Wed, December 8, 2021
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM MST – Virtual Event
Come join us for our year end!!
This is a BYOB event! So an open event to enjoy with a drink if you wish!!
We are looking to have some fun. There will be games and prizes, a year end update and a presentation of the 2021 Awards!
Wed, December 1, 2021
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM MST
Virtual Event – Register Here
Transportation is one of the most difficult sectors to decarbonize while also increasingly vulnerable to more frequent, intense, and widespread disasters. To address these critical challenges, research is needed to develop strategies that address the impact of transportation on climate change (through sustainability) and the impact of climate change and associated disasters on transportation and communities (through resilience). Moreover, equity and justice must be fundamental elements of transportation engineering and planning as disadvantaged populations experience disproportionate effects from climate change and disasters. This presentation will focus on transportation resilience, specifically leveraging transportation to protect people from disasters through evacuations. Following this in-depth discussion of evacuations, the talk will briefly cover recent and ongoing research projects in sustainability related to shared mobility, public transit, and automated vehicles.
About the Speaker – Dr. Stephen Wong
Dr. Stephen Wong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental at the University of Alberta. Stephen’s research focuses on the intersection of evacuations, decision-making, and shared mobility and works to create more resilient, environmentally friendly, and equitable transportation systems. His most recent research has developed empirically driven and equitable evacuation and resilience strategies for governmental agencies to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.
Stephen has also conducted research on smart charging programs for electric vehicles, automated vehicle policymaking, mobility on demand (MOD) ridehailing and microtransit pilots, and scenario planning-based recovery of public transit and shared mobility from COVID-19. He was a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow, an Eno Center for Transportation Fellow, and a Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellow. Stephen received his Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from UC Berkeley in December 2020. He received his M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley (2016) and a B.S. in Civil Engineering with a second major in Sociology from Johns Hopkins University (2015).
NACITE’s annual awards recognizes the achievements of our community of transportation professionals here in Northern Alberta. This year we are accepting nominations for two awards: Transportation Project of the Year, and Rising Star (35 or under). We had a strong response to our inaugural awards last year, so if you know of an outstanding project or person please take a look at the nomination form. Nominations close on October 25, 2021.
Award winners will be presented at our AGM held in December.
Click here for the nomination form.
When: May 5, 2021
Icebreaker Social: 12:00 – 12:15 PM (MDT)
Webinar: March 7 @ 12:15 – 1 PM (MDT)
Cost: Free
Hear about the Canadian Urban Transit Association’s (CUTA) National Transit Recovery Strategy
David Cooper, Principal of Leading Mobility authored COVID-19, Public Transit, and a Green, Inclusive Recovery Strategy. This strategy was developed to inform discussions with partners in the Canadian Federal Government on the funding and policy support transit agencies need for economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. CUTA’s recovery strategy highlights the choice facing Canada – a choice between a future with more congestion, transport for those who can afford it, and higher emissions, or a future with better connected communities, more equitable cities, and real action on climate change.
Three key themes arose during the development of the recovery strategy. 1) The need for ongoing operating support to keep public transit a safe and convenient transportation option. 2) The goal of continuing to complete transit networks to create fairer mobility options that lower emissions and create middle class jobs. 3) Decarbonizing transit fleets to meet climate goals faster. UITP members from other nations can glean insights on our strategies to build a more green and inclusive recovery focused on continued investment in public transit.
Since the release of the strategy the Federal Government has committed to the funding recommendations identified throughout this foundational document including up to $4.2 billion towards electrification efforts, which will assist in deploying 5,000 zero emission buses across the country and sustained long term capital funding through the creation of the Permanent Transit Fund. Last year also marked Canada’s first ever Federal funding support for transit operating budgets to cover the revenue shortfall from the collapse of ridership during the first wave of the pandemic. The recovery strategy intervenes at a key moment of both uncertainty and opportunity to advocate for the role transit can and should play in Canada’s recovery from the pandemic. The goals and recommendations found in the strategy were designed to align with the Federal Government’s policy priorities on climate change, economic resiliency, equity, and pandemic response. The strategy was developed through significant engagement with transit systems, businesses, and external partners. CUTA’s Recovery Task Force overseeing this work consisted of over 20 organizations, including 16 of the largest transit agencies in Canada including Edmonton Transit Service, Calgary Transit and Strathcona County Transit.
Click here for a link to the National Transit Recovery Strategy.
About the Speakers
David Cooper
Over the past 15 years, David Cooper has contributed to numerous transformative transportation initiatives across Canada. David is the founder and principal of Leading Mobility, a transportation planning firm that offers strategic and planning support for public transit, infrastructure delivery, stakeholder support, and government relations projects and initiatives.
Some of David’s significant transportation contributions include planning the Relief Line Subway and King Street Pilot in Toronto; procurement support for the Broadway Subway Project and development of TransLink’s Battery-Electric bus program in Vancouver; implementation of LRT/BRT expansion and regional transit in Calgary. David recently authored the Canadian Urban Transit Association’s COVID-19 National Recovery Strategy, a foundational plan which has helped to obtain emergency operational funding to maintain transit service during the acute stage of the pandemic and to secure long term capital funding to position public transit at the centre of economic recovery.
David firmly believes in supporting and facilitating success for new community builders. Through his work teaching as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Calgary, University of Toronto, and Ryerson University, he instructs future planners on transportation policy, planning processes, and public consultation.
David’s contributions to city building and transportation have been nationally recognized. He was the recipient of the ‘President’s Award for Young Planner of the Year’ granted by the Canadian Institute of Planners, the ‘Individual Leadership Award’ from the Canadian Urban Transit Association, and received Mass Transit’s ‘Top 40 Under 40 Award’ in North America.
Virtual Icebreaker Social
We will be holding a social from 12:00 to 12:15 PM to provide attendees the opportunity to mingle just like we would if we were back at the Faculty Club. Participants will be split into breakout rooms to facilitate conversations. This is optional, anyone who is not interested in the social may log in for 12:15 PM for the webinar.
When: April 7, 20201
Icebreaker Social: 12:00 – 12:15 PM (MDT)
Webinar: March 7 @ 12:15 – 1 PM (MDT)
Cost: Free
Non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and strokes, diabetes, cancers and mental health conditions are now the leading causes of mortality and morbidity, and healthcare costs, across provinces in Canada. Many such chronic diseases are also risk factors for severe infection for COVID-19. Our populations are also aging. The scientific evidence is growing about the role that community and street designs play in impacting people’s ability to be regularly active through active transportation like walking, cycling and transit use, and in people’s ability to access healthy foods and beverages and active recreation opportunities which also support healthier dietary behaviours and physical activity. Community and street designs supportive of active transportation modes have also been shown to be associated with decreased social isolation, sense of stress and crime, and with increased economic benefits such as retail sales and job creation.
This presentation will discuss these issues and case studies illustrating global best practices and the opportunities for collaboration between transportation and health professionals.
Dr. Karen Lee, MD, MHSc, FRCPC is author of the recent book Fit Cities. She is Associate Professor in the Division of Preventive Medicine, Dept of Medicine at the University of Alberta. She also directs the Housing for Health Project, bringing together over 150 multi-sector partners across multiple Canadian provinces to improve housing developments, and neighbourhoods and streets for active living, healthy food access and social connections. Dr. Lee returned to Canada in 2018 after a decade and a half away in the U.S., first working for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Epidemic Intelligence Service, then for ~9 years in New York City’s (NYC) Health Department as Inaugural Director of Healthy Built Environments and Deputy to the Assistant Commissioner of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control during Mayor Bloomberg’s administration. There she worked closely with colleagues in NYC’s Department of Transportation as well as Planning and Public Works among others. She has acted as Special Advisor to multiple World Health Organization regional offices on intersectoral collaboration to address environmental and social determinants of health, and improve health equity. Dr. Lee was awarded the Canadian Institute of Planners President’s Award in 2017.
Dan Finley has been a member of the Pacific Western Transportation Executive Team since 2012 and has led the organization in a variety of functions such as HR, Operations, Business Development, Communications, Government Relations, Process Improvement and Advancing Transportation Technology. He has developed and implemented PWT’s On Demand strategy and has led the start-up of multiple operations, working to transfer client vision to real-world operations.
More information on her work and available free resources can also be found at www.drkarenlee.com.
Virtual Icebreaker Social
We will be holding a social from 12:00 to 12:15 PM to provide attendees the opportunity to mingle just like we would if we were back at the Faculty Club. Participants will be split into breakout rooms to facilitate conversations. This is optional, anyone who is not interested in the social may log in for 12:15 PM for the webinar.
Thanks to everyone who attended our virtual Annual Awards and Social. The annual awards give us an opportunity to recognize the outstanding professionals that lead our community of transportation engineers and planners and the great work that happens in Northern Alberta.
NextGEN Star: Suliman Gargoum
Suliman Gargoum holds a PhD degree in the applications of sensor technology in transportation infrastructure design and management and an MSc in traffic safety. Suliman has contributed over 30 peer reviewed research papers published in transportation journals.
Upon completing his PhD in 2018, Suliman co founded Nektar 3D, an Edmonton-based tech company that specializes in the use of LiDAR and photogrammetry to support transportation projects. Nektar 3D has helped consultants, as well as municipalities, on projects such as the 50th Street widening, the Valley Line LRT project and neighbourhood renewal projects in the City of Edmonton.
During his time at the University of Alberta, Suliman played a key role in supporting the revival of the ITE Student Chapter and served in many different executive roles including President. During his time leading ITEUA, the chapter was awarded the CITE Student Chapter Activities Award. Suliman was also the co-chair of the first CITE Student Leadership Summit held in Edmonton in 2018.
This award recognizes Suliman’s strong technical expertise, plus the significant contributions he has made to the transportation engineering and planning industry at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, and beyond.
Project of the Year – Safe Mobility Strategy
For project of the year, the Awards Selection Committee was pleased to recognize two projects
For the first project, the City of Edmonton and Toole Design developed the Safe Mobility Strategy through a combination of analysis, research, and engagement to continue the City of Edmonton’s efforts to achieve Vision Zero through safe and livable streets in Edmonton.
The Safe Mobility Strategy changes the conversation in two critical ways:
This project had numerous innovative approaches including:
To continue to grow into a city built for people, this strategy will support the City of Edmonton, community, and partners to tackle widespread issues that contribute to crashes, including street design and the deep-rooted cultural norms around traffic and mobility. The Safe Mobility Strategy will allow the City of Edmonton to make significant progress toward its goal of Vision Zero by 2032.
Project of the Year – Shared Streets and Lane Closures
City of Edmonton Traffic Operations, along with numerous internal partners, worked to implement over 28 kilometres of lane closures and shared streets to safely accommodate people walking and biking as people adjusted to the realities of the pandemic. This initiative was rapidly developed and implemented over a period of just two months.
Combined with the lessons learned from other jurisdictions along with the City’s current practices, an Edmonton approach was developed which included:
The temporary shared streets and lane closures effectively supported people’s ability to physically distance outside and will likely have ripple effects on Edmonton’s planning and road use for years to come.
Awards Selection Committee
We would like to acknowledge this year’s award committee of NACITE past presidents, which included:
When: December 9, 2020 @ 5:00 PM (MDT)
Where: Online
Cost: Free
Join NACITE and your colleagues to hang out (virtually) and catch up! Demonstrate your transportation expertise at the trivia challenge – there will be prizes and also some less technical questions so everyone has a chance. Hear about our past season in a quick year end recap and AGM. And congratulate the winners of our inaugural section awards. Come and say hello to your fellow transportation professionals as we bring the year to a close.
When: December 2, 2020 @ 12:00 PM (MDT)
Where: Online
Cost: Free
The City of Edmonton has recently selected Pacific Western Transportation (PWT) to launch Canada’s largest On Demand Transit service, joining a growing list of cities across Canada with On Demand Transit. Please join us for a presentation from PWT about On Demand Transit and the different ways it is being used in Edmonton and other communities across the country. The presentation will include an interactive simulation and discuss implications for urban design and environmental and financial impacts.
About the Speakers
James Vine – Director of Operations (AB) and Business Development
James Vine has worked for Pacific Western for over 11 years. In 2010 he transitioned to a management role in PWT’s Prince George Transit operations, managing approximately 60 employees in that branch. James was a recipient of a 2013 Top 40 Under 40 Award from Mass Transit Magazine for his leadership of employees and involvement in transit system planning and analysis. In 2020, James became head of PWT’s Alberta Transit portfolio, which includes contracted transit operations to six municipalities/transit agencies.
Dan Finley – Vice President of Corporate Services
Dan Finley has been a member of the Pacific Western Transportation Executive Team since 2012 and has led the organization in a variety of functions such as HR, Operations, Business Development, Communications, Government Relations, Process Improvement and Advancing Transportation Technology. He has developed and implemented PWT’s On Demand strategy and has led the start-up of multiple operations, working to transfer client vision to real-world operations.
John Stepovy – Director, Sales & Business Development / On Demand Lead
John Stepovy has been with Pacific Western Transportation for over 13 years, starting in Operations and later as General Manager of our flagship luxury inter-city motorcoach service Red Arrow. In John’s current role as Director, Sales & Business Development, he is focused on broadening the reach of the organization in various areas of transportation and new mobility, including electric autonomous shuttles, micro transit, and demand-response solutions.
When: November 4, 2020 @ 12:00 PM (MDT)
Where: Online
Cost: Free
Speeding and dangerous driving have consistently been recognized as important issues for the City of Edmonton. To improve drivers’ compliance with speeds, various passive/active countermeasures have been adopted by municipalities around the world. A Driver Feedback Sign (DFS) is one such countermeasure as it dynamically displays the speed of the driver and warns them if they are speeding. Acknowledging positive public response, the City has implemented DFSs at various accident-prone areas across the city. While DFS is deemed effective in voluntary speed reduction, high costs along with the need to cover Edmonton’s large road network necessitate a strategic and scientific approach to allocating signs.
This presentation will demonstrate how different modelling frameworks can be developed and applied to solve the following two specific problems using the City as a case study:
1) Estimation of safety benefits of DFS, and
2) Development of the optimal DFS implementation strategy.
About the Speakers
Dr. Tae J. Kwon joined the University of Alberta in 2016 after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo. Dr. Kwon’s research focuses on winter road maintenance, location optimization of Intelligent Transportation System facilities, geomatics, spatial and temporal analyses of road traffic and safety using Big Data and Deep Learning. Dr. Kwon’s research has been supported by many organizations including NSERC, Alberta Transportation, Alberta EcoTrust, Iowa Department of Transportation, CIMA+, and others.
Mingjian Wu is a Ph.D. student at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Tae J. Kwon. During his M.Sc. studies, Mr. Wu focused on quantifying the safety effects of driver
feedback sign (DFS) and location allocation strategies under the co-supervision of Dr. Kwon and Dr. El-Basyouny. Mr. Wu’s current research interests lie primarily in the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data analysis in winter transportation engineering (e.g., winter road maintenance), traffic safety and collision modelling, and facility location and allocation optimizations using various heuristic algorithms.
UPDATE: Deadline for nominations extended to November 21.
At the NACITE Year-end Social/AGM (scheduled to be held in late November / early December 2020), there will be a total of three annual awards presented during the awards ceremony:
Outstanding Professional｜The purpose of this award is to recognize a person who has shown initiative and dedication in their work through technical excellence, leadership, innovation and creativity in delivering lasting results. This person also exemplifies professional virtues that go beyond technical excellence, blending moral and intellectual qualities to achieve the public good. This award focuses on their professional contribution in the last two to three years. Judging criteria includes:
Self-nominations will not be accepted.
NextGen Star (35 or under)｜NACITE’s NextGen Star has been created to highlight the next generation and new faces of the transportation profession. It is designed to recognize a person under the age of 35 who has demonstrated technical excellence, growing leadership skills, and has contributed to the growth of the ITE community and/or the transportation engineering and planning profession.
A young professional is defined as being 35 years of age or younger on December 31, 2020 (please provide age on nomination form). Judging criteria includes:
Self-nominations will not be accepted.
Transportation Project of the Year｜The purpose of this award is to recognize technical excellence in the field of transportation engineering, design, traffic operations, safety and planning and the project’s benefits to the community and in advancing the industry. Nominated projects may include roadway design projects, traffic operation programs, transportation studies, planning / strategy documents and more. Nominated projects must be located within NACITE’s section boundaries (in Alberta, north of Red Deer).
The selected projects must be substantially implemented or completed in the current calendar year. Judging criteria includes:
Nomination Procedures
All nominations will be forwarded to the NACITE Award Committee for selection. The Awards Committee is composed of a group of Past Presidents, with the Immediate Past President serving as Committee Chair. If there are insufficient nominations or if no candidates are considered suitable in any particular award, the Awards Committee may decide to not award for that year.
The award recipients will be notified and are encouraged to attend the Year-end Social/AGM to accept their awards. Each award winner will receive a trophy or plaque, and be recognized in NACITE communications with the membership (ie. newsletter and year-end report). Please note that the Year-end Social/AGM will be held in a virtual format for 2020. If you have any questions, please contact Dallas Karhut, Immediate Past President, at contact@nacite.org.
Please click this link to download the application form.
* Projects will be judged based on how they advance ITE’s Policies for Planning and Design, Operations, Safety and Sustainability. The full list of policies can be found in the ITE Policies, Adopted April 9, 2020 on the ITE website.
ITE - Northern Alberta Section 