SCHEDULE

March 16

All Times ET

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET

Safety in the Suburbs

This session will focus on the unique challenges of enhancing multi-modal safety in the suburban context, with a focus on vulnerable road users.  With the COVID-19 pandemic and the desire for more space, the move from cities to suburbs was accelerated for younger generations and many workers shifted to partial or full-time remote work, with an increase in home deliveries and outdoor activities, giving the suburbs a 24/7 level of activity instead of existing as bedroom communities that only have morning and afternoon rush-hour commuters.  Speakers will discuss how the conventional auto-dependent land use and politics of the suburbs collides with multi-modal safety goals and how they are working through those challenges. 

Moderator:

Meghan Mitman AICP, RSP2I, Regional Principal in Charge, Fehr & Peers, Walnut Creek, CA 

Speakers:  

• Tackling the Arterials: Bringing Innovative Designs to Greenville Avenue, Daniel Herrig, P.E., CNU-A, Transportation Engineer, City of Richardson, TX

• Re-thinking Traffic Calming Approaches: How to Move from Block-by-Block Voting to a Community-wide, Systemic Lens, Lara Handwerker, Transportation Planner, Salt Lake City (UT) Transportation Division

• Engaging the Community: How to Harness Online Collaboration and the Community to Fast Track Safety Goals, Teresa Gerringer, Mayor, City of Lafayette, CA 

Connected and Automated Vehicle Readiness for Local Agencies – Lessons Learned from Deployment

This session will discuss several lessons learned from the early adopters and implementers of the CAV technology including benefits, implementation challenges, operations and maintenance considerations, and future considerations. The session will also cover steps that local agencies can take in planning and implementing their upcoming capital projects to be ready for the future CAV deployments.

Moderator:

Mark Spencer, P.E., Senior Principal, W-Trans, Fremont, CA

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Speakers:

• Lessons learned in City of Gainesville Deployment of Connected Vehicle Technology, Emmanuel Posadas, P.E., Traffic Operations Manager, City of Gainesville, FL 

• Deploying Connected Vehicle infrastructure with Macomb County; Its Applications and Lessons Learned, John Abraham, Director of Traffic Operations, Macomb County, MI 

• What Can Local Agencies Do to Plan for the World of Connected and Automated Vehicles, Matt Smith, Associate Vice President / Emerging Technologies Practice Lead, Michael Baker International, Brighton, MI

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

1:30 - 3:00 p.m. ET

Managing Disruptive Events Part 1: Special Events

By their very nature, special events attract large numbers of people, including vehicles, pedestrians, buses, or other travel modes.  The flows of each type of road user rarely coincides with the routine travel patterns that most transportation professionals work to address.  Ensuring the safety and efficiency of these people requires considerable planning and preparation for the event.  This session will cover planning for special events, including protecting pedestrians during parades and marches from errant vehicles.

Moderator:

Kirsten Tynch, P.E., Transportation Manager, VHB, Virginia Beach, VA

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Speakers:

• A Comprehensive Review of Traffic Considerations during the Special Event Planning Process, Brandon Wilson, Transportation Engineer, City of Los Angeles (CA) Department of Transportation

• Protecting Crowds from Errant Vehicles during Special Events, Nathan Mustafa, P.E., T.E., AICP, Deputy Public Works Director, City of Riverside, CA

• Managing Traffic and Expectations for Special Event Success, Tim Lomax, Ph.D, P.E., Research Fellow and Regents Fellow, Texas A&M Transportation Institute and Debbie Albert, P.E., Associate Research Engineer, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, College Station, TX

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How COVID-19 Changed Long Term Planning

Description: A great deal of focus has been centered on how the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic changed planning, engineering, and construction techniques in the short-term; however, the industry is learning that a number of processes have been improved through learned lessons throughout the pandemic. These speakers will discuss how their agencies have responded to COVID-19 and how they will carry forward some of those experiences in the future.

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Moderator:

Christy Mihyeon Jeon, Ph.D, P.E., PTOE, AICP, Senior Engineer / Senior Project Manager, Atkins, Atlanta, GA

Speakers:

• Wendy Cawley, City Traffic Engineer, Portland (OR) Bureau of Transportation

• Dan Hardy, P.E., PTP, Principal, Renaissance Planning, Arlington, VA  

• Karina Macias, Senior Associate, Nelson\Nygaard, Los Angeles, CA 

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

4:00 - 5:30 p.m. ET

Transformative Complete Streets: Getting to “Yes”

The focus for this session will be on how to work with the public, management and policy makers who profess support for transformative Complete Streets policies, but shy away from the hard work of implementing those policies today.  A representative from FHWA will discuss its Complete Streets initiative, including resources to help agencies focus on transforming arterials, and projects underway to move FHWA’s practices to support a Complete Streets design model in its work with State, Tribal, and local agencies.  The session will also cover how to consider and manage the “transition time” from today’s circumstances and perceived “needs” into the “future” we are planning for in a 50+ year roadway design.  In addition, the session will explore agency policies and practices that serve to either help or hinder Complete Streets implementations.  Three case studies will be presented.

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Moderator:

Lindsey Van Parys, Project Manager, GHD, Roseville, CA

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Speakers:

• FHWA Complete Streets Initiative, Barbara McCann, Senior Advisor to the Associate Administrator for Safety, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC 

• Columbia Pike, Arlington, VA, David Samba, P.E., PTOE, PTP, Associate, Kimley-Horn, Reston, VA and Ted DeLio, P.E., Project Manager, Kimley-Horn, Reston, VA

• State Street, Harrisburg, PA, Larry Marcus, Founder, Forward Progress, LLC., Falls Church, VA

• Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, Becca Hughes, AICP, Senior Transportation Planner, Minneapolis Public Works and Allan Klugman, P.E. PTOE, Principal Professional Engineer, Minneapolis Public Works

Managing Disruptive Events Part 2: Work Zones and Traffic Incidents

This session will discuss the implementation of Work zone Data Exchange (WzDX) program across several jurisdictions in the United States as well as presentations about traffic incident management (TIM) programs and strategies for arterials.

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Moderator:

Jerry Baxter, P.E., PTOE, Vice President, Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson, Baldwin, MD 

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Speakers:

• Overview of WZDx Program and its Implementation at State DOTs, Murat Omay, PMP, AICP, PTP, Program Manager, Data Access and Exchanges, U.S. DOT ITS Joint Program Office, Washington, DC and Neil Boudreau, Assistant Administrator of Traffic and Safety, Massachusetts DOT, Boston, MA and Erin Schwark, P.E., Statewide Work Zone Operations Engineer, Wisconsin DOT, Madison, WI 

• Maricopa County’s WZDx Program Deployment, April Wire, P.E., PTOE, ITS Project Manager, Maricopa County Department of Transportation, Phoenix, AZ 

• District 4’s TSMO Strategies for Traffic Incident Management on Arterials, Alexandra Lopez, P.E., PTOE, TSM&O Program Engineer, Florida DOT, Fort Lauderdale, FL

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET

PLENARY SESSION

The Opening Plenary Session will feature Mayor James Brainard and City Engineer Jeremy Kashman from the city of Carmel, Indiana to talk about their highly acclaimed effort to implement roundabouts on a widespread basis.  Known as the “Roundabout Capital of the United States” Carmel has more than 140 roundabouts.  While in many places roundabouts are still seen as unusual, we know that they save lives and are a model example of applying the safe system approach.  Mayor Brainard will explain how Carmel has been able to build political and public support for the widespread use of roundabouts in this city of 100,000 population and Mr. Kashman will share lessons learned in the planning, design, and operation of their many roundabout installations. The Carmel story is a perfect example of putting an innovation to work.

1:30 - 3:00 p.m. ET

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Implementing Vision Zero: Staying the Course, Evolving the Approach

This session will address a few angles of the Vision Zero implementation challenge: how to stay committed and focused when over-night success isn’t achieved and how to pivot and incorporate new technologies, data, and approaches as they become available. 

Moderator:
Gerard Soffian, P.E., RSP1, Adjunct Professor, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY  

Speakers:   

• Staying the Course: How to Respond to a Fatality and Deviations from Annual KSI Targets, Alana Brasier, AICP, Vision Zero Coordinator – Mobility Department, City of Tampa, FL  

• Adopting New Approaches: How to Develop a Safe System-based Local Road Safety Plan, Emily Finkel, RSP1, Long Beach Operations Manager and Safety Practice Lead, Fehr & Peers, Long Beach, CA  

• Incorporating Technology: How to Take Advantage of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Advances in the Safety Space, Noah Budnick, Interim Executive Director, Together for Safer Roads, Berkeley, CA  

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Sketching a Framework for Accessible Streetscape Design

All people in a community rely on the transportation network to get from point A to point B in the interest of living, working, and playing. However, the system historically has not been designed to benefit all users equally. More specifically, there are design and planning considerations that have not been wholly considered, resulting in adverse consequences to the physical mobility plus the interactive and safe use of streetscapes for people with disabilities. Those design and planning considerations have proliferated over the years for various reasons and context, but boil down to a lack of awareness of the concept of inclusive accessibility and the real life implications to end users (understanding “to walk in their shoes”). The focus of this session is to have a structured facilitated discussion to start bridging the gap in that understanding, in order to advocate for meaningful changes in policy, design standards, resource allocation, and project implementation.

Moderator:

Gary Means, CAPP, Executive Director, Lexington and Fayette County Parking Authority, Lexington, KY

Speakers: 

• Melissa Anderson, ADA Program Analyst, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC 

• Scott Windley, TA Coordinator and Senior Accessibility Specialist, U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, Washington, DC

• Jonathan Williams, Development Review Supervisor, City of Seattle (WA) Department of Transportation

4:00 - 5:30 p.m. ET

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Equity in Practice

A number of agencies and municipalities made statements and commitments to improving equity in their systems, including transportation and mobility networks. This session will provide an opportunity to hear from several municipalities and transportation providers who have made those commitments and acted on them.

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Moderator:

Dan Hennessey, P.E., T.E., PTOE, Consulting Engineer, City of Austin (TX), Transportation Department

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Speakers:

• Jane Ziegler, Transportation Planner / Bicycle-Pedestrian Coordinator, Indian Nations Council of Governments, Tulsa, OK and Emily Scott, Neighborhood Revitalization Planner, Tulsa Planning Office, Tulsa, OK

• Mehri Mohebbi, Ph.D, Program Director, Transportation Equity Certification Program and Transportation Equity Initiative Lead, University of Florida Transportation Institute, Gainesville, FL

• Sean Co, Director of Special Projects and Professional Services, StreetLight Data, San Francisco, CA

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Signs, Signals and Markings: Small Investments, Big Payoffs

Traffic signs, signals and pavement markings are a low cost, quick implementation means of achieving large improvements in safety.  This session will cover a few specific applications where this is most true, both in North America and throughout the world.

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Moderator:

Gordon Meth, P.E., PTP, RSP2I, Transportation Expert, Robson Forensics, Lake Hiawatha, NJ

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Speakers:

• Traffic Control Devices Down Under, David Nash, Principal, Traffinity, Hawthorn East, Victoria, Australia

• Strategies to Prevent Wrong Way Driving – Latest Trends, Dale Picha, P.E., PTOE, Traffic Operations Manager, Texas DOT, San Antonio, TX

• Safety Analyses Using a Novel Horizontal Curve Dataset: An Application in Massachusetts, Emily Hennessy, P.E., Graduate Research Assistant, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA and Alyssa Ryan, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

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