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August 10, 2010
ITS America Forums Welcome New Leadership, Poised to Take On Key Transportation Issues
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) has appointed the next series of leaders for its Technical Forums, member committees that serve as the focal point for dialogue and networking on the challenges and opportunities surrounding research and deployment of intelligent transportation systems (ITS).
Dr. Peter Sweatman, Director of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, was appointed the new Chair of ITS America's Coordinating Council, the governance body that guides the objectives of the five forums. Sweatman is joined by new Vice Chair Steve Dellenback, Director of the Intelligent Systems Department at the Southwest Research Institute.
Sweatman replaces former Chair Mike Freitas of Telvent, whose term limit expired this year. ITS America President and CEO Scott Belcher thanked Freitas for his service.
"Mike was very active in his role as chair and we are now in a great position to make a difference in intelligent transportation systems research and policy because of his leadership over the past two years," Belcher said.
Safety Forum
Jim Misener has been named the Chair of the ITS America Safety Forum. Misener, the Executive Director of California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways, will be joined by new Vice Chair Richard Hanowski, Director of the Center for Truck and Bus Safety at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. The Safety Forum spent the past year focused primarily on the issue of driver distraction. In January, the Forum worked with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to help shape a sample law to prevent texting while driving. In May the Forum sponsored a lively panel discussion in Houston featuring National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Administrator David Strickland, leading scientists and technology experts from the auto and telecommunications industries, and prominent advocacy groups and state DOT officials.
Sustainable Transportation Working Group
The Sustainable Transportation Working Group, the product of a recent merger between ITS America's Sustainability Forum and Environmental Task Force, will be led by Co-Chairs Lou Neudorff, Vice President of Transportation Systems at Iteris, Inc., and Larry Yermack, President of Telvent Transportation North America. They will be supported by Vice Chair Josh Peterman, Fehr & Peers Associates. The former Sustainability Forum and Environmental Task Force have published several reports and policy statements on behalf of ITS America in the past year, including a response to the popular report Moving Cooler: An Analysis of Transportation Strategies for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions. To read the response, click here.
Personal Mobility Forum
ITS America thanks former Personal Mobility Forum Chair Steve Corbin, Senior Consultant at IBI Group, for his effort in launching and leading the Forum. Corbin's work will be continued by new Chair Brad Dennard, Vice President and National ITS Director at PBS&J, and new Vice Chair Barry Einsig, Marketing Director for the Harris Corporation. Dennard and Einsig will work with members of the Personal Mobility Forum to address the challenges of deploying, operating and maintaining transportation systems focused on the movement of people in both urban and rural settings.
Commercial Vehicle & Freight Mobility
The Commercial Vehicle & Freight Mobility Forum (CVFM) will continue to be led by Chair Dan Murray, Vice President of the American Transportation Research Institute, and Co-Vice Chairs Steve Keppler, Director of Policy and Programs at the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, and Steve Vaughn, SJV Consulting. The mission of CVFM is to promote the development and deployment of commercial vehicle and intermodal freight technologies. The Forum has previously worked alongside the Trucking Industry Mobility & Technology Coalition (TIMTC) and looks forward to supporting the commercial trucking aspects of the U.S. Department of Transportation's IntelliDriveSM initiative.
Cross-Cutting Issues Forum
ITS America welcomed back Cross-Cutting Forum Chair Bruce Eisenhart, Vice President of Consensus Systems Technologies. Eisenhart is joined by new Vice Chair Robert McQueen, an ITS Practice Builder at Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. The Cross-Cutting Forum takes on projects associated with the broader scope of ITS that cross two or more of the other Forums. One of the Forum's committees, the North American Traffic Working Group, published Traffic Information Benchmarking Guidelines in April to help the industry develop a unified method for assessing and comparing traffic information services. For more info, click here.
For more information on any of ITS America's five forums or to get involved, contact Member Services Coordinator Charlie Tennyson at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 202-721-4207.
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