June 2021 Meeting Highlights

A virtual section meeting was held on Wednesday, June 23rd, 2021. There were 21 people in attendance.

ITE Western District International Director Cathy Leong welcomed everyone to the meeting and reminded everyone about the upcoming 2021 Virtual ITE Joint International, Western, & Mountain Districts Annual Meeting. Event details and links to register are provided below.

Cathy introduced Mark Spencer, Senior Principal and Vice President of W-Trans, a traffic engineering consultant in the state of California.  Mark also currently serves as one of the two ITE Western District International Directors. Mark’s presentation focused on W-Tran’s partnership with the City of Menlo Park and their recently completed Transportation Master Plan (TMP). Menlo Park is located between San Francisco and San Jose and lies in the center of Silicon Valley. Although Menlo Park’s total resident population is relatively small, the number of daily commuters traveling through the city is nearly three times higher than the number of local residents due to its location and proximity to regional connections. In his presentation, Mark discussed lessons learned and the efforts required to complete the master plan.  That included an assessment of transportation operations, a robust public engagement program, reconciliation of proposed transportation improvements to a common baseline, formation of unified recommendations based on input from a Steering Committee, and identification of funding partnerships and grant opportunities.  All of which culminated into the development of the Menlo Park TMP that now serves as a blueprint for City decision making going forward.  A total of 190 projects were assembled for potential inclusion in the TMP and prioritized based on the level that they address or serve one or more of the following criteria:

  • Safety
  • Transportation Sustainability
  • Greenhouse Gas Reduction
  • School Access
  • Congestion Relief/Management
  • Sensitive Population
  • Green Infrastructure

Lastly, we will not be holding section meetings during July and August in support of ITE’s Joint International, Western & Mountain District Annual Meeting (see below). Our next scheduled section meeting will be in September with details to be provided at a later date.

2021 Virtual ITE Joint International, Western, & Mountain Districts Annual Meeting

The International Annual Meeting will be held over two weeks (July 20-22 & July 27-29). The meeting will feature plenary sessions, technical sessions, workshops, & poster sessions.  In addition, there are a few Western District only events held during the joint meeting which require separate registration through the Western District website. The district events include:

Friday, July 23rd:

  • Annual Business Meeting (12-1 PM PDT) – This will be on Zoom with the link shared with all members
  • Awards Session (4-5:15 PM PDT) – This will be on Zoom with the link shared with all members
  • Family Night Event (5:30-7:30 PM PDT) – Registration required

Saturday, July 24th:

  • Career Guidance Sessions (8 AM-12 PM PDT) – Registration required
    • Panel discussion
    • Debut of mentorship program
    • Resume/speed interview workshop
  • Kell Competition (12:30-4:30 PM PDT) – Registration required