Category Archives: General

President’s Message

General

Hello ITE Central Coast Community,

Excited for 2023 and all the momentum thus far. I want to say a special thanks to Derrick Bailey of the City of Santa Barbara for presenting at the first virtual meeting in February, as well as Kimberly Leong, ITE Western District President, in swearing in the new officers. 

The new board is working hard to get more meetings/events scheduled (virtual, hybrid, and in-person). Stayed tuned for more information about the joint meeting at Cal Poly on April 13th and other section meetings, hybrid vendor show, and our annual fundraising golf event. To receive timely notifications of website posts, meetings, and events; please “Follow” our website (lower right hand corner of website). In addition, we will continue to send emails to our members.

This year we are focused on communication/collaboration, networking, younger members engagement, and professional development; and want to provide the “value add” for your membership. I am grateful to have you as a member of the Central Coast Section and want to engage more professionals (planning and engineering) and grow our section.

Please let me know any suggestions or feedback, about how we could improve our Section. In addition, if you want to get involved, please reach out to me. We do have some Committee Chairs that are vacant (Membership Chair and Younger Member Group) and would appreciate the involvement.

Many thanks,

Kathy Kleinschmidt

ITE Central Coast Section President

Mid-Year President Update

General

Hi ITE Community,

Happy Summer! We’ve had a busy first half of the year, kicking off with our Joint Southern California section meeting. Our first hybrid event, held in-person at Cal Poly, and online via Zoom was a success! We had great participation in the chat, and the students/professionals who could join in person enjoyed a networking event after the meeting. 

We’re fresh off of the Western District ITE Meeting, where several of our members won awards. Tom Mericle was the recipient of the Individual Achievement Award, Paul Valadao was named the Outstanding Transportation Educator, and our student chapter received the Student Chapter Award. Congratulations to you all! 

Our annual golf tournament in June was a huge success, thank you to everyone who participated in and sponsored tees. The funds we raised go directly to Cal Poly’s ITE student chapter and all donations are appreciated.

Going forward, our plan is to embrace the hybrid option whenever possible, catering to our members’ busy schedules, while also allowing for some much missed face-to-face time. Over the next few months, we will be rolling out a series of informal get togethers, intended to bring our community back together in a “post” pandemic era. I know I’ve missed the feel of an in-person event, and am excited to mingle with all of you on a personal level, outside of the confines of a virtual call. My goal with these social events is to foster a shared passion for our work in a roundtable setting, open to all. Stay tuned for more on that front. 

Keep an eye out for a busy next few months with ITE, and if you’d like to get more involved please do not hesitate to reach out. 

Cheers,

Vidhi

2022 President’s Message

General, Notice

Happy New Year, ITE Community! It’s hard to imagine that our last in-person event was the vendor show two and a half years ago. While not seeing engaged faces in person has been difficult, our section has hosted some incredible virtual events, taking advantage of the remote meetings. We’ve seen more consistent attendance with a wide variety of speakers presenting to our group. When we do go back to in-person meetings, we plan to offer a hybrid option. As transportation professionals, we all know how difficult it can be to commute across our section, which spans from San Luis Obispo to Simi Valley and beyond. Virtual platforms have made it easier than ever to stay connected and take advantage of the services and webinars ITE provides. 

I want to thank our members for continuing to support ITE and remain active in their community and their profession. If there’s anything we can do for you, or if you would like to become more involved with the Board, please contact me. Here’s to a healthy and safe 2022!

Vidhi Sachdeva, Central Coast Section President

Membership Update

General

Beginning this year the Section has a new Membership Committee chaired by Faridur Rahman. The following update on current membership was provided at the Section Board Meeting in March:

As of March, 2021 ITE Central Coast Section has 129 total members. Members are broken down into several categories: student members, younger members, members, fellow members, and retired members. All membership levels are ITE International members and Section only membership is no longer provided.

In 2020 Central Coast Section added 11 new members. In 2021 we added 7 new members in the first two months of the year. Majority of members added this current year are students members from Cal Poly Student Chapter.

The full membership report is available here:

2020-membership-reportDownload

If you have any membership questions or ideas for increasing membership please contact Faridur Rahman.

President’s Message

General

From the desk (and kitchen table) of the President:

Welcome to the ITE Central Coast Section!

A silver lining of the Pandemic’s challenges has been the ability to reach more members by using a virtual environment for our meetings. Even after our Section resumes in-person meetings, virtual and hybrid events will play an important role in keeping us connected along the Central Coast. We all know that transportation is essential and that the work we do has a profound effect on the public. I encourage you to explore all the ways ITE can enhance your professional development and connect you with others.

We hope you can join us soon!

Travis Low, 2021 Section President