August 7, 2014
What's Inside
High Attendance at ACT International Conference
Exhibitors and Sponsors Connect with Attendees
ACT Award Winners
Legislative Update
Of Note
Job Postings
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Speaker, author and change management expert Doug Lipp at the Monday morning keynote session
High Attendance at ACT International Conference
 

The Grand Hyatt San Francisco was alive with activity this week, as more than 430 attendees of the 2014 ACT International Conference gathered to participate in one of the best-attended conferences in the association's history. The overflow crowd challenged the supplies of seating and coffee alike, but infused the conference with an exciting, forward-looking energy that bodes well for ACT's future.

  

Keynote sessions generated high engagement 

Acclaimed author, speaker, and change management expert Doug Lipp set the tone Monday morning with a highly engaging and thought-provoking opening keynote. Lipp used lessons learned from his years with Disney University to challenge participants to do the (sometimes) unglamorous (but vital) behind-the-scenes work needed to provide a consistently outstanding end-user experience. He capped off his presentation with a book signing outside the ballroom (all profits of which went to the National Association for the Mentally Ill -NAMI California).

  

A rich array of concurrent sessions, organized in four tracks, attracted

ACT Executive Director Mark Wright, Maureen Farrell (GVF TMA), and ACT Vice President Rob Henry (GVF TMA, far right) greet keynote speaker Doug Lipp. 

overflow crowds. ACT staff will gather copies of PowerPoint presentations and other session materials and provide conference materials online. Stay tuned for details in the next newsletter.

  

Monday's luncheon general session was also popular, as participants packed the room to hear from keynoters Jack Broadbent (Bay Area Air Quality Management District), Daniel McCoy (Genentech), and Jason Pavluchuk (ACT government affairs specialist). Connie McGee (Enterprise Rideshare) moderated the session.

  

The afternoon's concurrent sessions were followed by chapter meetings. Participants relaxed in the evening with dine-arounds at several Bay Area venues.

  

Tuesday morning featured a state-of-the-association update by ACT President Josh Kavanagh, followed by Program Committee Co-chair David McMaster, who introduced breakfast keynoters Paula Hammond (Parsons Brinkerhoff) and David Bragdon (TransitCenter). Hammond explained why good mobility systems have become more important than ever with population growth in urban centers negating the possibility of building our way out of congestion. Bragdon previewed findings of the Commuting in America survey on rider attitudes and modal decision making factors gathered by TransitCenter. McMaster moderated a lively question-and-answer period that wrapped up the session.

  

Networking and exhibitor visits took place during a casual buffet lunch, followed by Tuesday afternoon's concurrent sessions and council meetings (see below for more on exhibitors). Participants enjoyed an open night so they could network informally while sampling San Francisco's famed restaurants.

  

The annual Awards Breakfast and Leadership Academy graduation kicked off Wednesday morning (see article in this issue on winners). A final round of concurrent sessions followed, along with educational excursions to South Beach and Stanford University.

 

 

Exhibitors and Sponsors Connected with Attendees

 

ACT thanks each of the companies and organizations that helped support this year's conference as exhibitors and sponsors:

 
2014 ACT Annual Award Winners Spotlighted

Awards Chair Crissy Ditmore (vRide) emceed the ACT Annual Awards Breakfast & Leadership Academy Graduation during the ACT International Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, August 6. Thanks to Awards Breakfast Sponsor vRide for its support. And congratulations not only to all the winners, but also to every nominee.  

 

The 2014 award winners are:

 

Bob Owens TDM Champion

ACT's highest honor is reserved for an innovative or entrepreneurial individual who has demonstrated a career commitment to developing transportation demand management (TDM) and championing its advances. This award recognizes the highest level of professionalism, and is the culmination of long-running dedication to the industry.

Kay Carson

Luanna Huber

Brian Shaw, CAPP (third from left), Penny Menton (far right), and the Leadership Academy class of 2014

 

Cathy Cole Memorial Award for Telework

This award recognizes ongoing committed leadership and achievement in advancing strategies to enable and encourage more employers to adopt telework arrangements for employees.

Los Angeles County Rideshare

 

Emerging Leader in TDM

Presented by the ACT Board of Directors, this award recognizes new leadership in the transportation demand management field.

Maureen Farrell

 

ETC Champion

This award recognizes an employee transportation coordinator (ETC) who has demonstrated exceptional creativity and innovation in providing commute alternatives to the worksite.

Abigail Cooksey-Williams

Geoff Quinn

 

Excellence in Advocacy

This award acknowledges an ACT member whose advocacy efforts on behalf of TDM, whether at the local, state, and/or federal level, have been exceptional. The award celebrates effort, innovation, efficiency, and effectiveness, and includes both individual advocacy efforts along with the organization and encouragement of others' participation in advocacy.

Heather Wheeler

 

Excellence in Scholarship

The Excellence in Scholarship award acknowledges an ACT member for recent scholarly work in transportation demand management, one of its sub-disciplines, or in a related field when the research demonstrates applicability to TDM goals. The research should have been conducted and submitted for publication, first published, or submitted for academic credit.

Chanyoung Lee, Ph.D.

Phil Winters

Joan Pino

Debbie Schultz

 

Marketing and Outreach

This award recognizes organizations that developed and implemented a product, program, promotion, service, or marketing campaign that was designed to meet an identified commuter need or concern. It recognizes organizations that developed and implemented a product, program, promotion, service, or marketing campaign designed to meet an identified commuter need or concern. This award is given in four categories: Partnership, Public, TMA and University.

Partnership: The Walt Disney Company

Public: Pima Association of Governments Sun Rideshare

TMA: GVF TMA

University: Stanford University

 

Outstanding TMA

This award recognizes the transportation management association (TMA or TMO) that is deemed to have best used its public/private partnerships to achieve local and regional transportation goals.

RideFinders, a division of GRTC Transit System

 

President's Award - Extraordinary Service by an Elected Leader

Connie McGee

 

President's Award - Volunteer of the Year

Penny Menton

 

President's Award - Partner of the Year

Center for Urban Transportation Research, University of South Florida

 

Thanks to all of this year's judges: Crissy Ditmore; Jim Barr; Abbey Harding; Rob Henry; Josh Kavanagh, CAPP; Sonya Landrum; Jim Larsen; Lynn Manion; Laura Manuel; Kathy Molin; Sandi Moody; Terri Quici; Larry Robinson; Peggy Schwartz, AICP, LEED Green Associate; Brian Shaw, CAPP; and Chris Simmons.

 

Legislative Update

 

Congress Averts Short-Term HTF Cliff 

 

Late last week, Congress sent legislation to President Obama that included an $11 billion highway trust fund patch that will extend MAP-21 through May 2015. The action came hours before the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) was set to become insolvent. The House rejected action by the Senate to amend the timeframe and pay-fors of the extension. Faced with a take-or-leave-it scenario, the Senate approved the House's version, sending it to the President before going on its summer recess.

 

While the action averts a short-term cliff, Congress continues to delay action on the HTF's long-term sustainability. Earlier this year, it was estimated that a six-year bill at flat funding would need more than $100 billion, which equals a gas tax increase of more than 10 cents.

 

"ACT thanks Congress for taking action to prevent the Highway Trust Fund from going broke,"said ACT Executive Director Mark Wright. "Its actions this week will ensure that funding for highway and transit projects, as well as employer-based commuter programs that provide commuters with options, will continue without disruption. This is not, however, a victory. We urge Congress to not wait until May to begin dealing with long-term solvency for the federal transportation program. States and local governments need to plan, and unstable financing of the federal program is causing many agencies to scale back effective and popular programs. ACT stands ready to work with Congress on this issue and recommend necessary improvements to MAP-21."

 
Of Note

ACT President Josh Kavanagh was quoted Tuesday, August 5, in The Atlantic "CityLab" article on sustainable mobility and green parking. 

 
Job Postings
Visit the Job Postings page on ACT's website for recent career opportunities. Have jobs to post? Email them to cantwell@actweb.org.
 
Join ACT or Renew Your Membership
If you are not already a member of ACT and want to join, or if you need to renew your membership to take advantage of all the opportunities ahead, click here. Contact TJ Cantwell, ACT's membership director, at cantwell@actweb.org or call 571.699.3064 for more information.
 
Got News?

Help us spread the word about the people, places and things that are happening in the TDM world. Do you have any news or events that you would like included in a future issue of ACT Connections? Send them to Mark Wright, executive director, at wright@actweb.org.
 
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