Illinois ITE Section 2019 Sponsorship Program

The Illinois Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ILITE) is excited to once again offer an opportunity to sponsor the section for 2019. Through our sponsorship program we offer unique opportunities which will benefit your organization and help further ITE's goals for 2019. We're reaching out to you to ask that your organization partner with Illinois ITE in advancing these goals.

 In 2018, ILITE completed another successful year with the section sponsorship program, and expanded to many new corporate partners! Corporate sponsorship continues to be paramount in ensuring that meaningful programs and the scholarship program can continue. ILITE prides itself on its ability to provide scholarships to students pursuing studies in the transportation field, and with the help of our corporate sponsors, our student scholarships continue to thrive.

ITE has long striven to be an organization which promotes leadership, networking, and education.  Each year, our officers and committee volunteers spend countless hours to unite members of your organization with engineers and other transportation professionals in the spirit of these objectives.

Furthermore, by the end of this year, ILITE will have provided for its network of transportation professionals:

• 4 technical luncheons

• 4 discussion-based webinars

• 3 social events

• Annual golf outing (joint event with WTS

• Annual banquet

• Student Day career fair and networking event

Sponsorship Summary

The sponsorship summary and form detailing benefits associated with the different levels of financial support can be found in the link above.  To ensure you receive all listed benefits for 2019, we request that you send in your completed form by Friday, December 28, 2018. Additionally, in the event that levels of sponsorship fill up, we will determine order by date of response with completed form.

We hope that you will consider joining the ILITE team in 2019.  If you have any questions, please contact the ILITE Sponsorship Chair, Katelyn Bleach, at 312-612-7287 or IllinoisITE+sponsorship@gmail.com.

SPONSORSHIP DEADLINE: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2018

2018 Traffic Signal Benchmarking Self Assessment

The Illinois Section of ITE encourages public agencies to participate in the 2018 Traffic Signal Benchmarking Self Assessment. 

The Self Assessment will be the basis for the Traffic Signal State of the Practice Report which will characterize the state of the infrastructure and the organizational practices that support the management, operation, and maintenance of the signalized intersections. The data and report that result from the survey and case studies will help to identify opportunities to improve support for traffic signal systems. This project is being led by the Institute of Transportation Engineers in collaboration with the National Operations Center of Excellence with support from the Federal Highway Administration.

View the recording of the April 4 web briefing to learn more about the Self Assessment, its history, objectives, and the underlying basis for the questions. 

The Self Assessment must be completed by April 30.

Girl Scouts 7th Annual STEMapalooza

Illinois ITE attended the 7th Annual STEMapalooza Expo hosted by Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana. This event occurred on Saturday, March 24 from 10:00 am to 2:00 PM at the Friendship Center in Country Club Hills. The goal of STEMapalooza is to inspire girls to explore the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) by providing hands-on activities for the 400 girls who attend. ILITE has collaborated with Girl Scouts for the past few years and hopes to continue inspiring young girls to pursue STEM subjects.

Illinois ITE provided laptops with the traffic control game “Gridlock Buster” available to play. Gridlock Buster is an online traffic control game developed by the University of Minnesota and applies concepts vital to traffic engineering. The game incorporates the concept of delay and queue in a fun and easily understandable way. Players must control the traffic signals to ensure maximum capacity through the intersection. Illinois ITE was able to explain the role of traffic engineers to both the Girl Scouts and the attending parents. Illinois ITE would like to thank the organizers of this fun event and looks forward to future collaborations with the Girl Scouts of Great Chicago and Northwest Indiana.

Thank you to ITE board members Josh Harris and Monica Shei and ITE member Bryce Wegner for volunteering for this event!

Feel free to play Gridlock Buster here: http://www.its.umn.edu/GridlockBuster/

IL ITE Student Day 2018

The Illinois Section of ITE (ILITE) held the annual Student Day Career Fair + Luncheon on Friday, March 2, 2018 at the University of Illinois - Chicago campus.  Student Day is a career fair and networking event targeted at Illinois transportation students and companies.  

This year, the morning career fair session was attended by students from several Illinois universities,  as well as representatives from seven companies. Students and employers were encouraged to discuss opportunities from full-time, part-time, and even internships during the event. Thanks goes out to all of the companies who attended this year:

• AECOM
• Baxter & Woodman
• Clark Dietz
• Hanson Professional Services, Inc
• HDR
• Jacobs
• Lochmueller Group

After the career fair portion of students and professionals sat down for lunch where they could talk more informally. Students and professionals were encouraged to sit with each other so that each of the two sides could have representation in the discussions at each table.

 The Illinois Section of ITE would like to sincerely thank all of the students and professionals that joined us for this year's Student Day event!   The Section always welcomes any comments and suggestions about the Student Day event that may help us improve the event next year and beyond. See you next year!

February 2018 Webinar: "Finding the Right Tool for the Job: A Safety Data and Analysis Toolbox"

On February 27, the Illinois Section of ITE hosted the webinar “Finding the Right Tool for the Job: A Safety Data and Analysis Toolbox.” The event was held at Christopher B. Burke Engineering in Rosemont and was well-attended by 23 professionals, including representation from both the public and private sectors. The webinar introduced viewers to the FHWA’s Roadside Safety Data Program (RSDP) Toolbox. The Toolbox contains resources that can help agencies build a new or strengthen an existing roadway safety data program. 

The webinar was presented by Yanira Rivera, Civil Engineer at the FHWA, and Frank Gross, Safety Engineer at VHB Engineering. After giving attendees background information on the mission and goals of the Roadway Safety Data Program, Ms. Rivera explained the importance of data-driven decision making. The webinar provided a general overview of safety management data and terminology, such as crash severity levels, safety performance function, safety countermeasures, the crash modification factor, and the safety management process (network screening -> diagnosis -> countermeasure selection -> economic appraisal -> project prioritization -> safety effectiveness evaluation). References were made to the Highway Safety Manual, which is expected have a 3rd edition released in 2019 or 2020.

Attendees were then walked through the “Primer on Safety Data and Analysis Toolbox,” a support document that explains how to navigate and how to use the Toolbox. The three steps outlined in the Primer were to identify the agency’s role and responsibility, to select a task to be accomplished, and to then review the list of available tools. Several examples were demonstrated so that webinar viewers could understand the types of datasets available, how to access them, and how to apply these tools. Visit https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/rsdp to explore the Toolbox and learn how to manage, analyze, collect, and research with the FHWA’s safety data.