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Save the Date!!! | |
March 30, 2014 - April 2, 2014: 2014 SDITE Annual Meeting
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| 2013 Executive Board | |
Martin Bretherton
Kirsten Tynch
Secretary / Treasurer
Bill Seymour
International Director
Rick Day
Past-President
Becky White
District Administrator
Craig Hanchey
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| Social Media | |
Check us out on Social Media!
Twitter
Facebook
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Archive(s) |
(currently includes October 2013 only)
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Newsletter Staff | |
Scott Walker
Reviewers
Becky Malenke
Radha Swayampakala
Social Media
Jeff Stephenson
Add Your Name Here Next Edition! |
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Greetings!
Hello all!
This is the second edition of the new monthly SDITE "The Connector". We hope you enjoyed the last edition. And hopefully, you'll enjoy this one even more. Feedback is always appreciated!
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so we thought we'd share some random Thanksgiving facts:
- In the US, about 280 million turkeys are sold for the Thanksgiving celebrations.
- The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog.
- The five most popular ways to serve leftover turkey is as a sandwich, in stew, chili or soup, casseroles and as a burger.
- Each year, the average American eats somewhere between 16 - 18 pounds of turkey.
Feel free to use these at Thanksgiving dinner, but be sure to thank your friends at SDITE for passing these along. And we will thank WHSV for having the information readily available to us.
Take care and we'll talk to you next month.
- SDITE Newsletter Committee |
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Officer Update
Secretary / Treasurer: Bill Seymour
It has been an honor to serve as your Secretary/Treasurer this year. I am very happy to report to you that SDITE is financially sound, and actually better than it has been in a while. There are several reasons for this:
- Former presidents Tim White and Becky White led very capably by focusing on prioritizing expenditures and operating within a balanced budget.
- Also, for the past two Annual Meetings, LAC's have done an outstanding job, each returning over $20,000 in excess funds.
- Now, President Martin Bretherton continues to operate within a balanced budget, and our expenses are under budget.
SDITE now is able to begin to increase its cash reserves toward the goal of 75% of the annual budget. We will be challenged in the future, though, as Annual Meeting costs continue to rise.
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Reminder: SDITE 2014 Call for Abstracts
By: SDITE 2014 LAC
REMINDER!!
The Georgia Section of ITE is currently accepting abstracts for the 2014 Southern District ITE Annual Meeting to be held March 30 - April 2, 2014 at Reynolds Plantation in Lake Oconee, GA. Presenting at the 2014 SDITE Annual Meeting is a great opportunity to share your ideas, knowledge, expertise, and innovations with your peers.
We are working to develop an interesting and diverse technical program and will consider presentations addressing topics of interest to our members. Some suggested topics are listed below:
- Congestion Pricing
- Managed Lanes - HOV/HOT Lanes
- Transportation and Land Use Policies
- Safety
- Pedestrian/Bicycle Planning and Design
- Transit Planning, Design, and Operations
- Parking Operations and Management
- Managing Transportation in Challenging Economic Times
- Traffic Signals, Traffic Operations and Management
- Travel Models and Microsimulation
- Training and Mentoring the Next Generation
Student Paper Presentations are highly encouraged.
Abstracts should contain the following information:
- Title of presentation
- Brief abstract/summary explaining the presentation (250 words or less)
- Preferred presentation format (e.g., presentation, poster, workshop, etc.)
- Name and contact information of presenter
Please submit your abstract in PDF format via email by January 15, 2014 to SDITE2014@gmail.com.
Should you have any questions, you may reach Bayne E. Smith, P.E., Technical Committee Chair at bsmith@dot.ga.gov or (770) 532-5526.
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International ITE Update(s)
Some items to be aware of:
- ITE has recently updated the front page of their website. If you haven't done so, check it out.
- ITE is on Twitter: @ITEhq
- Did you that ITE has a database of past ITE Journals as well as all published Conference and Annual Meeting papers back to 1970? Access to full text articles is provided only to ITE members. Click here to take a look.
- Upcoming webinar opportunities can be found here.
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From the Sections...
In this feature each month, we will highlight two Sections each edition. If you have anything to share, please coordinate with your Section President and/or Representative.
Deep South
Deep South Section ITE members, student members, and guests enjoyed a varied program, enjoyable social events, and an interesting technical tour during the summer meeting, held July 10 through 12 at the IP Casino and Resort Hotel in Biloxi. The Deep South ITE Leadership Series was also concluded during the meeting and featured several Leadership topics. Among the technical presenters on the first afternoon were Jonathan Kiser of Neel-Schaffer, discussing pedestrian issues, and Acey Roberts of MDOT, who talked about the latest ITS initiatives around the State. The evening was highlighted by a crawfish boil, and although the event could not be held on the pool deck due to inclement weather, the relocation to one of the hotel ballrooms did not dampen the spirits or the appetites of the members who enjoyed renewing old friendships and making new ones while devouring the tasty crustaceans.
On Thursday morning, July 11th, in addition to a discussion on Mentoring, Daniel Helms of MDOT presented information on some of their recent safety initiatives including innovative intersection treatments, and Steve Strength of LADOTD discussed the progress of the Huey P. Long Bridge widening, recently completed in New Orleans. Lunch was served at the historic Mary Mahoney's Restaurant which the members enjoyed, including the bus ride over and back, in the rain! The afternoon included a presentation by David Taylor and Stephanie Plancich of the Gulf Regional Planning Commission on some of their safety activities, followed by a presentation by Southern District President Martin Bretherton on the self driving car technology being pioneered by Google, and what it could mean for the transportation engineering profession. The afternoon wrapped up with the Section Business Meeting. Evening activities included the traditional social hour, banquet, and scholarship auction which, as always, included fun, fellowship, "fashions," and a few surprises.
On Friday morning, with the bad weather gone, a technical tour of the Coast Transit Authority's Biloxi Transit Center was scheduled, and a golf tournament at the Sunkist Country Club was also undertaken.
North Carolina
NCSITE had a very successful year. We hosted the SDITE Annual Meeting in Charlotte and including our annual meeting in November we sponsored ten meetings offering PDH credit. Those meetings have helped to maintain strong involvement and attract new members. One of our primary goals is to maintain and promote membership in the organization. Our membership committee has been hard at work with their membership drive and activities are planned as we move into 2014. Sponsoring and participating in activities involving the students such as the annual student-led meeting or social activities such as bowling or trivia night are important to fostering relationships with the student chapters. In turn, we hope those students will consider ITE their first choice professional organization as they transition into their future careers.
We are hosting the 2013 NCSITE Annual Meeting at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh on November 21. Since early 2012 we have been gathering information and conducting interviews to prepare a video commemorating our 50th anniversary. This video along with formally recognizing our founding members at the annual meeting illustrates the ongoing strength of commitment to our organization. We have also been working diligently on the much anticipated re-launch of the NCSITE Mentoring Program with protégé sign-up due November 22. In addition, NCSITE is launching the scholarship endowment fund initiative. Over the past year we have discussed ways to strengthen the scholarship program and transform it into a self-funded program. To do that we will need strong membership support over the coming years to bolster the financial base of the scholarship account. We are excited about the upcoming year and ready to build on our past efforts.
Alabama (Leftovers from last month)
- Alabama celebrated the 40th Anniversary of our charter at our Annual Meeting in June. Click here for additional details.
- The ALSITE website has a new look, and we're also using social media to share news, events, and photos. Like us on Facebook.
- ALSITE and Deep South ITE are working closely with the Gulf Region Intelligent Transportation Society (GRITS) to cross-promote the organizations.
- The 2014 Annual Meeting of GRITS will be a combined meeting with ITS Georgia and ITS Florida. More information is available here.
- Fall 2013 ALSITE NEWS
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Tips and Trends in Transportation
Submitted by: Martin Bretherton
The ITE Traffic Engineering Council (TENC) provides its members with a wealth of information via its quarterly newsletter, ITE Journal articles, its heavily used Internet listserv discussion forum and the production and sponsorship of seminars at ITE international, district, section and chapter meetings. This also includes the "Tips and Trends in Transportation" publication. Here is a link to the Winter Edition of the newsletter, which include articles such as:
- Preparing a Nation for Autonomous Vehicles
- A Pilot Study on Mitigating Run-Off-Road Crashes
- Effective Removal of Pavement Markings
- Developing Louisiana Crash Reduction Factors
- Development of Estimation Methodology for Bicycle and Pedestrian Volumes Based on Existing Counts
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Coast to Coast in Two Days: An Interview with Todd DeVos
The following is an interview with Todd DeVos from the Georgia Section. Todd and his wife recently took an incredible journey across the United States -- in two days!!! 
To learn more, please read below:
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1) Please tell us exactly what you and your wife accomplished?
We just went for a weekend drive. We drove from the Atlantic to the Pacific and Canada to Mexico in 2 days (midnight Saturday morning to Midnight Sunday night). We called it 2 Oceans, 2 Borders, 2 Days, Too crazy. The total mileage was 3403 miles for an average of 66.9 MPH and 16 states. We started in Lubec, Maine (where the US/Canada/the Atlantic come together) at the West Quoddy lighthouse and finished in Imperial Beach, California (where the US/Mexico/the Pacific come together).
2) What compelled you to do this? And was your wife really on board to do this?
I was inspired by the old Cannonball Run movie which was a race from NY to LA. I enjoy long distance driving, so I guess I'm a truck driver at heart. I always wanted to drive coast to coast and border to border. So why do both at the same time. Researched it, and took it as a challenge to accomplish.
My wife was agreeable to spending the intense two days with me. But I threw in a week vacation during the fall in northern New England at the beginning and a week along the Pacific Coast Highway (Big Sur) at the end to sweeten the deal.
3) How long did it take?
We made it in 50 hours and 52 minutes (12:00 AM EDT Saturday, October 5 to 11:52 PM PDT Sunday, October 6). The goal was to be standing in the Pacific by 11:59 PM. Only 7 minutes to spare. The 3 time zones were a big key to accomplishing it.
4) How often did you stop?
We made 11 stops for fuel, food and rest rooms as fast as we could. The total time of stop time was 2 hours and 7 minutes. That equates to an 11 minute 33 second average.
5) How did you get from Georgia to Maine? And then back home? Drive / Plane?
We flew from Atlanta to Boston and then back home from San Francisco. We rented a car for coast to coast drive. The overall trip (driving only was a measly 6400 miles).
6) What do you see / learn that you didn't expect that you would see / learn?
The drive was like a NASCAR race, the stops were like pit stops (filler up and go) in between drive fast and the construction zones were like caution flags. We learned you can never over prepare. I scouted out two different routes and numerous alternates in various sections in case of weather or potential incidents. The original route was mostly across I-80 through Omaha, then through Denver and coming into San Diego down I-15. On Friday before we started, a snow storm hit the Rockies and shut down the passes across the Rockies on I-70 in Colorado and our northern alternate across I-80 in Wyoming. Even if they opened up the interstates (which they did), we felt the snow would slow us down enough to keep us from getting through in two days. So we used our southern route through St. Louis, and Albuquerque, and that decision paid off. Construction zones (a total of 76) even though inactive on weekends, slow you down enough to slow down the pace.
7) Would you do it again?
If I would have fallen short, I would have tried it again. Now that I have done one diagonal, I would like to do the other diagonal, from Key West, Florida to Cape Flattery, Washington.
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Thanks to Todd for sharing this story!! |
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Officer/Member Profile
Each month, we will feature an officer or member of SDITE. For the second profle, we'll meet Martin Bretherton, President of SDITE.
- Name - Martin Bretherton
- City / State - Atlanta, GA
- Place of Work / How Long - HNTB Corporation since October 2009
- Title - Senior Project Manager
- Degrees / Year - BCE (1977) from Georgia Institute of Technology and MBA (1983) from Georgia State University
- Certification(s) - PE in Georgia
- Place of Birth - Philadelphia, PA
- A Little More About Martin:
- What do you do day-to-day: Traffic Analysis and Modeling
- What are your technical interests? Research and Learning New Things
- What are your hobbies? Golf, F1 Racing, Traveling, and Reading
- Favorite Color? Gold
- Favorite Movie? Sound of Music
- Favorite Music? Moody Blues
- In what capacity have you served SDITE in the past?
- President - 2013
- VP - 2012
- Sec-Treasurer - 2011
- District Representative - 2000-2011
- John Exnicios Government Service Award - 2006
- Technical Paper awards - 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2002
- Technical Knowledge Committee Chair - 2005-2010
- Technical Council member - 1995-2005
- Nominations Committee member - 1993
- Awards Committee member - 2008
- Finance Chair - 2005 Annual Meeting (Savannah)
- Desired Superpower: Turn Back Time
- Five Quick Questions:
- Coke or Pepsi? Coke -- it was started in Atlanta! Pepsi is a NY drink!
- Dogs or Cats? Dog
- Telephone or Email? Email
- Pen or Pencil? Pen
- Yellow Jacket / Bulldog / Other? Yellow Jacket - THWG!
- Three Interesting Facts About You:
- Love Ga. Tech Football - have visited all ACC football stadiums (as of 2012)
- Have stayed overnight in 48 state capital cities
- Huge F1 racing fan (love high technology), been to races in Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Montreal, Indianapolis, Austin and have walked the track in Melbourne. Would like to see Spa and Monaco tracks
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Silly Signs
 | | Rutledge, GA |
Thanks to Betsy Williams for sending us this second one.
Remember, if you see a silly sign in your community, send it to us. |
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Newsletter Archives
Each month, we will archive our newsletters. We are in the process of getting these added to the SDITE website. In the meantime, check out this link and bookmark it. We also have a link to the archives to the left.
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Feeling Social?
 Don't forget: |
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Have You Seen This?
This is a new feature simply intended on keeping you reading until the end. It's very popular in Kentucky. Sometimes, it is transportation related. Usually, it is not. But we hope you enjoy!
 | | Elk on Our Trampoline |
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Want to Help Out?
We are always looking for extra help in SDITE, especially for spreading communication, information, etc. The following is a wish list of items for which help is needed. In ( ) are the number of folks that are needed:
- Newsletter
- Content Editor / Proofreader (1): To minimize text errors / content mistakes
- Content Entry (1 -2): One or two members to enter articles that are sent for inclusion
- Content Seeker for International ITE (1): Someone to keep tabs on what's going on at the International level (beyond what our International Director Rick Day will report)
- Outreach
- Promote / Track Activities: Help spread message of Outreach opportunities throughout District
- Social Media
- Facebook (1-2):
- 1+ hour / week (as much as someone wants to put into it)
- Twitter (2-3):
- 1+ hour / week (as much as someone wants to put into it)
- Others: Between LinkedIn, Instagram, Vine, etc, Social Media is out there. Do we need to join to help spread message?
- Website
- Review Content (1): Someone to make sure website is updated with latest and greatest information from the committee / newsletter.
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We hope you enjoyed this edition. Stay tuned for another edition in mid-December.
Sincerely,
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Scott Walker, Editor
Southern District ITE |
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