FROM THE DISTRICT DIRECTOR
What a winter we are experiencing across this country! The weather serves as an important reminder that the work that we do as transportation professionals is especially important when the weather is cold and snowy. Better pedestrian connections, separated bike facilities, and relevant connected transit stop locations are so important this time of year along with all of the vehicular considerations that go into developing transportation networks that work in all weather. I’ve had a lot of philosophical conversations with myself about the importance of sight distance assessments this year as I’ve been driving and walking in inclement weather.
Julia Salvini, MEng, PEng, FITE
The start of the year gave me the opportunity to connect with
Canadian District Director, ITE
the new ITE International Board of Direction in Washington and
director@itecanada.org
meet up with colleagues from all over the world that were congregating for ITE meetings, LeadershipITE, and TRB. Canadians were out in full force and it was a delight to meet up with Omar Shams, who is participating in the LeadershipITE program, and Erica Bayley, who is leading as a Vice Chair of the program. A huge highlight of my trip to Washington was meeting up with Michael Sanderson and Jonathan Upchurch who are receiving honorary membership in the Institute for the remarkable contributions they have made to ITE over their incredible and ongoing careers. I also enjoyed thawing out a bit and running outside with my fellow board members Karen Aspelin and Peter Koonce. There are many exciting things happening at ITE International and many Canadians involved in those efforts. Edward Soldo is leading the development of the next ITE Strategic plan and both Destiny Piper and Gene Chartier are participating on the committee. Thank you all for your involvement. Sheliza Kelts is serving as a Canadian representative on a new ITE Member Engagement Committee that is looking to implement some of the leadership actions identified by the Leadership Taskforce and will be reviewing member-related benefits, programs, and opportunities across the Districts, Sections, and Chapters. Thank you to all our members across the country that are participating and leading on projects, Committees, and Councils of ITE. Your work brings a valuable international perspective to the work that ITE is doing. I want to take this opportunity to ask you as an ITE member to participate in the ITE 2026 All-Member Survey. The survey is a critical
Julia with former ITE International Presidents Karen Aspelin (above) and Michael Sanderson (below)
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TRANSPORTATION TALK
tool for the leadership across the organization to understand what its membership values and what it is looking for in the coming years. The