I can’t believe I’m starting the fourth month of my time as ITE International President! Time flies. While ITE is focusing this year on the Transportation Planner Initiative as part of the 2021-2023 ITE Strategic Plan to broaden our Community of Transportation Professionals, we have not lost sight of our core membership: traffic engineers. The following are just a few examples of some of the resources that have been produced with the help of our traffic engineering members. The ITE Electric Vehicle (EV)/Electrification Working Group, formed in August 2022 as part of the ITE Sustainability Committee, in January published the Electric Vehicle (EV) Trend Exploration to explore the role of ITE members in expanding the dialogue and raise awareness of the issues related to electrification.
The February 2023 issue of ITE Journal had an article regarding the New ITE Recommended Practice, Multimodal Transportation Impact Analysis for Site Development (MTIASD) to assist in the analysis and planning of multimodal networks. This month, ITE is coming out with the Traffic Signal Maintenance Handbook, 2nd Edition. This handbook provides an overview of the current state of the practice and outlines key considerations for the maintenance element of a traffic signal program.
Last month, we released the much-anticipated TrafficWiki, replacing the ITE Traffic Engineering Handbook (TEH) and allowing for topics to be updated in a timely manner as our profession continues to evolve. Special thanks to the Traffic Wiki Task Force members for your hard work and contribution to this alternative delivery of technical content. See page 26 (of the April 2023 issue of ITE Journal) for more on this new resource. Additional resources to be published later this year include the Parking Generation Manual, 6th Edition; Accessible Street Design Primer; and the Repurposing Streets for People Informational Report.
All these great publications are possible because of the volunteer efforts of traffic engineers and other transportation professionals in ITE’s Councils and Committees. Through these groups ITE stays on the leading edge of current transportation trends by engaging our diverse community of transportation professionals and partners, not only in North America but globally, to ensure we are providing solutions and guidelines that address members’ needs and trends in our profession.
ITE Councils and Committees are a great way to expand your network and a fantastic place to collaborate, explore ideas, and contribute to the future of our profession. Last month, we had a great ITE Virtual Conference organized by the Councils and Committees with nearly 1,100 registrants.
ITE’s largest technical Council is the Traffic Engineering Council with more than 1,800 members. The Traffic Engineering Council is a community of professionals with the goal of sharing the best practices in traffic engineering to advance the profession. To learn more about the ITE Councils and Committees, visit www.ite.org/technical-resources/councils.
This month, I will be visiting the Mid-Colonial District for the first time ever at their Annual Meeting in Pittsburg, PA, USA. I’m looking forward to visiting with and meeting the Mid-Colonial District members in the city where ITE was founded 92 years ago. If you’re going to be there, let me know! Please reach me by email at rosana.correa@jacobs.com or on the ITE e-Community.