Accelerate Summer 2022

SUMMER 2022

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E Q U I T Y I N A C T I O N : R E I M A G I N I N G T R A N S P O R TAT I O N T O D AY

ACCELERATE ACCELERATE A PUBLICATION OF THE CONFERENCE OF MINORITY TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS

IN THIS ISSUE:

COMTO Leadership Shares Vision for the Future New Strategic Plan Unveiled

2022 Celebrating Women Who Move the Nation Recap

COMTO Committees Move the Industry Forward

Spotlight on COMTO Partners

COMTO Board of Directors NATIONAL CHAIR Tanya Adams Vice President, Inclusion & Diversity WSP USA FIRST VICE CHAIR Sharmyn Elliott Vice President Somat Engineering Inc SECOND VICE CHAIR Gwendolen Gray Project Controls Director & Vice President HNTB SECRETARY/TREASURER Michelle Hiett Revenue Systems IT Consultant Hatch LTK IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR Freddie Fuller Vice President, Geographic Sales Manager Mid-Atlantic Jacobs MEMBER-AT-LARGE Regine Beauboeuf Senior Vice President, Director, Infrastructure & Mobility Equity HNTB MEMBER-AT-LARGE Yvette Janniere-Houlder Lead Program Management, Enterprise Applications Metropolitan Transportation Authority, State Of New York (MTA) MEMBER-AT-LARGE Ruben Landa Assistant Vice President / Texas Business Leader Communications & Public Involvement WSP USA

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MEMBER-AT-LARGE Melissa Rolle-Scott Transit Section Chief, Office Of Safety & Security Miami-Dade Department of Transportation & Public Works (DTPW) MEMBER-AT-LARGE Dr. Lester Woods Chief Administrative Officer Missouri Department Of Transportation (MODOT) COUNCIL OF PRESIDENTS REPRESENTATIVE Quincy Howard Assistant Chief, Minority Business Development Division State of Ohio COUNCIL OF PRESIDENTS REPRESENTATIVE Christopher Macklin Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Diversity Compliance Officer Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) COUNCIL OF PRESIDENTS REPRESENTATIVE ALTERNATE Lidy Chan Risk Financing Manager Massachusetts Department Of Transportation (MASSDOT) BOARD ADVISOR Renee Banks President & Chief Communications Officer G. W. Peoples Contracting Co., Inc. (GWP) BOARD ADVISOR Christian Kent Principal Christian T. Kent, Transit Management Consulting, LLC

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Table of Contents 5 Letter from COMTO

ACCELERATE ACCELERATE is a publication of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO). Articles may not be reproduced without the publisher’s written permission.

COMTO’s mission is to ensure opportunities and maximum participation in the transportation industry for minority individuals, veterans, people with disabilities and certified MWDBE businesses through leadership training, professional development, scholarship and internship funding, political advocacy, partnership building and networking opportunities.

PUBLISHER & EDITOR IN CHIEF April Rai, President & CEO, COMTO MANAGING EDITOR Gatwiri Muthara, Senior Manager, Marketing and Communications STAFF WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTORS A’roya Reese, Coordinator, Marketing & Communications Leon Spinner, Associate, Membership & Chapter Support Dante Flood, Executive Assistant to the CEO & Coordinator, Operations Olivia Byrd, Associate, Programs & Strategic Engagement DESIGN Doug Hunley | Design DCH COMTO provides opportunities in the transportation industry for minority participation and advancement, through advocacy, training, and professional development.

COMTO Headquarters 1330 Braddock Place Suite 203 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone: 202-506-2917 Email: info@comtonational.org Website: www.comtonational.org

6 COMTO Leadership Shares Vision for the Future 9 2022–2025 COMTO Strategic Plan: A Roadmap Towards Full Access and Maximum Representation for the Underrepresented 11 COMTO Remembers Sharmyn Elliott 12 COMTO Committees Move the Organization and Industry Forward 20 2022 Celebrating Women Who Move the Nation Brings Industry Together After 3-year Hiatus COMTO INDUSTRY PARTNERS 22 HNTB: Growing Small, Minority and Women-Owned Businesses in Broward County 24 Putting Equity into Action: WSP USA’s Equity Center of Excellence 26 AECOM: Mobilitics™: Advancing Solutions That Make Sense SPOTLIGHT ON COMTO MOU PARTNERS 28 The Future of Transportation is Female… and Much More: WTS International and COMTO Collaboration Achieves Our Equity Goals by Sara M. Stickler, President and CEO, WTS International 29 Building Bridges to Equity Across the International Tolling Industry by Pat Jones, Executive Director and CEO, International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) 30 American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) Racial Equity Commitment Pilot Program Kicks Off 32 Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC) Continues to Advance Women and Minorities in Employment and Contracting in Aviation and Aerospace 34 Latinos in Transit (LIT): Advancing Career Opportunities for Minorities in Public Transportation 36 Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) Garrett Morgan Sustainable Transportation Competition 38 RailVolution: Transformative Change with Transit 40 Equity and Opportunity in the Transportation Workforce TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD (TRB) PROGRAMS AND COMMIT TEES WORK TO ADVANCE MINORITIES, WOMEN AND MARGINALIZED GROUPS

42 Minority Student Fellows Program 46 AME 10 Equity in Transportation Committee 48 Standing Committee on Women and Gender in Transportation 51 Research on Rural, Specialized, and Intercity Services Essential to Societal Equity 3

We are grateful for COMTO’s commitment to excellence and equity in creating opportunities for historically underutilized businesses and for all professionals in transportation.

The HNTB Companies Infrastructure Solutions hntb.com

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LETTER From

Dear COMTO Family, It is a delight to present to you the Summer 2022 edition of our Accelerate magazine. This special print edition of Accelerate is being made available to all attendees of our 51st National Meeting and Training Conference taking place in Fort Lauderdale.

It’s been three years since we last met in person for a COMTO national conference and much has happened in that time. We have a new Board of Directors, led by Chair Tanya Adams; a new President and CEO, April Rai; and a new Strategic Plan. With a renewed industry focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion – COMTO and our new leadership and vision are poised to build upon our 50-plus year legacy and continue to expand opportunities for minorities and the underrepresented in transportation and reimagine what our communities can be.

In this issue we get a glimpse into COMTO today with profiles of our leadership as well as an extensive look at the many committees who help move the organization forward through their tireless work and dedication.

We share our 2022-2025 Strategic Plan and recap our always inspiring Celebrating Women Who Move the Nation awards.

We also asked our allied organizations in transportation to share with you their thoughts on our industry today and their many programs and initiatives which are helping lift our industry and communities towards a level playing field. We hope you enjoy this issue and that it sparks greater interest in COMTO’s and our partners’ missions as we work together to create more equitable society. Enjoy the conference!

Signed, Conference of Minority Transportation Officials

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Accelerate Profile COMTO Leadership Shares Vision for the Future In 2021, Tanya Adams, Vice President Diversity & Inclusion, WSP, USA was elected as Board Chair of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO). Months later, April Rai was appointed as President & CEO, forming a dynamic duo of women of color at the helm of COMTO for only the second time in the organization’s history. Their leadership comes at a pivotal time in the history of COMTO as it surpasses 50 years focused on advocacy for the underrepresented in transportation. Chair Adams & President Rai answered a few questions on the importance of COMTO and the road ahead: In your view, why is COMTO as an organization so important?

TANYA: Over 50 years ago, in 1971, COMTO became the voice for equity in transportation. It was not until 1975 that William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. became the first African-American U.S. Secretary of Transportation, and 12 years later that Carmen Turner would make history as the first African-American woman to lead a major transit agency when she became general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in 1983. Here we are in 2022, still celebrating minorities achieving firsts. Organizations like COMTO ensure the leadership landscape is challenged to reflect the communities served. Much progress has been made to celebrate, and we have more ground to cover!

APRIL: A longtime COMTO member said to me recently, that being a member of COMTO is the difference between taking the stairs and taking the elevator on your career journey. Organizations like COMTO ensure connection to a curated network of like-minded employers and professionals in transportation who all share a commitment to equity and workforce development. COMTO ensures or-

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ganizations, agencies and professionals learn best practices, engagement strategies and development techniques in a real-world environment for individual employee growth, improved workplace culture, and elevated outcomes for communities. COMTO is more relevant and needed now, than ever.

Looking at COMTO’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan, what initiative are you most excited about implementing?

TANYA: I am so proud of COMTO’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan. Our commitment to strengthen strategic alliances with MOU partners, associations and groups aligned with the COMTO mission is truly exiting. Our pursuit of these meaningful connections only fortifies our ability to effect change on a grand scale and embody the values we stand for as an organization. We have several new projects underway and have reimagined others to expand their reach and impact.

APRIL: My passion for workforce development and support of emerging leaders draws me to our engagement and retention priority. COMTO is bold in its commitment to increase the number of paid-internships and annual scholarships awarded to ensure we strengthen the workforce pipeline with students from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Our ability to provide real-world experiences and financial support to students pursuing careers in transportation is critical to realizing COMTO’s mission of full access and participation for all. We want the next generation to CHOOSE transportation as a career, not FALL INTO it, like so many of us working in transportation today, so we must be intentional about showing them, what is possible!

With a renewed focus on E, D & I in transportation, how can we ensure the work continues long term?

TANYA: As employers we want to create a workplace culture where our teams feel safe bringing their lived experience to the table, so we must be prepared to receive it fully, and have mechanisms in place to utilize this balance of perspectives to challenge innovation, project delivery and outcomes, making diversity a core tenant of business success.

APRIL: As we think about transportation being the great connector, as organizations and agencies, we know that meaningful community engagement is critical. We also know that the next generation of professionals place a high value on connecting with the mission of their employers. Establishing relationships with traditional and non-traditional community leaders, and ensuring resources are allocated to community stakeholder engagement will be key in sustaining this work long term.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU: Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on you as a leader?

Why and how did this person impact your life?

TANYA: There have been so many amazing individuals who have impacted me personally and professionally. Collectively, each one of them showcased their authenticity without reservation and were willing to do what was right, even when doing right was difficult. I carry that with me and work hard to embody those values in all I do.

APRIL: I have to say my mother – a person with the strongest work ethic I have ever encountered, who is motivated simply by her own conviction to give her best at anything she is doing, and best serve those she is responsible for and responsible to. My core values that lead me in all I do were shaped by her example.

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Question today Imagine tomorrow Create for the future

WSP is proud to be a COMTO Industry Partner “Through the creation of our Equity Center of Excellence, WSP is committed to driving the transformation of transportation and mobility to full and equitable access for underserved, marginalized and disinvested communities.

We are working to ensure that every one of our projects integrates equity into its processes, from planning to resourcing to implementation and use.”

– Tanya Adams, Vice President of Inclusion and Diversity, WSP, and COMTO National Board of Directors Chair

Find out what we can do for you.

wsp.com

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COMTO’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan: A Roadmap Towards Full Access and Maximum Opportunities for the Underrepresented

COMTO recently unveiled its new strategic plan.

The 2022-2025 COMTO Strategic Plan is geared towards advancing the successful representation of minority individuals, veterans, people with disabilities and Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) in the transportation industry. The

organization will accomplish this through leadership training, professional development, scholarship and internship funding, political advocacy, partnership building and networking. Our 2022-2025 Strategic Plan will build upon the advances we’ve made these past 50 years and guide us into the future!

The strategic plan has three focal areas:

• Engagement & Retention To engage and maintain relationships with individuals and entities committed to equity, to increase and retain membership support of COMTO.

Read COMTO’S 2022-2025 Strategic Plan here or scan below:

• Professional Development To aid in the professional development of COMTO members to build a network of individuals prepared to take on leadership roles within the industry.

• Advocacy To advocate on behalf of underrepresented groups in transportation.

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Equitable decisions require smarter solutions.

Transit is evolving rapidly, from changing travel patterns to technological advances.

MobiliticsTM — our customizable, scalable scenario-planning tool — uses analytical calculations to help public agencies make better informed policy, sustainability, design and investment decisions. When the future presents a myriad of possibilities, Mobilitics takes the guesswork out of what comes next.

ACCELERATE | SUMMER 2022

COMTO Remembers Sharmyn Elliott COMTO honors the life of our beloved First Vice Chair of our Board of Directors, Sharmyn Elliott, who passed on June 24, 2022. Sharmyn was a long-time member of COMTO, serving in various leadership capacities both at the national level on the Board of Directors and several committees, and at the local level at COMTO Michigan, including Vice President of that chapter. He had a stellar 45-plus year career in transportation with his most recent position as Vice President of Somat Engineering.

As an organization we will honor Sharmyn’s legacy in the days and weeks to come and beyond. Our condolences go to his family, friends, and colleagues.

Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

“We lost an amazing Man, Warrior, Mentor, Role Model and COMTO Champion – First Vice Chair and long-time COMTO member, Mr. Sharmyn Elliott. Personally, I’ve lost a friend, brother and fellow board member who inspired me to run for COMTO Chair. During our time together as Board members, he served as my trusted partner in leadership as First Vice Chair, and a highly accomplished, deeply respected member who was fully dedicated to the COMTO mission. I will honor his life and his service the best way I can – by continuing to move forward with the COMTO mission and serve in his memory with steadfast commitment to being the voice for minorities in the transportation industry.” ~ COMTO Board Chair Tanya Adams “COMTO was blessed to have Sharmyn as a champion and embodiment of our mission. We are grieving deeply along with his family and countless friends and colleagues. We are committed to honoring his legacy by embodying the grace, dignity and unwavering dedication to our work that was evident in Sharmyn.” ~ COMTO President and CEO April Rai “We all have lost a giant in our lives and in the COMTO family - he was also my best friend. His love for COMTO was evident by the time, resources, and dedication he gave to this wonderful organization. He will forever be missed, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.” ~ Former COMTO President and CEO Brad Mims

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COMTO Committees Move the Organization and Industry Forward COMTO’s working committees are comprised of dedicated members who volunteer their time and talent to create programming, resources, and opportunities and to help the organization reach its vision of ensuring full access for minorities in transportation while preparing and positioning leaders for rapidly evolving global opportunities.

Learn more about our current committees and the valuable work they do on behalf of our members and the three million minorities in the United States and Canada who work in all modes of the transportation industry. Reach out to our committee leaders to learn more about their work and how you can become involved.

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Accessibility Advisory Council CO-CHAIRS:

Martin Kareithi

Lina Aragon

Christian Kent

Director, Systemwide Accessibility Capital Metro martin.kareithi@capmetro.org

Operations Manager Palm Tran laragon@pbcgov.org

Board Advisor Principal at Christian T Kent, Transit Management Consulting ckent@christiankentconsulting.com

DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEE: COMTO’s Accessibility Advisory Council (AAC) serves to support COMTO’s vision to see leadership of the transportation industry reflect the diversity of communities served.

COMTO’s definition of diversity includes persons with disabilities. The AAC works to ensure COMTO fosters a welcoming environment for persons with disabilities and celebrates their contributions to the transportation industry. In support of the membership committee, the AAC ensures COMTO individual members who identify as a person with disabilities as well as disabled veteran-owned businesses within COMTO’s Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) members are supported, obtain fair and equal employment, and contracting opportunities. In support of the scholarship committee, the AAC works to ensure that scholarships and paid internships include support for students with disabilities. In support of COMTO headquarters, the AAC works to ensure that venues used for COMTO’s conferences and events are fully accessible to persons with disabilities, and that print and online resources are provided in accessible formats.

What are some initiatives your committee is working on?

• A COMTO membership survey to determine how many of our COMTO members have a disability, and what has been their experience working in our industry as a person with a disability.

• A webinar on Reasonable Accommodations.

• Disability Awareness Month: COMTO’s role and opportunities.

• A 2022 National Meeting and Training Conference Accessibility Track presentation: Disability Rights are Civil Rights.

• Partnership support of other COMTO committees.

• Accessibility review for COMTO event locations such as the National Meeting and Training Conference.

Why should someone join your committee?

If you’re interested in joining a group of professionals that are dedicated to advancing equity by promoting, educating, and advocating for complete inclusion in the transportation industry for persons with disabilities – the Accessibility Advisory Council is for you!

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Celebrating Women Who Move the Nation

CITY Internship Committee

CHAIR:

CHAIR:

Tanya Adams

Colean Bembry

Chair, COMTO Board of Directors Vice President, Inclusion & Diversity, WSP USA

DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEE: The COMTO Celebrating Women Who Move the Nation Steering Committee ensures the successful planning and execution of COMTO’s Celebrating Women Who Move the Nation ceremony traditionally held annually during Women’s History Month. Activities include ensuring COMTO meets its revenue goals, choosing honorees that meet all predefined criteria, securing all honorees will be present at the ceremony, planning of the event and participating in teleconferences to ensure all timeline items are completed on schedule and assisting with all assigned onsite duties the day of the event.

What are some initiatives your committee is working on?

We are constantly seeking out women who are making a powerful impact in the transportation industry and support and influence the younger generation of women to continue to change the face of transportation.

Why should someone join your committee?

If you have your hands on the pulse of the transportation industry, can identify stellar talent and leadership, and want to elevate women in transportation, our committee is for you.

Regional Quality Manager Mass Electric Construction cbembry@masselec.com

DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEE: The COMTO Careers in Transportation for Youth (CITY) Internship Committee is committed to strengthening the workforce pipeline by engaging students from diverse backgrounds and providing them with an immersive, paid internship opportunity that allows them to explore careers in transportation.

What are some initiatives your committee is working on?

COMTO is currently working to revamp the C.I.T.Y program in preparation for a relaunch in 2023, to make it even more impactful for our students and host organizations. With fresh ideas and partnerships, we can provide women and minority college students with a unique opportunity to gain practical experience in the transportation industry.

Why should someone join your committee?

COMTO is extremely proud of the immense impact this program has had on students across the nation, who through our generous hosts, gain experience that serves to catapult their careers and transform their lives. If you wish to influence the next generation of transportation leaders and ensure a secure pipeline of talent to the industry, join us on the CITY Internship Committee!

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Emerging Leaders Sub-Committee CO-CHAIRS:

Aisha Eccleston Mundy

Cyrill Weems

Director, Global Logistics Cenntro Automotive Corporation aisha@cenntroauto.com

Director, Infrastructure- Water & Transportation Burns & McDonnell cweems@burnsmcd.com

DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEE: The COMTO Emerging Leaders Sub-committee works on key initiatives to engage COMTO professionals seeking to build the requisite skills to advance toward the rank of officer or executive in public or private organizations within the transportation industry. An emerging leader has demonstrated a desire to produce at the executive levels within the transportation industry in their current role.

In order to serve COMTO’s diverse membership, the Emerging Leaders Sub-Committee is divided into the following tiers. Each tier serves to provide programming, information, and resources for its respective group.

Tier 1— Entry Level/Young Professionals: COMTO members who work in entry-level positions who seek to advance to their first management position.

Tier 2— Middle Management: COMTO members who are responsible for planning and directing the work of others and/or key projects in light of organizational goals.

Tier 3— Senior Management: COMTO members who in addition to planning and directing the work of others, also are responsible for allocating resources and for working across the organization to facilitate the development and dissemination of organizational goals.

Tier 4— C-Suite Executives: COMTO members who are in charge of an organization or a primary function of an organization. They are responsible for ensuring the achievement of the organizational goals by advising senior management on strategies to accomplish goals.

What are some initiatives your committee is working on?

Upcoming initiatives include a webinar on “Creating Your Mentor Network” in advance of the National Meeting and Training conference to prepare members to take advantage of the immense networking opportunities available at the event. The committee is also coordinating the Emerging Leaders Forum at the National Meeting and Training Conference. The forum is one of the main plenary sessions and will include top tier industry experts focusing on issues of importance to Emerging Leaders. A networking reception will also follow the forum.

Why should someone join your committee?

The Emerging Leaders Sub-Committee is an excellent opportunity to network with other like-minded, ambitious leaders dedicated to careers in transportation. Committee members have the chance to create programming, resources and information that will benefit COMTO members at all levels of their career succeed and advance.

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Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Committee CHAIR:

Gwendolen Gray Second Vice Chair, COMTO Board of Directors Project Controls Director and Vice President, HNTB ggray@HNTB.com

DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEE: The Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Committee assists with developing and maintaining comprehensive and tangible resources to support COMTO HUB members.

In addition to advocacy, the committee works to showcase the services of COMTO HUB members and ensure equity in the procurement process and obtaining of contracting opportunities. The committee also works to support the creation of more HUB’s as prime contractors.

What are some initiatives your committee is working on?

The HUB Committee is currently planning the HUB Forum taking place during the National Meeting and Training Conference, reimagining the COMTO small business directory, planning several HUB resource webinars, and virtual meetings with key transportation leaders.

Why should someone join your committee?

Join the HUB Committee if you’re interested in elevating and advocating for HUB organizations and ensuring equitable opportunities in the procurement process and obtaining of contracting opportunities as well as supporting the creation of more HUB’s as prime contractors.

Industry Awards Committee CO-CHAIRS:

Regine Beauboeuf, PE

Emille Williams

Member at Large, COMTO Board of Directors SVP/Director of Infrastructure & Mobility Equity, HNTB rbeauboeuf@hntb.com

Deputy CEO Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) williamse@cota.com

DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEE: The Industry Awards Committee recognizes individuals, organizations, and COMTO Chapters who make outstanding contributions to the transportation industry. COMTO honorees come from all sectors and modes of the industry. They are nominated by their peers and selected by the Industry Awards committee members upon reviewing their qualifications and achievements.

COMTO, as the Voice of Equity in the transportation industry, is keen to recognize and honor those who demonstrate excellence in their field of practice while intentionally keeping the door open to opportunities for the underrepresented. It is important to note that members are nominated and selected by their peers as a sign of the most outstanding recognition of their dedication.

The Industry Awards Committee is humbled to do its part in achieving COMTO’s mission and values by helping shed light on those deserving of recognition.

What are some initiatives your committee is working on?

Every so often, the committee reviews the existing award categories and evaluates them for context and relevancy amidst the evolutions in the industry. Four years ago, the awards for Private Corporation and Public Agency of the Year were created to recognize public enterprises and public organizations that show measurable progress towards achieving the COMTO mission and vision of an inclusive industry. This year, a new Civic Equity Award was created to recognize the times we live in and render homage to individuals, organizations, and groups that work hard and often against the grain to spread the practice of equity in their areas of influence. This award wants to keep alive the awareness that spread throughout the Nation following the George Floyd murder and honor those who work tirelessly to achieve measurable goals that create a difference in people’s lives.

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Legislative Advisory Council CHAIR:

“No work is insignificant.

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and

Renee Banks Advisor, COMTO Board of Directors President & Chief Communications Officer G.W. Peoples Contracting Co., Inc. rbanks.gwpeoples@gmail.com

importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEE: The Legislative Advisory Council promotes policies and programs that advance the organization, as well as the mission, vision, and strategic plan from a policy perspective. The Legislative Advisory Council also sets the Legislative Agenda for the organization which directs our advocacy activities.

What are some initiatives your committee is working on?

The committee is connecting with key elected officials and transportation leaders in the planning of the Legislative Plenary at the National Meeting and Training Conference. The Legislative Plenary is one of the most highly anticipated sessions at the conference and features local, state, and federal political leaders sharing on issues crucial to ensuring an even playing field and equitable transportation industry. The committee is pursing presenting opportunities including leading a session during the Women in Government Relations (WGR) Professional Women in Advocacy Conference in October 2022. The working title is Minority Women in Government Advocacy: Unique Challenges and Perspectives. The committee is also planning for an advocacy webinar, COMTO’s View from the Hill and CBC Transportation Brain Trust for this fall.

Why should someone join your committee?

Anyone who has a desire to educate and advise elected officials, ensuring COMTO’s voice – which is the voice for equity in transportation – is heard at the highest level of government is encouraged to join our committee.

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Membership Committee

CO-CHAIRS:

DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEE: The COMTO Membership Committee works to support Ashley Greaves Tamika White and develop initiatives to actively recruit and retain COMTO Project Consultant Sr. Organizational Development Manager members at all levels with relevant programs, showcasing Hatch LTK Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) ashley.greaves@hatch.com twhite@psta.net member benefits and the support of COMTO Membership Chairs across thirty-five chapters with best practices and information sharing. Each virtual meeting spotlights COMTO chapters, provides recruitment training, and provides a support network for Membership Chairs. Members are core to the COMTO family, and it benefits each member to make their chapter and pool of colleagues as diverse as the communities served by the transportation industry.

What are some initiatives your committee is working on?

The committee engages in ongoing discussions around methods to attract, engage, develop, and retain COMTO members. The committee works to ensure that all Membership Chairs are equipped with the most recent updates from COMTO headquarters and other Committees so they can keep their local chapters informed. Each month, a guest presenter shares membership and engagement best practices, and chapters share their upcoming events/activities to inspire ideas and invite other members to join in. The Chapter Spotlight, fosters networking and enhances collaboration amongst the committee members. Chapter leaders give introductions, share their background and history of engagement with COMTO. Why should someone join your committee?

The COMTO National Membership Committee ensures the very best benefits and programs continue to engage the vast COMTO family of members. Join to influence the tools, resources, programs, and best practices that touch COMTO members and ensure their success in the transportation industry. Serve as a welcoming agent for new members by working with the committee to develop creative ways to acknowledge members and encourage their participation in COMTO activities. Support critical research on the needs and diversity of COMTO membership as the organization works to advocate and support transportation professionals, agencies, and organizations in this great industry.

Program Planning Committee

CO-CHAIRS:

DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEE: The COMTO Program Planning Committee develops, Warren Montague reviews, and solicits workshops and forums for the annual Transportation Management and Compliance Consultant COMTO National Meeting and Training Conference. This montaguewarren4@gmail.com committee reviews and evaluates “Call for Papers” submissions to ensure that the workshops, continuing education units and forums meet the educational needs and goals of COMTO’s membership.

Daniel Pearsall CEO Artistic Aerial Productions dan@droneaap.com

What are some initiatives your committee is working on?

Every year, we prepare to develop content and programming for the National Meeting and Training Conference.

Why should someone join your committee?

Anyone interested in ensuring the success of all COMTO national programs and events by providing content that is timely, relevant, and innovative should join our committee.

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Scholarship Committee

Strategic Planning Committee

CO-CHAIRS:

CO-CHAIRS:

Kim Webb

Brittni Russaw

Metro Region Engineer Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) webbk4@michigan.gov

Transportation Planner AECOM Brittni.Russaw@aecom.com

Demauris Terry

Tasha Steiner

President, COMTO Southern California (SoCal) Chapter Chief Operating Officer, BA, Inc. dterry@baincorp.com

Electrical Engineer WSP USA Tasha.Steiner@wsp.com

DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEE: The COMTO Scholarship Committee cultivates scholarship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students studying in transportation related fields. This committee also educates members on the scholarship application process, as well as promotes scholarship opportunities to COMTO’s networks and throughout the transportation industry.

What are some initiatives your committee is working on?

We are strengthening the pipeline of young transportation leaders by providing scholarships to help students complete their undergraduate or graduate education.

2022 Scholarship winners will be announced at the Scholarships Gala taking place at the National Meeting and Training Conference.

Why should someone join your committee?

If you’re looking to shape the future of the transportation industry and transform the lives of students from minority and other underserved communities, please join us.

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DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEE: The COMTO Strategic Planning Committee maintains and refreshes the strategic plan to align with the mission, vision, and goals of COMTO and to ensure that the COMTO strategic plan appropriately guides the organization to achieve its strategic direction desired.

What are some initiatives your committee is working on?

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We debuted the 2022-2025 Strategic Plan in January of this year.

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We will roll-out an initiative to better identify and serve COMTO members.

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Implementation of the 2022-2025 strategic plan with a focus on achievement of key indicators

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A one year-in-review “State of COMTO” event in January 2023 to discuss the progress of the implementation of the Strategic Plan

Why should someone join your committee?

Anyone interested in shaping the direction of the COMTO and ensuring we remain a vital, relevant organization should join our committee.

Jacobs congratulates COMTO on its 51st National Meeting and Training Conference.

At Jacobs, we’re going beyond the typical solution of building our way out of gridlock and congestion by putting our curious minds to work to create a smarter, more connected world. We’re facing a new generation of challenges and opportunities in moving people, goods and services. And at Jacobs, we’re pushing the limits of what’s possible.

We tackle the world’s toughest challenges.

Follow us @JacobsConnects | jacobs.com

2022

Celebrating Women Who Move the Nation

Brings Industry Together After 3-year Hiatus

2022 Honorees For the past 10 years, COMTO members, partners and supporters have come together in Washington, DC for our Celebrating Women Who Move the Nation

When we change the lives of

(CWWMN) awards breakfast to honor women leaders

women we change the lives of

from all modes of transportation who continuously

the community.”

transform and disrupt the industry.

On March 16, 2022, after a three-year hiatus due to

~ Carole Hopson (2022 CWWMN Recipient)

COVID-19, COMTO had the pleasure of honoring inperson 16 phenomenal women whose stories inspired and moved all in attendance.

These women were selected by the Celebrating Women Who Move the Nation Committee, led by Board Chair Tanya Adams, because they represent the gamut of what transportation offers as they continue to motivate the next generation of female leaders.

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Speak up and make your voice heard! If they are not allowing you to speak at the table, then get up and find another table.” ~ Kimberly Slaughter (2022 CWWMN Recipient)

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2022 Celebrating Women Who Move the Nation Honorees

Alva Carrasco

Petra Mollet

Vanessa E. Wyche

Carole Hopson

Dawn Tucker-Thomas

Muriel Bowser

President Latinos In Transit Board of Directors

Vice President, Strategic and International Programs, American Public Transportation Association (APTA)

Director NASA Johnson Space Center

First Officer Boeing 737 for United Airlines

University Grants Manager, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, U.S. Department of Transportation

Mayor Washington, DC

Aviation Honoree

Federal Government Honoree

Local Government Honoree

Advocacy Honorees

Latronia Durham

Trenelle Doyle

Claire M. Williams

Verdenia C. Baker

Beverly J. Watts

President Durham Transport

Founder & CEO Go Girl Ride

Executive Vice President KDM Engineering

Administrator Palm Beach County

Director Wayne County Department of Public of Services

Logistics Honoree

Micro Mobility Honoree

Private Sector Honoree

Public Sector Honorees

To view additional photos from the event, visit here or scan below.

Ari Jolly

Melissa Rolle-Scott

Michele Wong Krause

Kimberly Slaughter

Chair, Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) Board of Directors and Assistant General Counsel, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida

Transit Section Chief, Office of Safety & Security, Miami-Dade Department of Transportation & Public Works

Chair Dallas Area Rapid Transit Board of Directors

CEO SYSTRA USA

Public Transportation Honorees

Shirley DeLibero Woman Who Moves the Nation Honoree

Nancy Pelosi Speaker U.S. House of Representatives

Living Legend Honoree

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INDUSTRY PARTNERS

Growing Small, Minority and Women-Owned Businesses in Broward County

Growing Small, Minority and Women-Owned Businesses in Broward County HNTB’s programs, tailored to the goals of Broward County, build businesses and communities.

With a population nearing two million residents, Broward County is the third-largest in Florida and has experienced significant growth over the past decade. As the population densified, the County recognized the need for urban expansion, and they’ve made great strides focused on transit-oriented development (TOD), affordable housing and sustainable economic development.

“For Broward County, over 89 percent of businesses have 20 or less employees,” said Sandy-Michael McDonald, Director of the Broward County Office of Economic and Small Business Development (OESBD). “Programs enabling our small businesses to grow make economic sense and enhance our economy. With where we are as a County, it is the right thing to do.”

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Working with communities like Broward County, HNTB is focused on advancing local small businesses and supporting long-term planning for sustainable, equitable community growth. HNTB hired Emmanuella Myrthil, formerly the DBE manager for the Georgia Department of Transportation, as the diversity program manager for HNTB Atlanta. After successfully piloting the Diversity, Equity and Allyship program there, in 2021 Myrthil broadened her role to Diversity Program Director for HNTB’s Southeast Division to help government agencies reach their inclusion and diversity goals and grow their outreach and influence in these areas.

“At the heart of any vibrant local economy is a network of thriving small businesses that create jobs, launch careers and strengthen the community,” said Myrthil. “HNTB values opportunities to mentor, coach and provide leadership opportunities that help local Broward County businesses grow and succeed.”

That commitment came to life when Broward County OESBD announced their Fifth Annual Broward & Beyond Business Conference. At the event, HNTB sponsored the Small Business Certification Lab, enabling small business owners to start their certification on the spot with on-site OESBD representatives facilitating the process.

The ability for small businesses to expand skills and capacity is central to their growth, and it enables them to take on prime contractor roles with local government departments. Myrthil and Beth Kigel, HNTB Director of Smart and Connected Solutions, joined the event attendees to demonstrate their unwavering commitment to small business longevity and resiliency, meeting with a variety of local business owners and industry leaders in transportation.

HNTB Partners Program HNTB is especially focused on replicating their nationally recognized Partners Program in Broward County and helping bring other sophisticated approaches to County Business Enterprise (CBE)/SBE Outreach and Engagement.

HNTB founded the national Partners Program more than a decade ago. The program encompasses a structured, 12-month curriculum proven to help WBE/MBE/SBEs secure contracting opportunities on large-scale projects with major transportation agencies. This program has contributed to the success of hundreds of SBEs across the country. Some of the successes allowed these businesses to open new offices, expand existing offices, hire new employees and develop lasting business relationships.

importance of social equity infrastructure investments and their desire to work on projects that deliver holistic and innovative solutions to effectively address the disproportionate impacts of infrastructure projects on overburdened communities.

Under Mendes’ leadership, and supported by two directors, Regine Beauboeuf, PE and Emily Gallo, AICP, IME is responsible for supporting policymakers, community leaders and the firm’s clients and teams to address equity considerations in infrastructure planning, design and construction.

Today, Mendes and her team work to expand the assistance HNTB is already providing clients in advancing equity through existing work and partnership with minority-owned businesses and proven professional organizations such as COMTO. IME’s mission is to equip every HNTB employee with the spark and knowledge to provide clients the servant leadership

“HNTB values opportunities to mentor, coach and provide leadership opportunities that help local Broward County businesses grow and succeed.”

“We recognize the positive effect of integrating in the community and coming beside local small businesses to provide substantive support that leads to practical application,” said Myrthil.

and counsel needed to maximize their success in delivering compelling, innovative solutions that lift historically underserved communities for a sustainable future, and to make equity everyone’s job at HNTB.

Partnering with small and minority businesses is not just about meeting a goal, but it serves as a best business practice for HNTB and leaves a lasting impact on the local community.

Broward County’s Commitment to the Future

Infrastructure and Mobility Equity

Broward’s Mobility Advancement Program (MAP) 2021 annual report outlined an ongoing commitment to “creating livework-play areas across the County, while increasing housing affordability.” The County is making significant efforts to increase small business participation in transportation engineering and development. As HNTB looks to the future with Broward County, the firm will continue to provide resources, partnership and thought leadership to local small, minority and women-owned businesses, with the goal of building a safe, strong, connected community for the future.

HNTB is also bringing policy-level strategic initiatives to support agencies like Broward County. Recognizing the importance of building strong partnerships to advance equitable development, Rob Slimp, HNTB Chief Executive Officer, launched the Infrastructure and Mobility Equity (IME) initiative in early 2021.

Headed by Corporate President Diana Mendes, this initiative started internally. Employees shared their perspective on the

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INDUSTRY PARTNERS

Putting Equity into Action: WSP USA’s Equity Center of Excellence

By Tanya Adams, Denise Turner Roth and Heather Martin

As the social unrest of 2020 unfolded with the

WSP’s four objectives with the ECE are:

murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and

• Operationalize equity in the firm’s business development and project delivery,

Breonna Taylor, a group of WSP USA staff members, galvanized by calls for social justice, banded together organically to translate those calls into action at the project level.

Very early in this effort, we discovered that inaction was simply not acceptable for many of our staff members. Rather than sit and watch from the sidelines, they sought ways they could incorporate an equity lens into their projects. They were asking what they could do better and were eager to learn.

That grassroots effort set the foundation for the launch of WSP’s Equity Center of Excellence (ECE) the next year. Today the ECE serves as the firm’s hub for equity, consolidating and focusing work to develop comprehensive frameworks, policies, processes and resources that help clients put equity into action.

For our clients, the ECE offers holistic support to effectively integrate equity across the board; equity services for programs, policies, analysis, planning, design and delivery; and guidance on successfully positioning for funding with emerging federal and state equity requirements and standards.

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• Advance wsp’s mission to create lasting societal value, • Deploy best practices and processes across wsp that empower all colleagues to guide clients in placing equity at the center of their planning, and • Attract and retain diverse talent so that our project teams reflect the communities we serve.

WSP’s commitment to cultural competency is at the heart of all of these objectives. To us, it’s much more than an outward-facing effort—diversity, equity and inclusion has long been an internal imperative. It’s a part of our company DNA. WSP has, for more than 10 years, staffed an Inclusion and Diversity team; exceeded expectations for hiring a diverse workforce; and continues to encourage membership and leadership by our employees in industry organizations that advance women and minorities in transportation. We understand the need to continue learning and adapting to change, and to accept accountability for equitable solutions that projects provide for the natural, built and social environments.

ACCELERATE | SUMMER 2022

The ECE incorporates WSP’s inclusion and diversity principles into how we do business. Leading by example sets the foundation for allowing our diverse staff to expand their career opportunities, increase their technical and leadership skills on meaningful projects, and positioning themselves to succeed at higher levels within the organization.

WSP has helped clients incorporate equity into a wide variety of projects and internal processes. Sometimes, helping clients begins by getting the organization and its staff on the same page in understanding what equity is and how they can make it

Before becoming the first woman and first African American woman to lead a national business line for WSP, Denise Turner Roth witnessed how inequitable infrastructure investment impacted her community when she was growing up in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Today, as WSP’s Advisory national business line executive and ECE director, she is committed to ensuring other communities do not have to experience the same difficulties.

“WSP’s projects create opportunities to impact lives in ways that extend far beyond structural benefits,” said Roth, who from March

Rather than sit and watch from the sidelines, they sought ways they could incorporate an equity lens into their projects. actionable. WSP led Equity Education Trainings for the Illinois Tollway’s newly formed Office of Diversity, focused on the differences between equity and equality to inform policy, processes, and programming of the office’s strategic plan.

Road pricing is a popular and growing strategy to address funding shortfalls and recurring congestion. However, it can pose equity challenges, particularly for low-income users who are disproportionally burdened by these new costs. WSP led the Low-Income Toll Program Study for Interstate 405 and State Route 167 Express Toll Lanes for the Washington State Transportation Commission. The study evaluated a broad range of potential ideas to support drivers with low incomes on various toll roads in the Seattle area, including tailored discounts, funding transit, or spending toll revenues in surrounding communities.

Ensuring that long-term residents benefit from transportation-oriented development (TOD) and investment is an important aspect of equity. WSP completed the Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Guidebook for the City of Raleigh, North Carolina to address this challenge head-on. The guidebook provides a policy toolkit, a set of design principles and an action plan to guide subsequent TOD planning efforts to realize the equitable benefits of bus rapid transit in Raleigh.

Many of our ECE staff members have first-hand experience with the challenges that underserved people and communities face. That has made the advancement of equity both a personal and professional passion for them that extends beyond their project work.

2015 to January 2017 served as the administrator for the federal General Services Administration. “In the pursuit of equity and racial justice, our Equity Center of Excellence will foster a world where everyone can achieve their potential, participate fully and access all opportunities our work generates. Evaluating equity and fairness in everything we do creates a more positive environment where our expertise, resources and skillsets sharpen our business practices while improving our communities. Benefits once perceived as exclusive can now be more inclusive.”

ECE leadership also includes Gabi Brazzil, senior equity consultant in public engagement; Heather Martin, senior lead equity consultant in transportation planning; and Sean Scott, senior equity consultant in urban design.

Tanya Adams, vice president of Inclusion and Diversity at WSP USA, also serves as one of the ECE’s senior advisors, sharing insights and ensuring alignment with ongoing I&D initiatives within the company. Adams was also recently elected Board Chair of COMTO, after many years of service across the organization.

Denise Roth is the National Business Line Executive of Advisory at WSP USA responsible for directing the firm’s strategic consulting services across all markets. In addition to serving as the first woman, and the first African American woman, to lead a national business line at WSP, Denise also serves as the ECE Director.

Heather Martin is an urban and transportation planner and senior equity consultant with WSP USA. She has worked on multiple equity-related projects at WSP, including the West Baltimore Gateway initiative which provided pro-bono technical services for neighborhood organizations and created an “investment without displacement” framework. By leveraging her passion for operationalizing equity and systematically incorporating it into projects and processes, Heather helps teams see the opportunities in delivering equitable outcomes.

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INDUSTRY PARTNERS

Combining Mobilitics™ with a program that delivers real-time demand and operations via smart phones will enable passengers to access real-time travel information.

Mobilitics™: Advancing Solutions That Make Sense

By Veronica Siranosian and David Roden

In 2020, the global pandemic upended our transportation networks and the ways in which we used them. Teleworking became common all but eliminating traditional rush hours, transit usage dropped dramatically even as agencies and municipalities worked diligently to protect public health.

Delivering data driven information. When the coronavirus crisis began, the Mobilitics team quickly realized the potential of combining the tool with big data to help address issues such as which people can come back to work and from what neighborhoods, and which areas will have the most traffic given

Two years later, these issues continue to shape our transportation systems, but the narrative has changed. Municipalities and agencies are adjusting to a new normal and are working to invest their resources to meet current and future needs which includes increased adoption of electric vehicles, micro-transit, mobility-as-a-service, and the emergence of connected and automated vehicles.

stages of reopening. We partnered with big data providers to introduce geospatial dimensions to the data set and rewrote the algorithms. The result is a platform that even as we adapt to a new normal, helps transportation and transit agencies determine which trains or buses to put into service, at what capacity, frequency and service hours based on parameters shaped by current and future transit use, removing trial-and-error from the transit equation.

Digital advances — like AECOM’s customizable scenario planning solution Mobilitics™ — enable leaders and decision-makers to consider evolving current and future transportation conditions so they may understand the potential impacts of policy, technology, pricing and business decisions on a wide range of plausible future scenarios. Here are a few ways in which this digital solution is helping leaders move through the decision-making process as they adjust to this new normal.

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Advancing equity, public health and safety. While transit ridership on transit systems dropped as much as 90 percent in the early part of the pandemic, many systems have seen rebounds to almost pre-pandemic levels. Maintaining confidence in transit service by providing options and information is an important aspect in effectively operating transit systems and for delivering equity as many using these networks do not have access to a personal vehicle.

Decision-makers use AECOM’s customizable scenario planning solution Mobilitics™ to make informed decisions about their transportation networks.

Passengers are continuing to adjust when and how they use mass transit. Recognizing the importance of providing them with travel insights and options we are combining Mobilitics with a pilot program that provides access to mobility via smart phones and wearable connected devices. The program informs passengers of real-time demand, and operations, creating opportunities to manage congestion management and responses to public health emergencies.

Transit agencies also benefit as the program uses near real-time anonymized cell phone data to gain real-time data on safety, security, infrastructure conditions, crowd management, improved incident response and customer service levels to ensure safe and efficient travel. The insights into travel pattern shifts when used with data analysis, can inform current and future service adjustments and budgetary decisions.

Factoring in the future. Transportation technology is advancing rapidly, the current adoption of electric vehicles and the anticipated emergence of connected and automated vehicles (CV/ AV) within the next decade will further transform transportation.

These vehicles offer the promise of mobility for those who would otherwise not have access to a car and may create an integrated transportation landscape that will impact the safety, equity and economics of mobility, changing people’s choices and travel behaviors.

Using Mobilitics our experts can factor in CA/AV adoption and test multiple future scenarios, highlighting risks and opportunities so agencies and municipalities understand the potential impacts of behavior and technology adoption rates, telework and the decline of the rush hour commutes.

Optimizing decisions. When smart decisions require smarter solutions, Mobilitics scenario planning application provides customized insights to help decision-makers understand long-range transportation scenarios, informing policy, design and investment choices that help these leaders make the best possible decisions for their communities.

Veronica Siranosian is AECOM’s digital solutions director. She works across the firm’s markets, accelerating digital adoption and delivering solutions to clients, and plays a key role in developing innovative products like Mobilitics.

David Roden is the developer of AECOM’s Mobilitics software.

He is a senior consulting manager in the firm’s national travel demand forecasting practice and has extensive experience in travel demand forecasting, traffic simulation, transportation planning and software development.

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SPOTLIGHT ON COMTO MOU PARTNERS

The Future of Transportation is Female… and Much More WTS International and COMTO Collaboration Achieves Our Equity Goals Sara M. Stickler, President and CEO WTS International It was only a few years ago that the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS International) and the Council of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) signed our formal Memorandum of Understanding, a simple document that still strikes me with a powerful and not-so-simple message – agreeing that our organizational missions to advance women and underrepresented professionals are not only similar, but actively and intimately intertwined.

Founded in the 1970s, WTS International has long advocated for the advancement of women in transportation, through our programming, leadership training, networking and events, sponsorship and mentoring, Foundation scholarships, and the phenomenal work of our 65 chapters and region councils.

When finalizing our five-year strategic plan, adopted by the WTS Board of Directors last year, our leadership was certain to underscore that the building blocks of equity, diversity, and inclusion are vital to the success of WTS. While our core offerings remain the same, we are also working to enhance the value and impact of our work with our partners, our membership, and our community. We are proud to announce our organization’s first black International Board of Directors Chair, Jannet Walker-Ford, who will serve a two-year term starting in May 2022. We have relaunched several association committees and working groups, including our EDI Committee under the direction of chair, WTS Board Director and COMTO member Helen McSwain.

Additionally, WTS is committed to partnering with forward-thinking organizations in our industry like COMTO as well as educational associations and institutions, federal agencies, and more – as we consider how to best implement new educational opportunities and workforce training to prepare for the future of transportation. WTS representatives look forward to the 2022 COMTO National Meeting and Training Conference this summer, especially our cooperative panel discussion on developing and supporting diverse business owners.

Earlier this spring, COMTO celebrated their 2022 class of “Women who Move the Nation,” and many of the honorees, including Kimberly Slaughter, Claire M. Williams, and Petra Mollet, are also active and engaged WTS International members. This Venn diagram of leaders across our two associations highlights the interconnectedness of our work, our missions, and our goals.

Together, we can move mountains, or better yet, move people, move communities in an equitable, safe, and sustainable way. And together, we can make the road less bumpy for the next generation of transportation leaders.

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Sara M. Stickler President and CEO WTS International

ACCELERATE | SUMMER 2022

Building Bridges to Equity Across the International Tolling Industry Pat Jones, Executive Director and CEO, International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association This year marks the 90th anniversary of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) – the worldwide association for the owners and operators of toll facilities and the businesses that serve them. For nearly a hundred years, we’ve kept people and businesses moving forward. In the last few years, the pandemic and other important societal changes have tested the limits of our productivity and resilience.

This dawn of a new normal gave IBTTA an opportunity to pause, take a fresh look at our strategic direction, and rededicate ourselves to what is most important for the toll industry to focus on to serve our customers and communities as best we can.

In response, we developed a new strategic plan. One of its two key pillars is to assure that diversity, equity, inclusion, ethical behavior, and cultural awareness are embedded in IBTTA governance, operations, programs, and services.

IBTTA’s Task Force on Diversity, Social and Racial Inclusion is leading the organization to make tangible progress in these areas. Through the Task Force’s efforts so far, we have launched a campaign to expand the number of applicants from Historically Black Colleges and Universities that apply for our annual IBTTA Foundation scholarships and have dedicated at least one $5,000 scholarship to an HBCU student. Furthermore, in our weekly, public Café IBTTA webinars, we regularly highlight a company that is doing exceptional work to advance racial justice, equity, and inclusion.

For IBTTA members, this year we expanded our annual DEI Awards program to recognize two organizations for their efforts to advance racial justice, equity, and inclusion.

We also have hosted safe-space conversations about diversity and invited members to learn, engage, and grow through programs like our Book Club group discussions. The aim of these events is to expand our understanding of how racism is a part of our identity and to find ways to remove harmful biases from our mindset.

While we still have much more work to do to assure that diversity, equity, inclusion, ethical behavior and cultural awareness are embedded in all facets of the association, I’m proud to say that IBTTA is moving in the right direction.

As we make strides toward a more equitable future, I invite you to learn more about our programs and initiatives at www.ibtta.org.

Pat Jones Executive Director and CEO, International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association

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SPOTLIGHT ON COMTO MOU PARTNERS

APTA’s Racial Equity Commitment Pilot Program Kicks Off A Peer Learning Opportunity for APTA Members In April of 2021, acknowledging that as an association and industry we must and can do more, APTA’s Board of Directors adopted a Racial Equity Action Plan. The plan outlines how the association can

The program is based on five core principles: 1.

2.

make a transformational impact on racial equity and support its members in doing so.

3.

4.

A key deliverable of that action plan was the creation of a Racial Equity Commitment program. The Commitment Program provides a tangible roadmap for how to advance racial equity at an organizational level as part of a comprehensive commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

5.

The program was formally launched as a two-year pilot in May 2022 with the participation of 84 APTA member organizations from both the public and private sectors. The pilot will allow APTA to create a collective learning environment among the participants and make any necessary refinements prior to a full launch of the program, reopened to all APTA members, in the Spring of 2024.

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Make racial equity an explicit strategic priority for your organization; Undertake a diversity, equity, and inclusion climate assessment on the perceived employee experience of existing policies, practices, and procedures; Review and analyze demographic data; Put in place evidence-informed policies, practices, programs, and processes for creating and maintaining an inclusive and equitable environment for employees and customers; and, Establish programs, tools, and dedicated resources.

The resources provided throughout the pilot, including templates, industry practices and educational webinars, are accessible to all via APTA’s DEI Resource Hub. APTA will continue to work closely with its partners COMTO, Latinos in Transit and WTS to advance the goals of its Racial Equity Action Plan and the Racial Equity Commitment Pilot Program as part of its broader commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

For more information on the pilot program, action plan and APTA’s Diversity and Inclusion Council, please contact Linda Ford (lford@apta.com) or Petra Mollet (pmollet@apta.com).

BROWARD COUNTY IS PROUD TO WELCOME AND HOST COMTO’S 51ST NATIONAL MEETING AND TRAINING CONFERENCE

OFFICE OF ECONOMIC AND SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

www.Broward.org

SPOTLIGHT ON COMTO MOU PARTNERS

One of the most prominent organizations that support the aviation industry is the Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC). Since 1984, AMAC has represented a diverse membership of airports, corporations, minority, women-owned and disadvantaged business enterprises (M/W/DBEs) and professionals within the aviation and aerospace industries.

AMAC provides career, education, networking and scholarship opportunities. AMAC continues to be at the forefront of aviation industry legislative issues that impact diverse employers, employees and businesses, particularly DBEs in the airport concessions and architecture, engineering and infrastructure (AEC) sectors.

This focus was never more critical than during the COVID-19 pandemic when AMAC rallied its leadership and membership to ensure that airports’ and concessionaires’ voices secured inclusion in federal relief packages.

Additionally, the recent Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s historic investment into our nation’s airports infrastructure, marks a tremendous opportunity to fuel AMAC’s goal of advancing the participation of women, DBEs/ACDBEs and AEC firms in airport contracting.

Headquartered in Washington, DC, AMAC extends its reach through its members and Board of Directors. One of the most important investments one can make is to join AMAC. There are many ways to become involved in AMAC and its significant educational, informational, networking and policy-focused opportunities.

The AMAC Foundation offers scholarships to support university students pursuing careers in the aviation industry. It develops

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programs and events to maximize opportunities for aviation professionals and students to network.

The AMAC Political Action Committee works to provide a more robust legislative voice to issues important to diversity in the aviation industry by making monetary contributions to federal candidates and political action committees and caucuses that understand and support equity in airport contracting and employment.

AMAC also hosts various virtual and in-person programs and events annually, including its signature event, the AMAC Airport Business Diversity Conference. This highly-acclaimed conference is a premier aviation industry-wide event that draws 1,000 attendees—a hub for education, advocacy and networking opportunities that promote diversity and inclusion in the aviation and aerospace industries. The conference features workshop tracks on concessions, AEC, professional development and the Federal Aviation Administration to support women, DBEs/ACDBEs and AEC firms gain coveted industry insights and receive actionable resources for business improvement. The conference also offers airports, government agencies, corporations and entrepreneurs the opportunity to cultivate new relationships and expand their national presence through engaging and relevant educational and networking events. For more information about AMAC membership and to join, please visit www.amac-org.com.

Put your career on the right track.

Competitive pay, excellent benefits and the opportunity to improve the lives of people in the National Capital Area make Metro a great place to further your career.

Scan this code or visit wmata.com/careers for more information about all the employment opportunities at Metro.

WMATA is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other status protected by applicable federal law.

SPOTLIGHT ON COMTO MOU PARTNERS

Advancing Career Opportunities for Minorities in Public Transportation

By Megan Perrero

By strategically investing in the underrepresented groups in the workforce today, the industry can position itself for equitable and sustainable success for the future.

The public transportation industry is at a turning point in how it chooses to move forward in establishing and investing in a quality workforce for the future. Many agencies are pivoting their strategies to attract recruits using hiring bonuses, while other organizations are focusing on continued education resources to retain quality talent. But arguably the biggest question is how to accomplish these things equitably.

Latinos In Transit (LIT) was founded in 2016 to promote the advancement and development of Latinos and other minorities in transportation, and is taking steps today to ensure a successful, diverse workforce for the future.

In March 2022, LIT launched its inaugural Leadership Academy to provide training and development opportunities for LIT members pursuing growth opportunities in the transit industry. Participants

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could choose from one of three program areas that are being taught by transit agency executives and federal employees to departments of transportation leaders and private company representatives. This year’s class participants include people from the private and public sector and represent organizations throughout the country.

While other professional programs exist, such as Leadership APTA and Eno Center for Transportation’s Transportation Senior Executive Program, LIT recognized these programs can be expensive and inaccessible to groups who would benefit from this training.

LIT’s Leadership Academy aims to be more affordable and create a dedicated space to encourage more Latinos and other minorities from all levels to access professional growth.

Equally important is investing in transit careers at a younger age.

Providing opportunities for continued growth can only go so far if people stop entering the industry. This year, LIT doubled its annual contribution to $5,000 for the American Public Transportation Foundation (APTF). The APTF anticipates awarding a minimum of 25 scholarships this year ranging from $6,000 to $10,000 to college students or transit professionals who are interested in pursuing or advancing a career in the public transportation industry. The funds can go towards tuition costs or other educational expenses beginning in the fall 2022 semester.

ACCELERATE | SUMMER 2022

As organizations plan for the future, it’s critical the industry as a whole makes thoughtful and intentional investments to remove barriers for under-represented groups to achieve the career they want in public transit.

LIT is here to help guide the industry as it strives for equity in its hiring and professional development practices.

About the author Megan Perrero is a board member for Latinos in Transit and serves as the associate editor for Mass Transit magazine. She is also active in APTA and participates in the APTA Marketing and Communications Committee.

About Latinos In Transit Founded in 2016, Latinos In Transit (LIT) was created to promote the advancement and development of Latinos and other minorities in transportation. Membership is made of public and private transportation professionals from across the nation who meet regularly to network, share information and celebrate the professional development of all members. latinosintransit.org linkedin.com/latinosintransit facebook.com/LITgente

A STRONGER

VOICE FOR EQUITY Kiewit and its subsidiaries are committed to driving action toward a more diverse, equitable and inclusive industry. We partner with small businesses and employ professionals from all backgrounds because it is vital to the success and health of our industry and to the communities we build. We proudly support and join COMTO as a voice for equity in transportation as well as all construction and engineering markets.

KIEWIT.COM

SPOTLIGHT ON COMTO MOU PARTNERS

MTI Garrett Morgan Sustainable Transportation Competition Sparking interest in transportation today is critical in shaping the equity and success of our nation’s infrastructure tomorrow.

The Garrett Morgan Sustainable Transportation Competition— named after the trailblazing inventor—was created by former Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater to inspire young people to consider careers in transportation. The Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI), a USDOT university transportation center at San José State University (SJSU), has hosted a competition every year since 2001, with approximately 1000 individual students participating to date.

The competition was named after Garrett Augustus Morgan, an African-American inventor born in Kentucky in 1877 to Sydney Morgan, a formerly enslaved person, and Elizabeth Reed Morgan, whose parents were of Native American and African descent. The seventh of ten children, Morgan worked on his family’s farm and attended school until he moved to Ohio as a teen and worked at sewing machine factories. This innovation led to a series of other successes, including Morgan’s invention of an early version of the three-way traffic signal. After witnessing an accident at a busy intersection, he invented a T-shaped traffic signal with “stop,” go,” and “caution” signals. Morgan later sold the patent to General Electric, and this design inspired the traffic lights used today.

The MTI Garrett Morgan Sustainable Transportation Competition, which has been sponsored by the US Department of Transportation, Caltrans, and other industry partners—engages middle-school children in a STEM-based competition to win up to $1000 for their classroom, plus an all-expenses-paid trip to San

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José, California, to be honored at the MTI Awards Banquet. MTI facilitates a partnership between the middle school participants and a transportation industry professional, provides a teacher guide, and $100 for project expenses; then, student teams create a sustainable transportation project to present to the USDOT and other transportation leaders.

In a 2021 survey from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Identifying Current and Future Training Needs of the Public Transportation Industry, more than three-quarters of transit professional respondents reported challenges to recruitment; these include 58% who agreed there is a lack of awareness for transit careers and 40% who agreed there are insufficient educational programs preparing persons to work in the industry. Programs like the Garrett Morgan Sustainable Transportation Competition are an important tool in closing the skill gap and ensuring a diverse and well-prepared transportation workforce while inspiring America’s youth, in the path of Garrett Morgan, to pursue innovation and their dreams.

(Above) Student participants with Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and Deputy Secretary Jeffrey Rosen, Garrett Morgan Sustainable Transportation Competition 2018

Bridging the gap between idea + achievement At HDR, we’re helping our clients push open the doors to what’s possible, every day. hdrinc.com

We embrace your vision as our own Hatch is committed to ensuring diversity and inclusion for engineers in the transit and transportation industry. We are proud to partner with COMTO to bring this to fruition.

Congratulations to this year’s award winners!

Learn more at hatch.com

SPOTLIGHT ON COMTO MOU PARTNERS

Transformative Change with Transit Communities should work for all people. Everyone should be able to connect and reach places that help them thrive. But achieving that reality is easier said than done. It takes being intentional. It takes being willing to confront barriers. It takes heart and soul along with technology and innovation.

At Rail~Volution we work at the intersection of transit, connected mobility options, land use and community development. We support a network of leaders, practitioners and advocates dedicated to working with communities to define what’s possible and ways to get there. We do this by offering an annual conference focused on sharing best practices (Rail~Volution 2022 will be in Miami this October), year-round learning opportunities and regional capacity building programs.

In 2022, we launched a new place-based initiative: MOVE Roundtables. These multi-week capacity-building sessions connect and equip local stakeholder groups to pursue transit-related transformative change. Each location involved with MOVE Roundtables chooses a framing question or topic to explore, guided by local context and needs. Then, Roundtable groups—comprised of approximately a dozen participants from different sectors—each meet 2 hours a week for 6 weeks to examine their question or topic from four vantage points:

M obility , O pportunity , V oice and E quity .

Roundtable meetings include a mix of specific learning objectives, with input from experienced practitioners, and facilitated discussion. Over the course of the program, participants illuminate how the MOVE elements are interconnected and how to make integrated decisions that yield better places and stronger communities. In the process, they build new cross-sector partnerships and connections that will support the transition to a truly equitable transit-oriented community.

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MOVE Roundtables offer a compact program to galvanize coalitions at a time of both changing mobility and heightened urgency to respond to inequity and climate change. The roll out of the US infrastructure bill puts a billion-dollar opportunity before us: can we marshal our efforts to ensure that this transformation results not only in infrastructure improvements but also greater opportunity for residents and resiliency for their communities?

Contact Sarah Rudolf at sarahr@ railvolution.org to explore how MOVE Roundtables could build capacity in your community.

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SPOTLIGHT ON COMTO MOU PARTNERS

Equity and Opportunity in the Transportation Workforce Robert Puentes, President/CEO, Eno Center for Transportation

Throughout its 100-year history, the Eno Center for Transportation has always maintained a sharp focus on the challenges and opportunities with the transportation workforce, and for good reason. It is estimated that more than 14 million jobs—about 11 percent of civilian jobs in the United States—are infrastructure-related with most of them in transportation. The workforce pipeline spans a multitude of professions from pilots and truck drivers to autoworkers and engineers.

What’s more, due to industry growth, transportation has the potential to be a major American job creator, not just for new occupations but also for those needed to fill vacancies. The new infrastructure law provides tremendous flexibility for states to spend core highway dollars on an expanded set of workforce activities.

However, poor, dispersed, and limited training opportunities and pipelines tend to divert prospective workers away from the sector. Women, for example, comprise 47 percent of the American workforce but continue to be highly underrepresented, comprising only 15 percent of transportation and material moving occupations, and only 4.6 percent of commercial truck drivers. The public transit (35 percent) and aviation (34 percent) sectors have relatively higher shares of women employees, yet still significantly lower than national average.

There are also stark race and ethnic disparities. For the transportation construction industry alone, African Americans comprised only 6 percent and African American women comprised less than 3 percent. By contrast, Latinos have a strong presence in the sector, though they are concentrated in jobs that pay below the median wage.

This matters today because certain transportation sectors are already facing serious workforce shortfalls which pose a serious risk to our national security. For example, according to a report by the Transportation Learning Center half of the industry’s current workforce will be retiring within 10 years. Much is written about the shortage of drivers in the trucking and logistics sectors but similar challenges exist in public transit and construction.

The President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council astutely diagnoses the problem: that that we need a national workforce policy for our critical infrastructure sectors. Recent Eno work found that the transportation workforce strategies that do exist are highly decentralized with no national standards for operations, planning, or programming.

So we have more work to do. Eno looks forward to working with COMTO support workforce systems and programming that connect more workers to good quality jobs in transportation.

40

Regional Transportation Authority of Northeastern Illinois is a proud sponsor of the COMTO 2022 National Meeting & Training Conference The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is the only transit agency charged with regional financial oversight, funding, and transit planning for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra and Pace Suburban Bus and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Paratransit. For more information, visit rtachicago.org

RTA COMTO Full Page Program Ad-v2.indd 1

5/9/2022 12:20:29 PM

SPOTLIGHT ON COMTO MOU PARTNERS

TRB Minority Student Fellows Program

Since 2010, the TRB Minority Student Fellows Program promotes minority participation in transportation and in TRB. The program provides funding for minority students from select historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and American Indian/Alaska Native-serving institutions to attend and present research papers at the TRB Annual Meeting. Each participating institution selects one or more graduate or undergraduate students in a transportation-related curriculum to participate in the program.

While at the TRB Annual Meeting, student fellows not only present their research during a poster session, but they also participate in a number of informative and interactive sessions designed to build their professional network and ensure that they learn about a variety of transportation career trajectories.

For example, the orientation session that fellows attended on the first day of the Annual Meeting included presentations from a COMTO staff member and a Latinos In Transit board member on the benefits of membership and the role that those organizations can play in furthering careers of its members. A career panel in the middle of the week included representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Federal Highway Administration and offered students general career advice and information on entry-level transporta-

42

tion-related job tracks at those agencies. Student fellows are also assigned a TRB mentor from their intended career to facilitate networking with other professionals and to help them navigate the conference.

There is great variety in the academic backgrounds of students and in the research papers they present. Students come from not only civil engineering and planning, but also from disciplines like business administration, construction engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, earth science, and sustainable build environments. The variety in research topics was evident from some of the titles of the research projects that students presented at the 2022 Annual Meeting—including “Public Transit Planning Strategy: A Methodology for Prioritizing Transit Service Investments,” “Accessing Pedestrian Bridge Serviceability and Displacements Using Low-cost Sensors,” and “Importance of Fine Aggregates in Achieving Adequate Skid Resistence in TxDOT Hot Mix Asphalt Mixtures.”

The Fellows who have participated reported that the experience was greatly beneficial for their academic development. For instance, Kamalen Santos-Diaz, a master’s student in civil engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso said, “The TRB Annual Meeting was instrumental in shaping my future path within the transportation industry. As a TRB Minority Student Fellow,

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I presented my research at a poster session and the attendees who stopped gave me valuable input and recommendations about my work. Meeting so many professionals and networking with them inspired me to keep pushing forward and made me more confident as an emerging transportation engineer in academia.” Jayson

at the University of Texas at El Paso; Arizona Department of Transportation; Cambridge Systematics; Michigan Department of Transportation; North Carolina Department of Transportation; North Central Texas Council of Governments; and Tennessee Department of Transportation. The final source of funding is individual contri-

“ The TRB Annual Meeting was instrumental in shaping my future path within the transportation industry.”

Francois, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering at Florida A&M University said, “The TRB annual conference was extraordinary. I attended the main sessions, networked with professionals, and even presented research alongside other student fellows. Thank you to the TRB Minority Fellowship Program for making this experience possible.”

The largest source of program funding for the students has come from FHWA’s Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program. Other key sources of funding are from organizations that have earmarked money for students at particular schools: ASPIRE

butions, most from individual registrants to the Annual Meeting who donate during the registration process.

Just over 220 students have come through the program since 2010. Planning for the 2023 cohort is in motion and approximately 30 students are expected. To learn more about the program or to contribute, go to: https://www.trb.org/AboutTRB/MinorityStudent.aspx, or scan at right.

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SPOTLIGHT ON COMTO MOU PARTNERS

AME 10 Equity in Transportation Committee Traceé Strum-Gilliam, AICP, Senior Director, Transportation Sector Lead PRR, and AME10 Co-Chair

Much like the world around us, TRB is grappling with and

Having key leaders in the transportation industry lend their

rising to the challenge to address transportation equity.

voices to CATE provided a fundamental assurance that USDOT,

For over 15 years, TRB addressed equity in the context of research,

federal operating agencies, and stakeholders such as local transit

practitioner training, and knowledge sharing through the lens of

agencies, and metropolitan planning organizations are in agree-

environmental justice. Three years ago, the former TRB Standing

ment with COMTO, academics, community benefit organizations,

Committee on Environmental Justice in Transportation remerged

and other entities that the time is now to work collectively to

as the Standing Committee on Equity in Transportation (AME10).

move forward in addressing equity. How do we move forward?

So what’s in a name? For the purposes of centering this import-

For AME10, our activities will seek to include outcomes from CATE

ant work and to expand the scope, mission, and vision, the new

to guide our work. The CATE outcomes include the four Cardinal

name fits – and while equity considerations are broad, the com-

Directions for Transportation Equity:

mittee’s work is focused. AME10 is charting the course to engage practitioners, advocates, policy makers, and academics in several core areas of equity related to research, planning, design, and the assessment of the body of work by developing and sharing tools and activities that seek to support, investigate, and amplify in the context of transportation.

In September 2021, AME10 led in partnership with several partnering committees and with support from federal and private sponsors to host the first TRB Conference on Advancing Transportation Equity (CATE). The conference, held over four days, garnered over 900 attendees, featured 20 technical sessions, 11 roundtables, and 15 lightning talks or poster sessions.

46

• Be intentional about facilitating context-specific, people-first practices, policies, and outcomes in the transportation industry to address equity, especially in identifying and addressing burdens and benefits.

• Acknowledge, prioritize, and respect the perspective of our public, especially those who are black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC). These groups have pushed for advancing social justice in transportation while being simultaneously underserved and overburdened by policies and investments.

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We must leverage and influence sound planning and design decisions that improve the quality of life for those communities that are still building back from prior decisions which left many communities across this nation in despair.

• Implement authentic and intentional practices for re-

and to be a conduit for collaboration and partnership. When

search, process improvements, and performance evalua-

policy makers, planners, engineers, researchers, and practitioners

tion regarding transportation equity in planning, design,

reflect the diversity of the communities in which they serve and

programming, construction, and maintenance processes.

work, we are better educated on environmental justice, gender,

• Recognize that transportation equity is not a static goal, but rather a dynamic and ever-evolving practice, and must be addressed as part of ongoing efforts in addressing transportation activities.

The recent passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment Act (IIJA) also provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to align infrastructure investments with these Cardinal Directions.

We must leverage and influence sound planning and design decisions that improve the quality of life for those communities that are still building back from prior decisions which left many communities across this nation in despair. Addressing transportation equity also pushes forth the concept of restorative justice as we rebuild and retool together.

religious and racial equality, community impacts and equity; then communities will prosper because decisions will be made with them as partners, not for them, and will achieve sustainable success.

As the committee begins the development of CATE 2024 there are many opportunities to join us in moving our nation and advancing transportation equity. AME10 is in the process of finalizing its triennial strategic plan which will outline our plan for 2022-2025. The committee will continue to host webinars, workshops, and support research and innovation. The 2023 TRB Annual Meeting will feature discussion panels, poster sessions, and other opportunities to gather in equity discussion and learning. Please consider joining the committee as a friend and of course submit a research statement or paper. To learn more,

In this vein, the committee leadership of AME10, which includes

please register on MyTRB.org and add AME10 to your friends list

Co-chair Gloria Jeff, AICP, and a host of committed volunteers, we

or visit the committee website https://ame010.wixsite.com/

issue an invitation to our COMTO family to meet us in a manner

ame010 (or scan the code at left) for regular updates and points

that works best for you, your organization, or institution. Like the

of interest. You may also reach out to the AME10 co-chairs to

great partnership between TRB and COMTO, it is our desire to

identify the perfect fit.

expand the audience that participates in the equity conversation

47

SPOTLIGHT ON COMTO MOU PARTNERS

Standing Committee on Women and Gender in Transportation

Why is it important to raise awareness and conduct research on women and gender in transportation?

that time, interest and participation in the committee have continued to grow. The committee scope has expanded to reflect issues affecting women and all gender identities. The committee strives to have diverse representation, including from the public and private sector, from countries outside the United States, and

Decades of research document different travel patterns, safety and security concerns, accessibility challenges, and workforce participation differences based on gen-

from young professionals who are 35 years of age or younger.

der. Women still take on most of the household and caregiver

gender identities.

responsibilities which impacts how and when they travel, the number of trips they take, and can negatively impact their financial health. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted many of these disparities – women use public transit more than men so were disproportionately impacted by service reductions. In addition, women left the workforce in staggering numbers, often because they faced additional caregiving responsibilities as schools and daycares closed.

The committee also encourages membership and volunteerism of individuals from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and

Committee members and friends actively promote women and gender issues in the transportation field, often collaborating with other TRB committees to promote equitable attention to pertinent issues across all fields of transportation. Some of the key topics that the committee addresses relate to: • Women’s value of time • Non-commute trips

The Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) Standing Committee on Women and Gender in Transportation focuses on research that illuminates the importance of gender differences in all aspects of transportation. The committee strives to identify gender issues in the field of transportation related to both technical and career matters and to define research needs related to these issues.

• Street and transit harassment of women, femme, non-binary, and transgender people • Women in the 15-minute city • Human trafficking • Women in non-typical transportation jobs (e.g., Trucking) and basic challenges (e.g., Bathrooms) • Women in leadership

The committee got its start in 1994, when gender-related research interests were not always well-received. At that time, it was a subcommittee of the TRB Standing Committee on Safety Data, Analysis, and Evaluation and was granted task force status in 1997 due to heightened interest in women’s issues. Three years later, in 2000, it became a full standing committee. Since

48

• Women, lbgtq+, minority recruitment and retention • Emerging technology and women/gender • Women and micromobility; and • Connected and autonomous vehicles.

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The committee promotes and elevates transportation issues

Women’s Issues in Transportation/Women in Gender in Trans-

affecting all individuals, regardless of gender, through research

portation Conference in 2024. This event will bring together

needs statements, research, papers, conference sessions, commit-

scholars, practitioners, and emerging transportation professionals

tee meetings, and other committee-supported events. It is also

to elevate the need for additional transportation that impacts

actively engaged in promoting the future of women and gen-

women and all genders, examining all aspects of travel and the

der-related research in transportation and often supports young

transportation experience.

professionals through networking and professional engagement and opportunities to promote emerging research.

The best way to learn more about the Standing Committee on Women and Gender in Transportation is by becoming a “friend”

The committee also strives to promote women and gender-relat-

of the committee. To do so, simply register for a

ed research through the Women’s Issues in Transportation (WIiT)

MyTRB account at MyTRB.org then click on the

International Conference, which is typically held every five years.

“Become a friend of a standing committee” link

The committee is currently planning to host the 7 International

on the MyTRB Home tab.

th

M O B I L I T Y S T R AT E G I E S F O R T H E P A R AT R A N S I T I N D U S T R Y

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Research on Rural, Specialized, and Intercity Services Essential to Societal Equity

COMTO is the voice of equity in transportation and re-

and highlight needed improvements to operations, legislation,

sources minority transportation professionals for success.

and technology. A key feature of these conferences is bringing

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) Standing Committee on

together leaders in transportation services, government, aca-

Rural, Intercity Bus, and Specialized Transportation (AP055) is the

demia, and technology to share their most recent successes and

voice for research about the demand for and supply of passen-

challenges. This process of sharing immediately relevant useful,

ger transportation in a variety of critical contexts, including rural

applicable, and implementable information has been absolutely

transit (including tribal or military communities), intercity bus ser-

vital to the success of the industry to provide mobility for our

vices, and specialized transit (in both urban and rural contexts).

many riders.

Specialized transportation services take many forms, including demand responsive paratransit and specialized services (e.g.,

AP055 is unique in that this committee’s scope is the only repre-

medical, charter, tourist, and package delivery services).

sentation of the private intercity bus industry within TRB’s activities, and AP055’s rural and intercity bus conferences are the one

We share a similar timeline with COMTO. COMTO began its work

venue where representatives of the rural public transportation

in 1971; we held the 1st National Conference on Rural Public

community, private intercity bus providers, and tribal transporta-

Transportation in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1976 and be-

tion providers come together.

came a formal TRB committee in 1977. We held annual conferences in the following three years; after the 1979 conference, the

Research projects supported by the AP055 committee or per-

schedule for the rural transportation conferences changed to

formed by its members have identified many of the benefits of

once every two years to accommodate the desire for separate

rural public transit and intercity bus connections for individuals and

biennial conferences on transportation for the transportation

communities. Although some riders choose to use the services

disadvantaged. Since 1981, we have held the rural transporta-

even though they have a private vehicle and are able to drive, most

tion conferences on a biennial basis. At these conferences, we

rural and specialized transit users depend on the services to meet

showcase best practices, disseminate key research findings,

critical mobility needs including access to employment, education,

51

SPOTLIGHT ON COMTO MOU PARTNERS

Learn more & join in our work…

health care, social and religious activities, government services, and family and friends. In much of the rural United States there are no alternative services available (such as taxis or ride-sourcing), and

Resources:

even if available they are unaffordable for many.

Rural Public Transportation: History and Prospects Read the Centennial Paper

Our committee now has thirty-four official members, including emeritus, young, and international members, and over three hundred friends - professionals whose work and passion are to advance and support research on transportation solutions that provide trips for transportation disadvantaged or marginalized

TRB’s Paratransit Committee: A Forum for Mobility Innovation Since 1974 Read the Centennial Paper

persons with limited mobility options, including the elderly, persons with disabilities or low incomes, unemployed persons, and isolated individuals. We take special interest in research with practical application. We plan and support several conferences, all of which focus on bringing researchers and operating practitioners into the same spaces. We believe the development of a fully coordinated transportation network that includes rural and

24th National Conference on Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation Review the October 2021 Program

specialized urban public transportation organizations, human service agencies, intercity bus companies, and other private transportation providers is critical to the future.

Do you share our passion? Does your work coincide with our focus areas? Please reach out to us, join in our work, by signing up on MyTRB.org as a friend to AP055. Friends receive all our

Meeting the Transportation Needs of Rural Communities: Lessons That Cannot Be Learned from Urban Transit Read Peter Schauer’s Article

committee communications and are welcome to participate in all of our work. There is no fee and only minimal, sporadic time commitment. We do not conduct the research ourselves but collaborate to identify research needs and advocate for research sponsorship, we plan conferences, and we collectively learn how to get research funded so our industries have the knowledge they need to serve their current and future riders. We welcome

Use your expertise, get involved: You can be meaningfully involved with AP055 in several ways whether as a formal committee member or friend – it is the same to us. https://trbap055.multiscreensite. com/

52

your voice, expertise, and lived experience into our work!

PROUDLY SUPPORTING COMTO AND ITS MISSION

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COMTO 51 Years

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Become a Member!

CALLING ALL EQUITY CHAMPIONS! Showcase your commitment to equity by becoming a member of COMTO. As the Voice of Equity in Transportation, we work to ensure full access to minorities in transportation while preparing and positioning leaders for rapidly evolving global opportunities.

CONFERENCE OF MINORITY TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS 1330 BRADDOCK PLACE SUITE 203 ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314 PHONE: (202) 506 2917 EMAIL: INFO@COMTONATIONAL.ORG