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Save the Date!!! | |
April 9 - 13, 2016
SDITE Annual Meeting in Nashville, TN
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2015 Executive Board | |
President
Bill Seymour
Vice-President
Hollis Loveday
Secretary / Treasurer
Jennifer Bihl
International Director
Bob Murphy
Past-President
Kirsten Tynch
District Administrator
Craig Hanchey
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Social Media | |
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Archive(s)
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SDITE Apparel | |
Don't forget to visit the Lands' End Store to get your SDITE Apparel.
Lands' End Website |
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Future Annual Meetings | |
2016 - Nashville, TN
2017 - Columbia, SC |
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Newsletter Staff | |
Reviewers
Becky Malenke
Radha Swayampakala
Lindsay Walker
Anne Warnick
Social Media
Jeff Stephenson
Add Your Name Here Next Edition! |
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Welcome to September!
In the July edition of The Connector, I asked you to send me three words (or a three-word phrase) to describe the Southern District. And many of you responded (thanks!) and then I forgot. So perhaps the best three words may be "Forgetful Newsletter Editor." But the good news is that I remembered early one Sunday morning and sprung into action on this opening so I wouldn't forget again. So, here you go:
Southern Transportation Family
Technical Excellence; Camaraderie
Professional, Family, Friends
Friendliest ITE District
Inviting, transporting, and engaging
My Professional Family
Profession's Regional Issues
Fun party crowd
Mix and Mingle
Southeast Transportation Family
Networking, Learning, Fun
Community, Engineers, Fun
Ideas, Advocacy, Outreach
Transportation is Cool
Best Luau Outfits
Professional, fun camaraderie
Combining Southern Traffic
Fun, Technical, Fellowship
The common words I have found, which wasn't really that surprising: Family, Community
And perhaps it's best summed in a two word submittal: Great People
Talk to you again next month.
- Scott Walker, Editor
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President's Message
By: Bill Seymour, SDITE President
It's hard to believe summer is behind us, but we are looking forward to a great fall. Here's an update on the two emphasis areas we have been focusing on this year.
Community Involvement - A High School Service Project: Section teams are working to help bring the message of distracted driving to teen drivers. I look forward to the report at the Year-End Board Meeting from our Special Committee led by Scott Walker and David Low on this important subject.
Performance Measures: Hollis Loveday, our current Vice President and Performance Measures Coordinator, and I will be meeting by teleconference with our Performance Measure Champions. Our goal is to have ten performance measures that were approved at the Spring Board Meeting in place for the Year-End Board Meeting.
In other news, the SDITE Board recently approved a request to partner financially with the ABD for the ABD Event at the Nashville Annual Meeting in 2016. SDITE's portion will come from excess revenue from the Biloxi Annual Meeting, and sharing the cost of the event will not affect the current operating budget.
That's all for now. Hope your team has a great season!
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Policy and Legislative Updates
Federal Transportation Funding Update
With Congress back in session after Labor Day, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee quickly moved toward a mid-September markup of a long-term highway, transit and rail measure, trying to advance legislation ahead of an Oct. 29 expiration of the Highway Trust Fund. More information can be found here.
More specifically, Democratic lawmakers in the House are seeking to prevent federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects from being cut as House leaders work on a long-term highway bill this fall. This article from thehill.com provides some of those details.
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LeadershipITE Applications Due 10/16
Applications are now being accepted for the third class of LeadershipITE. This is an excellent program to enhance your leadership skills while also learning about ITE at the international level. You will meet classmates from across the United States, Canada, and beyond.
More information, including a link to the application, can be found here.
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Young Member of the Year / SDITE Rising Star Award
 Note from the Connector staff: Our esteemed editor isn't the type to brag, so we're doing it for him.SDITE Member Scott Walker, P.E., PTOE, was recently named International ITE's first ever Young Member of the Year after being selected as the Southern District's Rising Star. The Rising Star Award recognizes members under the age of 35 who have demonstrated the ability to lead the next generation and have implemented innovative techniques to solve transportation problems. A recipient was chosen from each ITE District. International ITE's Young Member Committee then selected Scott as ITE's Young Member of the Year from the list of Rising Stars. Scott was chosen as the award winner because of his excellent management roles on several projects, as well as his active leadership within ITE. He has held several section and district leadership positions and won the district's Joseph M. Thomas Outstanding Young Member Award in 2011. (He also happens to be editor of this newsletter, but that's just a coincidence.) Congratulations, Scott!
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NC Interchange Wins Awards
NCDOT opened a "turbine" interchange at I-85 and I-485 (northeast junction) in Charlotte in June. The DOT recently received two awards for the innovative design: an America's Transportation Award, Southeast Regional winner in the "Under Budget" category, and a National Award of Merit from the Design-Build Institute of America.
You can watch an NCDOT video about the awards below (the interchange segment starts at 0:57). See the interchange here.
Thanks to Mike Reese (NCSITE) for passing this along.
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Member Profile
1. Name - Karen Mohammadi
2. City / State - Louisville, KY
3. Place of Work - Neel-Schaffer, 5-1/2 years (Engineer Manager)
4. Degrees / Year - BSCE and MEng from University of Louisville
5. Certification - PE, PTOE, AICP
6. Place of Birth / Family - Bardstown, KY, Married to Farid and we have two daughters, Yasmeen (17) and Lili (13)
7. What do you do day-to-day? I manage Neel-Schaffer's Kentucky operations and serve as project manager for various transportation and transit planning projects and traffic engineering studies.
8. What are your technical interests? Transportation safety is my key interest. We've made so many strides in our profession in improving safety for all modes of transportation and I think it is exciting to be working in this profession at a time when it is a focus at all levels of government. I also believe it is some of the most satisfying and rewarding work with which I have been involved.
9. Hobbies? These may not be hobbies but I have been very active in my church and am a volunteer with the Red Cross to assist with Disaster Relief and am part of their Disaster Assessment Team. With so many disasters hitting Kentucky and elsewhere over the past few years I felt this was an important area to focus my volunteer efforts. I am also an avid reader and perhaps should be embarrassed by the number of books (electronic and paper) that I own.
10. Favorite Color? Yellow
11. Favorite Movie? Pride and Prejudice (also a favorite book)
12. Favorite Music? Varies but I listen to a lot of Christian music
13. In what capacity have you served SDITE in the past? Seems like I have volunteered in most capacities. I have served in nearly every offices including SDITE President, KYSITE President and Section Representative in the Kentucky Section. I've served on several SDITE Committees including being the LAC Co-Chair in 1997 (Louisville, KY) and the LAC Chair in 2004 (Covington, KY). I was President of the Southern District in 2009. I was the Sponsorship Chair at the 2012 Meeting in Lexington, KY. Most recently I served as Chair of the Past Presidents Committee where a group of past presidents researched and debated various issues facing SDITE at the request of the President. I have been on 4 other SDITE Committees as well. [I also have received the SDITE Young Member and Outstanding Individual Activity Awards.]
14. Desired Superpower? Maybe not a superpower but I would love to be able to forgo sleeping. Without the need to sleep or ever being tired I'd get so much more done each day.
15. Five Quick Questions
a. Coke or Pepsi? Neither, I am an ice tea person
b. Dogs or Cats? Both but we have fish, birds, lizards and guinea pigs at home
c. Telephone or Email? Email
d. Pen or Pencil? Pen or Sharpie
e. Apple or Android? Apple
16. Three Interesting Facts About You:
a. I was the first person in Kentucky to get a PTOE.
b. I came from a small, rural high school that I didn't even know what civil engineering was about until after I started college (with a different major).
c. I had a serious hearing loss as a young child that fortunately was corrected with medical intervention and lots of speech therapy.
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From the Sections...
Pull out the calendars and write these down!
Georgia Section
Applications are now being accepted for the 2015 GA ITE Leadership Program. Don't delay because the application deadline is September 18th. More information can be found here.
North Carolina Section
Strategic Initiatives Council Meeting
Tuesday, September 22, 10:00 am
NCSU McKimmon Center, 1101 Gorman St, Raleigh NC
NCSITE Board Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, September 23, 11:30 am
Stantec, 801 Jones Franklin Road, Suite 300, Raleigh NC
SimCap Users Group Meeting
Thursday, September 24, 10:00 am
NCSU ITRE, 909 Capability Drive, Suite 3600, Research Building IV, Raleigh NC TPC Monthly Meeting
Thursday, October 15, 4:30 pm
One Exchange Plaza, 219 Fayetteville St, Raleigh NC Virginia Section The 2016 VASITE Annual Meeting will be June 22, 2016 at the Sheraton Oceanfront Hotel. Sure, it's a year away, but why not add it to your calendar!!
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Getting Creative
As much as we try, we struggle to get the message across to those we serve. Here are a couple of articles that discuss ways some agencies have addressed that struggle.
The first is an article from governing.com which explores how highway agencies are increasingly using humor and wit to try to get people to drive safer.
The second article, also from governing.com, looks specifically at what was done in Arlington County, VA, including putting up messages on variable message signs such as "Don't Hit the Car in Front of You."
Effective? Read the articles to find out for yourself. Thanks to Student Chapter Committee Chair Kate D'Ambrosio (GASITE) for sending these along! |
Pedestrian Safety Campaign Explains "How to Get Hit by a Car"
As part of its recent pedestrian safety campaign, the Colorado DOT created a funny video of a pitchman trying to sell his series of VHS tapes, "How to Get Hit by a Car." DOT officials explained that the humor is a way to get a serious message across to people and hopefully reduce the number of crashes involving pedestrians. Read more here and watch the video below.
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Texas A&M Transportation Institute releases Annual Urban Mobility Scorecard
The annual Urban Mobility Scorecard, produced by INRIX and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), was released recently, showing that just as the U.S. economy has regained nearly all of the 9 million jobs lost during the downturn, traffic congestion has returned to pre-recession levels.
According to the 2015 Urban Mobility Scorecard, travel delays due to traffic congestion caused drivers to waste more than 3 billion gallons of fuel and kept travelers stuck in their cars for nearly 7 billion extra hours - 42 hours per rush-hour commuter. The total nationwide price tag: $160 billion, or $960 per commuter.
Washington, D.C. tops the list of gridlock-plagued cities, with 82 hours of delay per commuter, followed by Los Angeles (80 hours), San Francisco (78 hours), New York (74 hours), and San Jose (67 hours). Read more and get the full report here. The annual criticism of the Urban Mobility Scorecard began after its release, as well. You can read the critiques of the study methods and omissions by the City Observatory, Victoria Transport Policy Institute and the Frontier Group. |
Planner Jeff Speck Explains Road Diets
Ever struggled with explaining how road diets work to the public? Urban Planner and Walkable City author Jeff Speck has created a video that shows how road diets redistribute space using existing asphalt. Read more about the project at CityLab.
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| | Jeff Speck: Four Road Diets |
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Idaho DOT Replaces Mile Marker 420
Y ou won't find mile marker 420 in Idaho anymore. The sign on US Highway 95, which runs north/south through the state, kept getting stolen by pranksters because of the number's association with marijuana.
Idaho isn't the only state where this happens, although not all states have highways long enough to reach a mile marker over 400. Other states have reported the theft of the same mile marker sign, and the most common solution is to replace the mile marker 420 sign with mile marker 419.9. This was Idaho's solution, although in at least one instance in Washington state, the DOT simply did not replace the mile marker. Read more by clicking here.
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Have You Seen This?
Who doesn't love a good monkey video? In this instance, this little guy buys some juice from a vending machine. Nothing more complex than that. So take a minute and enjoy the show!
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We hope you enjoyed this edition. Feel free to let us know what we are missing or if you want to help us out some time!
Sincerely,
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Scott Walker, Editor
Southern District ITE |
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California's Department of Transportation seeks to build largest animal bridge in the country