Student Assistant Griffin Kantz represented USC and METRANS this past week at the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) 2016 Western District Annual Meeting, held in Albuquerque, NM on July 10-13, 2016. Kantz, the USC ITE Student Chapter President, was the only current student from USC or CSULB in attendance, although many alumni from both schools including recent METRANS guest speaker John Lower were present.

To augment his experience attending the meeting, Kantz traveled to, from, and within New Mexico exclusively by passenger rail and bus. This involved two 16.5-hour journeys by Amtrak and several additional hours by urban bus in Albuquerque. The City of Albuquerque is expected to begin construction on a high-profile bus rapid transit project later this summer.

The meeting itself featured events for both students and practitioners. Students from almost 20 university chapters of ITE competed in the James H. Kell Student Design Competition on July 10 and in the Western District Student Traffic Bowl on July 11. The Traffic Bowl is a Jeopardy!-format transportation trivia game. Kantz was part of a team of four California ITE students which placed third overall in the Kell Competition. Students and practitioners alike availed themselves of industry seminars, professional development workshops, and tech tours throughout the four days of the meeting.

The Institute of Transportation Engineers is an international association of students, academics, and practitioners based in Washington, D.C. that advances their mutual professional development and facilitates the application of technology and scientific principles to the research, planning, engineering, construction, operation, and management of ground transportation. Many USC ITE members anticipate attending the ITE International 2016 Annual Meeting in Anaheim, CA on Aug. 14-17, 2016.

Griffin Kantz

Kantz is a fourth-year undergraduate studying Sustainable Planning in the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. He can be reached at [email protected]. The USC ITE student chapter can be reached at [email protected].