Power of Data

By Mr. Stephen Kuciemba posted 14 days ago
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In an age where data are abundant and technology continues to evolve rapidly, the field of transportation planning and engineering is undergoing a quiet revolution. Gone are the days when decisions were made based solely on historical trends, location-specific studies, and even gut intuition. Today, data-driven decision making is at the core of designing smarter, safer, and more efficient transportation systems. Why has this trend evolved so much more prominently over the past decade? In part it’s because we have made the cultural shift to recognize that transportation systems are complex and dynamic. They’re influenced by a wide range of factors including ...
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November 2025 ITE Journal President's Message: Data Into Action

By Ms. Karen Aspelin P.E., PTOE posted 14 days ago
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With the debut of ITE’s Safety Roadmap and Action Plan this year, I’m dedicating this month’s ITE Journal message to exploring the vital connection between data—the topic of this month’s issue—and their roles in advancing transportation safety. Our profession is being called to elevate our approach to safety, and the goal is clear: eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on our roadways. But the path to that goal demands a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of crashes. And that understanding begins with data. Not just any data, but the kind that only a multidisciplinary crash response team can uncover. For decades, transportation engineers and planners ...
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October 2025 ITE Journal Director's Message: Celebrating People and Achievements

By Mr. Stephen Kuciemba posted 10-04-2025
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So many great things happened at this year’s ITE Joint International and Florida Puerto Rico District Annual Meeting (held in beautiful Orlando, Florida). One of my personal highlights each year is the opportunity and pleasure of delivering the annual “State of ITE” speech during the Opening Plenary. One of my themes this year was to celebrate the many accomplishments ITE members helped achieve. I started with talking about our membership, and the remarkable fact that despite a constantly changing environment where jobs are increasingly under pressure, ITE’s membership has remained strong—proof that even in a fragmented world, ITE is still a place people choose ...
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October 2025 ITE Journal President's Message: Rewarding Leadership

By Ms. Karen Aspelin P.E., PTOE posted 10-04-2025
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At the Orlando meeting, I had the honor of giving opening remarks. In this ITE Journal column, I’d like to again reflect on leadership within ITE—what it means, why it matters, and why stepping up is so rewarding. Serving as your International President has given me a front row seat to the passion and dedication of our members. I’ve seen firsthand how we rally around bold ideas, especially through initiatives like our Safety Roadmap and Action Plan. What began as a strategic framework has evolved into a grassroots movement. Districts have taken ownership, forming committees and driving real change in their communities. It’s inspiring to witness strategy turn ...
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September 2025 ITE Journal Directors' Message: Updated TripGen Now Available

By Mr. Stephen Kuciemba posted 09-02-2025
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At last month’s ITE Annual Meeting and Exhibition, I had the pleasure of announcing that the new 12th Edition of the Trip Generation Manual was about to go live. The Trip Generation Manual i s updated every 4 years, and a lot can change during that quadrennial period. Not only have we continued to experience our “new normal” after COVID-19 forever changed commuting patterns—but we added nine new land use classifications, and data from more than 550 sites have been incorporated to ensure the database remains relevant. The ability to predict traffic patterns and plan the necessary infrastructure is a fundamental responsibility within our profession. The ...
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September 2025 ITE Journal President's Message: Planning Growth Responsibly

By Ms. Karen Aspelin P.E., PTOE posted 09-02-2025
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Like many of you, I live in a growing community. In my city, new subdivisions are springing up in nearly every direction. This surge in development is a positive indicator—it reflects economic vitality, population growth, and a strong demand for housing and services. With each new project, however, comes a set of responsibilities that cannot be overlooked. Chief among these is the need to carefully assess the potential impacts on traffic operations and public safety. Without thoughtful planning and thorough analysis, even the most well-intentioned developments can have unintended consequences that affect the quality of life for residents and the efficiency of ...
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August 2025 ITE Journal Director's Message: Something for Everyone

By Mr. Stephen Kuciemba posted 08-02-2025
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Welcome to August, and to our Annual Meeting issue of ITE Journal! This is always an exciting time of the year where leaders from across the industry gather at our conference. If you’re coming to Orlando, then I look forward to seeing you join in that excitement! Throughout my years of attending conferences from many different organizations, I’m always blown away by the technical content at ITE meetings. This is our chance each year to debate the relevant topics of today, share lessons learned, and advance the state-of-the-practice for those who may not have the time or resources to stay on top of all the current trends. I know there are some that come just ...
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August 2025 ITE Journal President's Message: See You in Orlando!

By Ms. Karen Aspelin P.E., PTOE posted 08-02-2025
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I live in a place that undoubtedly boasts the most beautiful summer weather in the entire United States—Colorado. With its sunny skies, low humidity, and cool mountain breezes, it’s hard to imagine wanting to be anywhere else during the summer months. So why, you might ask, am I genuinely excited to head to Orlando, Florida, in the middle of August when the heat and humidity are at their peak? The answer is simple: the ITE Annual Meeting! As I often tell people, the weather at a conference is always the same—an unwavering 68 degrees and just a bit drafty. Conference centers around the world seem to follow this universal climate standard. So whether we’re in ...
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July 2025 ITE Journal Director's Message: Rural Matters

By Mr. Stephen Kuciemba posted 07-02-2025
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It’s easy to fall into the trap of focusing too heavily on issues that are most frequently associated with urban areas. That’s where a significant portion of the population resides, and it’s where a lot of policy debates often take place. But like so many things, context matters—and the rural (and even sometimes exurban) environment is frankly where more lane miles exist. And, unfortunately, where fatality rates are significantly higher when analyzing roadway safety. Assuming you read our International President’s column on the preceding pages of the Journal (if not please go back and read it!), she did an excellent job highlighting the challenges. I totally ...
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July 2025 ITE Journal President's Message: The Roads that Connect Us

By Ms. Karen Aspelin P.E., PTOE posted 07-02-2025
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How often we forget about rural roads! I find myself reminding people time and again that not all ITE members live and work in bustling urban downtowns. While urban streets—and even the scorned suburban stroads—tend to dominate our professional conversations, rural roads quietly serve as the backbone of our transportation network. Every day, thousands of people rely on them, especially freight trucks that keep our economy moving (if you haven’t already, check out my February article on freight for more on that topic!). It’s time we gave rural roads the attention they deserve. Let me explain why. First and foremost, rural roads are heavily used—particularly ...
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Lead the Future of Transportation: Why ITE Leadership Matters

By Mr. John Davis P.E., PTOE,TSOS,RSP1 posted 06-15-2025
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Have you ever considered stepping into a leadership role within ITE? Whether you're early in your career or a seasoned professional, ITE offers meaningful opportunities to grow, connect, and make a difference in the transportation world. Leadership That Makes an Impact ITE leadership isn’t just about holding a title - it’s about being part of something bigger. From organizing local events to representing professionals on a global stage, our leaders help shape the direction of our industry. They drive innovation, advocate for safer, smarter transportation systems, and support the next generation of professionals. What You Gain Taking on a leadership ...
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June 2025 ITE Journal Director's Message: It’s All About Planning

By Mr. Stephen Kuciemba posted 06-02-2025
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Time for a small confession: I’m a habitual planner. I get enjoyment from laying out project schedules, I plan all my trips in detail, I relish the opportunity to map out strategic initiatives, I make a habit of thinking through meeting agendas—heck, I even plan my family activities (much to the annoyance of my free-spirited wife). I know that I get a lot of this from my father; he, too, was a habitual planner, and he ingrained in me the simple philosophy that proper planning prevents poor performance (yes, there are less tactful versions of that saying). It will probably come as no surprise then, that when it comes to planning in transportation, I consider ...
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June 2025 ITE Journal President's Message: Placemaking

By Ms. Karen Aspelin P.E., PTOE posted 06-02-2025
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I’ve written in this column before that some ITE Journal topics are easier for me to write about than others. This month’s topic—Placemaking—seemed tough to write about while wearing only my engineer’s hat. But when I started thinking of myself as a “place-enjoyer” with an engineering background, it made it much easier. Placemaking, according to one definition, is the art and science of crafting spaces that resonate with the community, fostering a sense of belonging and joy. Where I live in Colorado, in the shadow of Pike’s Peak, one of my favorite places is Bancroft Park in Old Colorado City. On Saturday mornings during the warmer months, families, neighbors, ...
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May 2025 ITE Journal Director's Message: Thank a Traffic Engineer

By Mr. Stephen Kuciemba posted 05-01-2025
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This issue of ITE Journal is focused on Traffic Engineering, a topic area that brings large crowds into sessions at our Annual Meeting, generates a lot of interest on our e-Community, and is an incredibly diverse and complex discipline that is sometimes misunderstood by the public (and even by others in the transportation space). For a profession that has been around for more than 100 years, these past few decades have been truly exciting in the traffic engineering arena. Technology has blown open the doors to new possibilities, there has been an increasing acceptance by policymakers that roadway safety oftentimes must come before convenience, and the breadth ...
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May 2025 ITE Journal President's Message: Transformative Changes

By Ms. Karen Aspelin P.E., PTOE posted 05-01-2025
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When I became a “Traffic Analyst,” the title on my first business card coming out of graduate school, I thought I’d be spending the rest of my career developing trip generation tables, running level of service analyses, and making recommendations for green times, turn lane lengths, and yellow clearance intervals. We were using computers to do these calculations—so advanced! What needed to change in the field of traffic engineering? Somewhere in the last three decades, traffic engineering has grown to encompass so much more than these metrics, which almost entirely involved how quickly you could move a car in the peak 15 minutes of the weekday. Today, a level ...
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Lead the Future of Transportation with ITE - Learn More on May 22, 2025

By Mr. John Davis P.E., PTOE,TSOS,RSP1 posted 04-28-2025
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Lead the Future of Transportation with ITE Leadership in ITE offers a dynamic blend of professional growth, community engagement, and the chance to help shape the future of transportation. Whether you’re coordinating a local event or representing members on the global stage, your contributions make a meaningful impact. Beyond the Title ITE leaders influence priorities, mentor the next generation, and drive innovation across the profession. Your voice, experience, and ideas can help guide ITE’s direction and expand its reach. Grow Personally and Professionally · Strengthen leadership, communication, and ...
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April 2025 ITE Journal President's Message: Active Transportation

By Ms. Karen Aspelin P.E., PTOE posted 04-08-2025
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I’ve mentioned in past messages that the topic of the month’s ITE Journal has been a little foreign to me and required some research. This month’s topic, active transportation, required none! Active transportation has been a part of my life since I learned to ride a two-wheeler. I was four years old, and giving into my whines that I wanted to keep up with my older brother, my father took the training wheels off my hand-me-down Huffy. Straight into the middle of the street we went and after running me with for a few yards he let go ... and my lifelong journey of transporting myself with my own energy began. It wasn’t long until I started kindergarten and ...
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April 2025 ITE Journal Director's Message: An Active Safety Culture

By Mr. Stephen Kuciemba posted 04-08-2025
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This month we turn our focus to walking, biking, and rolling. Some refer to this as active transportation, others refer to it as being a vulnerable road user—regardless of what you call it, walking, biking, and rolling are essential components of our ability to get from point A to point B. Most people have SOME elements of walking, biking, or rolling as part of their daily commute, even if only a small portion (e.g., walking from the house to the garage or the parking lot to the office). My own personal commute varies from time to time. Occasionally, I drive all the way into work and park in the building’s garage. Other times, I’ll drive to a transit station ...
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March 2025 ITE Journal Director's Message: Spring Cleaning

By Mr. Stephen Kuciemba posted 03-04-2025
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In many parts of North America and Europe, the custom of “spring cleaning” is an annual ritual. March is the month most often associated with this because in many regions the climate is starting to get warmer, and as we emerge from winter there is a renewed sense of cleansing. I recently read an article suggesting that this cleansing could be physical, spiritual, and even metaphorical. For me, I see spring cleaning as an opportunity for us to shake off the winter doldrums, and finally take all those New Year’s resolutions that are still on paper from January seriously! One resolution you can all brush up on is to keep current on or even expand your knowledge ...
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February 2025 ITE Journal President's Message: Safety and Resiliency

By Ms. Karen Aspelin P.E., PTOE posted 03-04-2025
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When I learned “safety and resiliency” was the topic for this column, I initially thought the two subjects were completely different. I soon concluded, however, that they are actually quite similar. Let's start with safety. You probably know that the general idea of the Safe Systems Approach involves the "Swiss cheese model." It represents the idea that if one component of the transportation systems fails, other components will kick in and prevent a serious crash and severe or even fatal injuries. To illustrate, I'll use a fictional example involving a woman we'll call Erin. Erin is in a hurry to arrive at an event because she left her house too late. She ...
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