Highlights from Portland: the 2023 ITE Annual Meeting By Julia Salvini, Salvini Consulting & ITE Canada Immediate Past President
The ITE Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon was a
presentation from Michael Jung, the Executive
wonderful opportunity to connect with about 1,600
Director of the ICF Climate Center on the Impacts of
colleagues from around the world and hear about
Climate Events on Transportation Decision Making.
the work being led by members across our
With seven concurrent technical streams, poster
transportation community.
sessions and an exhibitor hall full of vendors of all kinds, the meeting had many opportunities to take
There was great Canadian representation including
away new information and ideas for the workplace.
ITE Past Presidents Alf Guebert and Bruce Belmore, members of the ITE Canada Executive and Technical
The ITE Canada Executive Committee members took
Liaison Committees, Appointees attending their
part in a number of meetings to share leadership
Council meetings, students, presenters, vendors, and
ideas with colleagues on the International Board of
many participating as attendees. There were some
Direction, the Council Leadership Team, the District
proud Canadian moments when Alf Guebert received
Section and Chapter leadership and current District
his honorary membership, when the University of
Presidents.
Waterloo received the Student Chapter Momentum Award, when the Canadian District received the
Finally, we had the chance to celebrate outgoing ITE
Innovation Award, and
Executive Director Jeff Paniati and send him off into
watching our Traffic
retirement. Jeff has been a great friend of the
Bowl team from the
Canadian District and his exceptional leadership with
University of British
ITE will be felt for decades to come.
Columbia compete in the International
The ITE community and the ITE Canada community
competition.
are strong. If you’ve never been to an ITE International Meeting, mark your calendars for July
After the welcome reception, there was a get-
21 to 24 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You won’t be
together for Canadians – we even let honorary
disappointed.
Canadian and ITE Past President Shawn Leight attend! The gathering brought together old and new friends, allowing us to reconnect and build new friendships. The remainder of the Annual Meeting included inspiring keynote speakers with an address from Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt and a panel discussion on Creating People-Oriented Communities. The closing plenary session included a
Canadians Julia Salvini, Todd Litman, James Johnstone, Sean Nix, and Alex Nolet (left-right) connect in Portland 7
TRANSPORTATION TALK