ITE Journal January 2018 - 18

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YOUR ITE COUNCILS: AN OVERVIEW OF THE ITE COUNCILS IN 2018
By Russell Brownlee, M.A. Sc., P. Eng., ITE Coordinating Council Chair

What are the ITE Councils?
The ITE Councils represent nine communities
of members within ITE that have a common
focus and a particular area of interest. There
are three employer-type councils and six
technical councils that develop and disseminate a broad range of informational content
for all ITE members. The employer-type
councils are the Public Agency Council, the
Transportation Consultants Council, and the
Transportation Education Council. The technical councils focus on six areas of interest:
complete streets; transportation systems
management and operations (TSM&O); traffic engineering, transportation forensics and
risk management (TFRM), transportation
planning, and transportation safety. Each
council has an Executive Committee that
guides the direction and activities of the
council, and standing committees and/or
subcommittees that focus or work on specific
areas of interest. For example, the Transportation Planning Council is home to the Parking
Standing Committee and the Sustainability
Standing Committee. The ITE Coordinating
Council is comprised of the individual Council Chairs and coordinates and collaborates
activities and policy across the spectrum of
all of the councils.

What Do ITE Councils Do?
The ITE Councils are the core of ITE's technical engine. Their members help shape ITE
technical priorities, support the ITE Board's
strategic initiatives, liaison with sister organizations (such as the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Transportation Research Board,
National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Association of Canada,
National Association of City Transportation
Officials, the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, and many others), and are
a primary communication conduit to our
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members. In addition, the Councils develop
technical products and content that take the
form of ITE Journal articles, webinars, conference sessions, informational reports, ITE
Community discussions, blogs, newsletters,
and so much more. All of this technical material is developed by Council volunteers with
assistance from ITE staff and external stakeholders. Some recent products developed
through member volunteers include:
*
Protected Bikeways Practitioner's Guide -
Complete Streets Council
*
Recommended Design Guidelines to
Accommodate Pedestrians and Bicycles
at Interchanges: An ITE Recommended
Practice - Complete Streets Council
*
Transportation Safety 101 webinar series
- Transportation Safety Council
*
The Trial of a Century at the 2017 Toronto
Annual Meeting - Transportation Forensics and Risk Management Council
*
Smart Communities Initiatives: Transportation Systems Management &
Operations Council
*
Survey of Guidelines Used to Select Sidewalk
Locations - Traffic Engineering Council

How Can I Get Involved?

Council membership - Membership
is free and open to all ITE members. Simply
log into the ITE Community and subscribe
to the councils in which you are interested.
It's easy! You will have immediate access to a
wide range of information, discussions, and
resources that the councils develop. There
will be a concerted effort beginning in 2018
to have the Council minutes, meeting/conference call notice and agendas, sub-committee/
task force member solicitations, and other
council communications conveyed through
the ITE community. Once you have signed up,
you will be able to monitor initiatives and discussions of interest to you.
Executive Committee and Sub-Committee Meetings - The in-person and
conference call meetings of the Council are

a good opportunity to hear about current
transportation issues, offer your experiences,
or table an information gap or emerging topic
you think ITE should be pursuing. The Council
meetings are open to all members. No need
to sign up or RSVP, just pull up a chair at the
meeting room table or dial into the call.
Volunteering - Volunteers are the lifeblood
of the councils, and we are always in need of
help. Each council has a broad range of activities that are all led by volunteers, and which
offer opportunities for you to play a role in
determining the future direction of our profession. Interested in volunteering? The Council
home page on the ITE website, provides a link
to typical volunteer opportunities available
within your council of choice. Simply contact
the council chair and let them know where you
might want to share your time and knowledge.

Where Can I Learn More?
Visit the ITE website at www.ite.org/councils to find out more. The Councils tab on
the website will link you to the Coordinating
Council and the individual Councils to find
out more about each of them, and locate the
contact information for our chairs. The ITE
Membership Directory allows you to search
for members serving on the individual council executive committees. Reach out to any of
the executive committee members, myself,
or the Coordinating Council Vice-Chair, Eric
Rensel-we would be happy to answer any
questions you may have.

Russell Brownlee
Coordinating Council Chair
rbrownlee@tnsgroup.ca
Eric Rensel
Coordinating Council Vice-Chair
erensel@gfnet.com
Learn more at
www.ite.org/councils

contact

http://www.ite.org/councils http://www.ite.org/councils http://www.ite.org/councils

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ITE Journal January 2018