At the November 15 and 16 SDITE Board meeting, I shared with the Board my 2016 goals which are:

Developing and using performance measures was initiated last year by Bill Seymour and everyone to which I've talked believes it is a great idea. I think so too. Performance measures will help us quantify the health and vitality of SDITE and be able to identify and address weaknesses quickly. The performance measures developed by the Board through Bill's leadership are easy to understand and relatively easy to track.

The Strategic Planning team, led by Cindy Pionke, does great work and in some ways is a victim of their own success. This team has evolved into doing much more than strategic planning, hence the name change to Member Services. In fact, it is providing many of our core member services through its five teams:

I am adding one more team to the Member Services Team- Young Member Services. This committee also provides member services to an important group in our organization. Thus, the new "Member Services" team will be comprised of six groups with a focus on serving our members and meeting their professional needs. The Member Services group will continue doing what they have been over the last few years, but with a slightly different emphasis.

It is time for SDITE to examine itself and to plot our future. As a part of my third goal, I asked Becky White to direct a new strategic planning effort in 2016 that will likely carry over to 2017. Like international ITE, I believe that SDITE is at a crossroads. There are significant issues that lie before us, and we need to address them methodically and systematically. We are a strong and vibrant organization, but how do we address an ever changing transportation industry while meeting the needs of our members? Becky White has agreed to lead a new strategic planning effort in 2016 to help guide SDITE over the next 10 years. Looking back over the last 10 years made me realize how much we've accomplished from the first strategic planning effort. That plan has been realized and made us a stronger organization. The 2016/2017 SDITE Strategic plan will do the same, and I am looking forward to developing it under Becky's leadership. Becky will be seeking lots of feedback and support, so I hope many of you will help.    

As you know, SDITE is an all-volunteer organization so each committee member, board member, or worker within our institution chooses to be a part of and serve it. Being from the Volunteer state, I realize how important it is to have passionate leaders who are making a difference in the transportation industry. I am grateful to the dozens of people who give their time and talent to make SDITE a great organization.

I want to thank those SDITE members who volunteer to lead and be a part of our committees. The leaders include:

Several committee leaders are new in 2016. Rob Baker took over for Kate D'Ambrosio who is taking on different ITE responsibilities. Chris Kirby is replacing Becky White as the Leadership Development leader. Becky White will lead a new strategic planning effort. Meredith Van Duyn and Jeff Stephenson will share directing the IC&O team that was under the direction of Scott Walker. Finally, Carla Holmes remains the leader of the Young Members Committee but I assigned that team to Member Services.

 

Amy Burch, PE - Tennessee Section

Shane Bergin, PE, PTOE - Alabama Section

Katherine (Kate) D'Ambrosio - Georgia Section

Alison Catarella Michel, PE, PTOE - Deep South Section

Kellie Reep, PE - North Carolina Section

Lindsay Walker, PE, PTOE, AICP - Kentucky Section

This is the third year of the program which is a growing success in ITE, providing participants the skills, tools, and networking to help excel in furthering the transportation engineering profession.  This group has great energy and had a very productive session in Washington, D.C.  

The SDITE is looking forward to hosting the class at the beginning of the 2016 SDITE Annual Meeting in Nashville.  

Let's congratulate our fellow SDITE members in this year's class and welcome all class members to Nashville in April, showing them our southern hospitality!

Bicycling seemed to take a big leap forward in 2015 in many cities as more people started to use bicycles to supplement their daily automobile use. Designing for bicycles has become more and more a part of our lives as traffic engineers. As a resource, the FHWA recently released a series of case studies on bike designs from throughout the country to help communities get information on what's working in other areas. There are 86 examples included in the document - 21 regional, 6 statewide, and 59 local - that were categorized into several key project types, including planning and prioritization, shared use paths, corridor improvements, bridges, on-road facilities, intersections, and crossing improvements. Download the report here.