Thinking of the streets of Philadelphia, some may be
reminded of a song that Bruce Springsteen recorded a few years ago.
But the streets of Philadelphia may invoke a different image
for transportation engineers—a complex mix and maze of streets, one-way
streets harboring one of the nation’s most historical and congested
cities.
The city plays host to the 2002 Annual Meeting & Exhibit
of the Institute of Transportation Engineers Aug. 4-7, 2002, at the
Philadelphia Marriott. At last year’s event in Chicago, more than 2,000
transportation engineers from around the globe were in attendance. According to
ITE, similar numbers are expected again this year.
Highlighting the meeting portion of the ITE annual event are
66 technical sessions comprising six separate tracks—community issues;
safety; systems management and operations; traffic engineering; transportation
management; and transportation planning/ transit.
Regardless of the subject track(s) followed, attendees will
earn professional development hours (PDHs) for the sessions they attend. In
addition, those attending seminars and technical tours also will earn PDHs
and/or Continuing Education Units.
Seminars and tours
As mentioned above, attendees can earn PDH units for
attending the professional development seminars. Titles of the seminars include
“Professional Traffic Operation Engineer Refresher Course”;
“Designing and Operating Intersections to Meet the Needs of All
Users”; “The MUTCD and the Traffic Control Devices
Handbook—Changing to Advance the State of the Practice”; and
“ITE Consultants Council Executive Roundtable.”
Each of these development seminars is scheduled to begin at
8.30 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 4.
Also of note is a roundtable discussion titled
“Recommended Practice on Signal Activation Procedures.” Slated for
Monday, Aug. 5, this roundtable discussion is chaired by last year’s ITE
Marsh Award winner, Nazir Lalani, who was profiled in the Oct./Nov. issue of
TM+E (visit www.tmemmag.com to view this article). The ITE Public Agency
Council and the ITE Engineering Council are initiating a process to develop a
recommended practice on procedures for activating new traffic signals. The
roundtable will cover topics such as flashing signals before turn-on; advance
signing; and handling modifications to traffic signal operations. Participants
are asked to share their experiences and any materials that may assist the
committee in developing a position on these issues.
Attendees of the ITE Annual Meeting & Exhibit also are
encouraged to go on a variety of transportation-related tours while in
Philadelphia. Those interested in the technical tours are encouraged to sign up
early, as the available spaces tend to be reserved quickly. The editorial staff
of TM+E recommends the Delaware DOT Traffic Control Center Tour on Monday, Aug.
5. A full list of technical tours is available in the Final Program.
Exhibit area
The exhbition area of the ITE Annual Meeting & Exhibit
is open and available to attendees from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., on Monday, Aug. 5, and
from 8 a.m.-2 p.m., on Tuesday, Aug. 6. The exhibition area includes an
excellent assortment of the industry’s transportation products and
services ranging from signs and marking equipment to traffic monitoring
equipment and traffic control systems.
As of press time, more than 80 companies were scheduled to
exhibit, including TM+E in booth 516. At the TM+E booth, attendees can sign up
for a free subscription and meet with the editorial and sales staff. TME
RSS: Roads & Bridges Articles
