FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 29,
2010
Contacts: Emily Fishkin, Director of
Communications, ITS America, 202-721-4204,
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;
Craig Bryson, ITS Michigan/Road Commission for Oakland County,
248-645-2000, ext. 2302,
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INTERNATIONAL INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION CONFERENCE
SELECTS DETROIT AS 2014 HOST
Detroit, Mich. -- Detroit
will welcome more than 10,000 international members of the
transportation technology industry in October 2014 as a result of
Michigan's winning bid to host the Intelligent Transportation
Systems (ITS) World Congress.
The five-day event will take place at the Cobo
Conference and Exhibition Center and several adjacent facilities,
and will be hosted by the Intelligent Transportation Society of
America (ITS America) in partnership with ITS Michigan, the state
chapter of the national group.
"We're extremely pleased that the Motor City was
selected to host this international industry gathering," said Scott
Belcher, ITS America president & CEO. "Not only does Michigan's
automotive heritage make it an ideal choice, but the region is a
global leader in pioneering the advanced transportation technology
of the future."
James Barbaresso, vice president for Intelligent
Transportation Systems for engineering firm HNTB and former
president of ITS Michigan, is the Local Host Committee chairman for
the event.
"We can't think of a better place to hold the ITS World
Congress," Barbaresso said. "We have the highest concentration of
auto companies and suppliers as well as auto-related research
facilities of any place in the world. We also are home to some of
the most advanced road agencies in the nation when it comes to
applying ITS to traffic management, including the Michigan
Department of Transportation."
ITS Michigan represents numerous public- and
private-sector organizations involved in transportation technology
in the state, including auto manufacturers and suppliers, county
road commissions, engineering firms, academic institutions and
others.
The annual ITS World Congress is held in the Americas
once every three years, and next year's event will take place in
Orlando from October 16-20, 2011. The event is held in Asia and
Europe in the intervening years.
The ITS Michigan Local Host Committee recruited the
event to Detroit. The committee includes: the Michigan Department
of Transportation (MDOT), the University of Michigan Transportation
Research Institute (UMTRI), the Detroit Metro Convention and
Visitors Bureau (DMCVB), the Road Commission for Oakland County
(RCOC), the City of Detroit, the Michigan Economic Development
Corporation (MEDC), Michigan-based management consulting firm PRC
Associates and engineering firm HNTB Corporation.
Larry Alexander, president and CEO,
DMCVB, noted the conference and exhibition will
provide a huge boost to the region's tourism industry, generating a
minimum of 4,000 hotel room nights and an estimated $6.3 million in
direct spending into local hotels, transportation companies,
restaurants, retail and other service
establishments.
"Hosting the ITS World Congress will give us the
opportunity to showcase Detroit's advantages as the center of the
transportation industry and as an inviting meetings and convention
destination," Alexander said. "We are looking forward to welcoming
this important conference to the Motor City."
In addition to the ITS World Congress conference and
exhibition, the event is expected to showcase the world's first
sustainable deployments and advanced applications of
connected-vehicles technologies. "I think a lot of people from
around the world are going to be surprised to learn that Detroit is
one of the leading centers in the world for advanced transportation
technology, from both the vehicle and infrastructure sides,"
Barbaresso said. "This will be an opportunity to demonstrate - on
the streets of Detroit - Detroit's technological prowess to the
rest of the world."
Established in 1991 as a not-for-profit organization,
ITS America fosters the use of advanced technologies in surface
transportation systems and is the leading advocate for technologies
that improve the safety, security and efficiency of the nation's
surface transportation system. Members include private
corporations, public agencies and academic institutions involved in
the research, development and design of Intelligent Transportation
Systems (ITS) technologies to enhance safety, increase mobility,
and sustain the environment.
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