Category: Uncategorized

The COVID-19 pandemic has once again revealed the disparities between the experiences that diverse groups of women, men, and people of all genders have with Canadian transportation systems. As transportation professionals, we always strive to make sure that our work brings benefits to our communities equitably, though it is also true that the state of practice for gender-based analysis plus in transportation projects is in its early stages. 

Recently, NACITE has hosted an online webinar on this topic that was recorded adn can be found here. Now, NACITE is planning to host an online workshop focused on the application of gender-based analysis plus to your project (3 hours). It will be a practical training opportunity aimed at teaching participants to apply gender-based analysis plus to their projects.

Please, follow the link below to answer a quick 3-minute survey that will help us to gauge interest in such training and tailor our programming to your needs.

SURVEY

Date: June 1
Time: 12 – 1:30 PM (MDT)
Panel Discussion
Cost: Free

REGISTER HERE

About the Presentation In the past few years, more and more municipalities in Canada worked on speed limit reductions. It would be beneficial to hear from them about how they initiated speed limit changes, establish methodologies and processes to make the changes, and implement speed limit reduction measures, as well as what kinds of findings and lessons learned they obtained.     Our NACITE is excited to dive into this topic through our virtual panel discussion this coming June, “Speed Limit Reductions in West Canada”! Please join us and a panel of experts for an exciting and educational discussion. You will be hearing from: Dean Schick – Manager of Transportation with the City of St. Albert, and Daniel Zeggelaar (co-presenter with Dean Schick) – Transportation Project Manager with ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd. Shewkar Ibrahim –Manager, Safe Mobility Engineering with the City of Edmonton Tony Churchill – Senior Traffic Engineer, Leader of Traffic Safety Roads with the City of Calgary Liliana Quintero – Senior Transportation Engineer with the City of Vancouver Each panelist will have a 10-min presentation to introduce speed limit reduction implementation in his/her municipality. There will be a Q&A session following all four presentations. About the Presenters: Dean Schick A graduate from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Civil program, Dean has 18 years of experience in municipal transportation engineering and operations and has been with the City of St Albert for 15 years.  His role with St Albert has changed with the growing community and within the Engineering department – from Transportation Coordinator to Supervisor to the Transportation Manager when the Transportation branch was created in 2014.  During his time managing the Transportation branch there has been a targeted delivery of a variety of municipal strategies and guidelines, inclusive of Complete Streets Guidelines, Active Transportation Plan and Gaps Assessment, Intelligent Transportation System Strategies, and the St. Albert Transportation Safety Plan to which the city wide review of speed limits was a strategic action. He is proud of his team’s accomplishments in advancing traffic safety initiatives and network operational and capital improvements within the community he both lives and works in. Daniel Zeggelaar is a Transportation Project Manager within ISL’s Transportation Group in Edmonton and has over 13 years of experience in transportation planning. Daniel is certified as a professional traffic operations engineer (PTOE) and professional transportation planner (PTP) providing a perspective from both an operations ‘ground level’ and planning ‘high level’ and is able to explain how planning level decisions carry through to design and operations. Generally, Dan specializes in transportation master planning, policy development, servicing studies, and network planning, traffic impact assessments, parking strategy and traffic operations. Dan’s mix of expertise in transportation planning and traffic operations reflects his ability for developing solutions sensitive to both areas. Dan also has expertise in state-of-the-art traffic modeling software packages including VISUM, Synchro, HCS and SIDRA. In the community, Dan volunteers as Past -president of Northern Alberta Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, technical advisor and guest lecturer to the University of Alberta CIVE 419 course (Capstone). Shewkar (sh-wee-car) Ibrahim (eb-ra-heem) is the Manager of Safe Mobility Engineering with the City of Edmonton’s Safe Mobility Section. Thanks to the free time during the pandemic, Shewkar successfully defended her Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia (in 2020) in the area of Transportation Engineering with a focus on Traffic Safety. An engineer by day and a researcher by night, Shewkar is very passionate about finding ways to improve safety and mobility for all road users to reach the goal of zero-fatalities and serious injuries in Edmonton by 2032. Shewkar was also very involved in leading the work to change the default speed limit in Edmonton to 40 km/h on residential, downtown streets as well as highly used pedestrian areas. She’s looking forward to sharing more about Edmonton’s holistic approach to how they managed the program from planning to evaluation to help keep the conversation “moving” on how speed limits can impact safety.   Tony Churchill is a Senior Traffic Engineer with the City of Calgary.  He obtained a civil engineering technology diploma from SAIT Polytechnic prior to studying at the University of Calgary where he completed BSc. and MSc. degrees in civil engineering with a focus on road safety. Tony has been involved in discussions about lowering speed limits in Calgary for about eight years and recently coordinated the installation of about 5,000 speed limit signs to support the 40 km/h default speed limit that came into effect on May 31, 2022. He will be leading the evaluation of this change and is currently working on the Safer Collector Framework to redesign Collector roadways to encourage 40 km/h operating speeds. Liliana Quintero is a Senior Transportation Engineer working at the City of Vancouver since 2015. She currently works implementing the City’s Moving Towards Zero safety program and the school active travel planning program. Her work at the City of Vancouver has focused on developing a strategy to reach Vancouver’s zero transportation related fatalities & serious injuries target.  Including exploring alternative sources of data such hospital and ambulance data, revamping the existing school program, prioritizing safety upgrades and piloting new items (rectangular flashing beacons , leading pedestrian intervals and slow zones). Additionally, finding new innovative solutions for safety including organizing the VANquish Collisions Hackathon. Liliana grew up in Bogota, Colombia and moved to Vancouver in 2008 to complete a masters degree in Transportation Engineering focused on Transportation Safety at the University of British Columbia

Date: May 4^th ,2022

Time: 12:00pm to 1:00pm, Mountain Time (Edmonton Time)

Format: Virtual

Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) is a tool and approach that helps to analyze your services, products, and processes from a gender and intersectional lens. When applying GBA+ you are better able to explore the needs of different groups of people, as well as recognize their multiple identities (such as gender, race, ethnicity, class, religion, age and mental or physical disability etc.). that impacts their experiences.  
While more and more people are familiarizing themselves with the concept of GBA+, many leaders and staff struggle with the “how to” aspect of the framework.  What does it really mean to apply and embed GBA+ thinking to your workplace policies and practices? Where do you start and what pre-conditions need to be in place?  This webinar focuses on GBA+ applications. The goal is to deepen your understanding of the utilization of GBA+ and demonstrate how you might integrate it into your current projects. 

Participants will learn how GBA+ can be used to:

• uncover barriers to accessing transportation services and new modes of transportation
• build practices and policies into organizational structures to reduce barriers and biases in workplace processes
• explore new ways of thinking and working that centres the experience of historically marginalized and underserved communities

A case study highlighting critical foundational components and outcomes will inspire participants to get started on their own GBA+ journey.  

Register Here

Speaker bios:

Chanel Grenaway has over 20 years of experience focused on integrating equity, a gender lens, and intersectionality practice into workplace cultures. She has a range of expertise from work with Foundations, multi-service non-profit agencies and academic institutions.  Chanel played a pivotal role in the research and planning of a new 5 course specialization on gender-based analytics developed and offered by the Institute for Gender and the Economy (available on Coursera). The course explores the ways that gender identity, Indigeneity, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and other intersections shape risks, opportunities and impacts of an organization’s activities, operations and outcomes. Chanel is the lead instructor for the qualitative data collection and community-based engagement module. She is currently supporting organizations to improve their equity and inclusion outcomes through equity assessments, training and knowledge building, community engagement, and action planning.  For more information you can visit her website at http://www.chanelgrenaway.com

Hannah Rosen (she/they) is an intersectional gender equity specialist with experience applying GBA Plus in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. Her work focuses on systemic integration and innovation of gznder equity and intersectionality into policy and practice. The broader goal of Hannah’s work is to ensure gender equity and intersectional analysis are fully integrated into everyday work, practices, and services. Hannah is a graduate of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, and Queen’s University in Kingston, ON. She holds a Master of Global Affairs, with a specialization in feminist international policy, as well as gendered impacts of war and conflict. Her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) was in international relations, with a focus on the intersections of hypermasculinity, mental health, and military service.

Date: March 2 Webinar: 12 – 1 PM (MDT) Cost: Free REGISTER HERE About the Presentation Many people know the Netherlands for their cycling culture and world class bicycle infrastructure. What is less well-known is the Dutch expertise in multi-modal transportation – connecting people both on foot and on bike with efficient public transit systems. Join us on this webinar as we look to international expertise in the planning and design elements that make for seamless connections between active transportation and public transit. Some of the themes addressed will include active transportation networks and safe street design, station access by foot and bike, and bike parking facilities. We will then return to examples in Ottawa and San Diego to learn how these elements are being applied in a North American context and discuss ways to further develop multi-modal transportation hubs.About the Speaker Wayne Gong, P.Eng. As an Integrated Mobility Specialist in Mobycon’s North American office in Ottawa, Wayne brings along many years of public sector experience from western Canada to the team – a combination of project management and integrated transportation planning and design. One of Wayne’s proudest accomplishments includes planning and delivering Edmonton’s first residential protected cycling network, spanning seven neighbourhoods. He also spearheaded various corridor and neighbourhood-wide projects across North America by providing holistic and context-sensitive mobility solutions. His in-depth understanding of the project lifecycle and evidence-based approach enable him to work effectively with stakeholders to address their concerns by applying Dutch inspired best practices. Wayne is committed to creating more 15-minute communities where dwellers can safely and comfortably access work/school, play and socialize without car dependency. Mary Elbech, with a background in active transportation planning from Denmark and the Netherlands, Mary has over a decade of experience in adapting international best practices to work within a local context. Since 2011, she has supported communities in becoming safer and more bicycle and pedestrian friendly through leading-edge projects around new mobility, shared spaces, community-led design, 20 mph zones, Complete Streets, and safe and active school zones. She has worked on the FHWA Bike Facility Selection guidelines, developed a tactical urbanism workshop series around community-led solutions for safer streets, and is currently leading Mobycon’s role on the NCHRP Guidebook for Urban and Suburban Cross-Sectional Roadway Reallocation. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, and leads Mobycon’s US office.

Date: February 2
Icebreaker Social: February 2 @ 12:00 – 12:15 PM (MDT)
Webinar: February 2 @ 12:15 – 1 PM (MDT)
Cost: Free

About the Presentation

It is globally accepted that road collisions represent a major cause of death and exert a huge economic burden on both individuals and governments. Consequently, efficient methods are required to identify causes of road collisions before making recommendations for mitigations plans. The key to selecting an effective countermeasure, for an underlying road safety problem, relies extensively on the ability to accurately identify the factors that might have contributed to a particular location being classified as a high-collision location. This brings the issue of “proper safety diagnosis” to the forefront of any safety mitigation strategy.
The current practice of assessing geometric site conditions and identifying potential collision causes relies on physical site visits and on-site observations. Consequently, several challenges arise. For example, subjective judgement is introduced due to the reliance on the judgment and opinion of observers. More so, these conventional methods are both time-consuming and labor-intensive, thereby, limiting the implementation of a large-scale diagnosis effort of the entire roadway network.
With the significant advances in data acquisition techniques, there has been a paradigm shift towards extracting roadway features and establishing an inventory of road conditions in an automated and efficient manner. This presentation will demonstrate the value of using LiDAR data in aiding road safety reviews and identifying potential collision causes through the automated safety assessment of roadway conditions.

About the Speaker



Amr Shalkamy holds a Ph.D. degree in Transportation Engineering from the University of Alberta and is currently working with Mott MacDonald in Vancouver. Amr has 10 years of experience in transportation engineering working in both academia and industry, nationally and internationally.
Amr’s research focuses on safety-based roadway design and using LiDAR point cloud for road safety and design assessments. Amr has published several research papers in top tier transportation journals. He has also received several awards and support for his research from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Alberta Innovates, TAC, Transport Canada, and the City of Edmonton.

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!

Register Here

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).

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:

• it explicitly ties traffic safety to the vision and goals of the City of Edmonton; and
• it builds upon the traditional disciplines of the 5 Es by integrating equity and empathy principles in its development.

This project had numerous innovative approaches including:

• Thorough analysis of crash data.
• The development of a High Injury Network which visually represents the location of high crash corridors.
• Application of Gender-Based Analysis Plus, this was the first city-wide transportation initiative to use that approach.
• Equity analysis was central to this project and included a quantitative analysis of equity factors that helped to ensure the lived experiences of all Edmontonians are considered and improved through implementation of the Strategy.

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:

• a defensible data driven approach to identify routes and route types
• Manufacturing custom traffic and educational signage, which was manufactured while battling global material shortages
• engagement targeting advocacy groups, community leagues, business improvement area representatives and Edmonton’s Federation of Community Leagues
• education through on-street signage, a public service announcement, media stories, social media, and blogs, along with positive enforcement by City of Edmonton Peace Officers
• Evaluation in which the City of Edmonton partnered with the University of Alberta on a study utilizing a computer monitoring system to analyze video footage to measure the effectiveness and safety of some of the expanded walking and cycling paths.

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:

• Dallas Karhut (chair)
• Daniel Vriend
• Erin Toop
• Bruno Peters
• Dean Cooper
• Peter Kilburn
• Rod Peacock