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The Intelligent Transportation Society of Massachusetts (ITS Massachusetts) is a non-profit, non-partisan, broadly based coalition of business, labor, institutions of academia, and public agencies - all concerned with the improvement of intermodal surface transportation in Massachusetts. For over a decade ITS Massachusetts has served as the premiere organization advocating and supporting Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in the Commonwealth. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) utilize advanced technologies and communications to improve the safety, security and efficiency of the surface transportation system. ITS Massachusetts serves as a forum and a resource for information about ITS projects, activities, and opportunities throughout the state. Our goal is to increase awareness of local ITS projects and ITS benefits among local policymakers, political leaders and the general public. ITS Massachusetts is one of twenty-four regional chapters of ITS America.
ITS Massachusetts News
ITS Massachusetts Annual Meeting and Conference:
Monday, April 14, 2008
Transportation Building, Ten Park Plaza, Boston, MA
By all accounts, the ITS Massachusetts 13th Annual Meeting and Conference, “Increasing Customer Expectations: How does ITS Respond”, was a tremendous success this year. With over 110 attendees, the ITS Massachusetts Annual Meeting and Conference once again provided a unique forum that brought together ITS professionals from across the Commonwealth; professionals who are committed to improving the Commonwealth’s transportation systems. Thank you to all who attended, participated, and provided feedback. Click here for a PDF of the Final Program.
Special thanks to our Keynote Speaker, Jon Niedzielski, District Director for Congressman John Olver, for his timely remarks regarding transportation finance in the Commonwealth. Special thanks also to Scott Belcher, President and CEO of ITS AMERICA, for his update on national ITS initiatives. Congratulations to Russ Bond, MassHighway ITS Programs Unit, winner of this year’s Joseph M. Sussman Leadership Award (see article below). Also, congratulations to Omar Choudhry of, The Rivershore Group, LLC, winner of the Feedback Form Raffle.
Many thanks to this year’s meeting sponsors, whose support made the Annual Meeting and Conference possible:
Platinum Sponsor
Telvent Farradyne (www.telvent-farradyne.com)
Gold Sponsors
Cambridge Systematics, Inc. (www.camsys.com)
IBI Group (www.ibigroup.com)
Logic Tree Corp (www.logictree.com)
TranSystems Corporation (www.transystems.com)
Bronze Sponsors
Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates, Inc. (www.hshassoc.com)
Global Traffic Technologies (www.gtt.com)
Russ Bond Receives Joseph M. Sussman Leadership Award
At its 13th Annual Meeting and Conference on April 14, ITS Massachusetts presented the Joseph M. Sussman Leadership Award to Professor Russ Bond, Manager, Technical Systems Operations, MassHighway ITS Programs Unit.
The Joseph M. Sussman Leadership Award is presented annually by the Intelligent Transportation Society of Massachusetts (ITS Massachusetts) to an outstanding individual who has demonstrated uncommon professional contributions in the field of ITS in the Commonwealth.
The award is named in honor of Dr. Joseph M. Sussman, who is the JR East Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a founding member of both ITS America and ITS Massachusetts, and a mentor for emerging transportation professionals for over 38 years.
This year’s recipient of the award, Russ Bond has been the Manager of the System Operations Group at MassHighway since 1995. In this role, he has been instrumental in shaping the ITS Program throughout MassHighway with his forward thinking an innovative ideas. He has been the “ideas guy” behind a number of high profile ITS deployments at MassHighway. Two of these successes include:
• Managing the consultant contract which developed the functional requirements, software implementation, testing and training of the MassHighway Event Reporting System (ERS) - created as part of new Route 2 Traveler and Tourism website. The Internet based ERS is currently used by MassHighway District personnel to report urgent matters, construction and incident information and will be used as the data fusion and collection system for 511.
• Managing the consultant contract which implemented the Massachusetts Interagency Video Information System (MIVIS) video sharing software for use during the 2004 Democratic National Convention. MIVIS is an Internet based system for accessing and distributing CCTV and aerial video from multiple sources to authorized users. This effort included training public safety personnel on the software using PDA’s. MIVIS continues to be expanded to include additional agencies and CCTV, including the state police helicopter video, and has been integrated with data from the ERS to create public safety situational awareness system (SAS) web portal.
This is a well deserved award for someone who has diligently worked to make a difference in the success of ITS throughout Massachusetts over the last ten years.
ITS America’s 2008 Annual Meeting to Combine with the 15th World Congress on ITS:
With the theme of “ITS Connections: Saving Time, Saving Lives” the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems & ITS America’s 2008 Annual Meeting and Exposition will be the largest event in the world for ITS leaders, policy makers and other industry professionals. An expected 10,000 transport executives and ITS professionals from around the globe will come together at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City from November 16-20, 2008. Registration for the 15th World Congress on ITS will open in April 2008. For the latest information on the 15th World Congress on ITS, visit www.itsworldcongress.org. ITS America is also inviting sponsors and exhibitors to take advantage of this opportunity to showcase their businesses before the national and international ITS community. Exhibit space is nearly full, so don’t delay. To secure your exhibit space, contact aclarke@ntpshow.com.
Freeway and Tollway Operations Conference (FTOC):
The 2008 TRB/IBTTA Joint Conference on Freeway and Tollway Operations has been scheduled for June 15-19, 2008 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. ITS America is a host of this event, which will discuss Expressway/Motorway Management, Tollway and Tolling Operations/Managed Lanes, Operations and Control Center Technologies, and Safety in Incident Management. Early registration ends March 14, 2008. For more information, go to: www.2008FTOC.com.
USDOT Announces Appointments to ITS Advisory Council:
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration recently announced the selection of ITS Massachusetts member Joseph M. Sussman, Ph.D., to chair the Department's Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Advisory Committee. Professor Sussman is the J.R. East Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Engineering Systems Division at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Robert Peter Denaro, vice president of NAVTEQ Corporation, has been chosen as vice chair. SAFETEA-LU mandated the creation of the council to act in an advisory capacity to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation concerning the study, development and implementation of intelligent transportation systems.
Updated ITS/Operations Resource Guide Website:
The ITS Joint Program Office (JPO) recently presented its updated ITS/Operations Resource Guide Web site, www.resourceguide.its.dot.gov. This Web site is a comprehensive listing of more than 500 documents, videos, Web sites, training courses, software tools and points of contact related to ITS and transportation operations.