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Benefits of Being an ITE Member
The Institute of Transportation Engineers is
an International organization of over 16,000 members in 92
countries focused on transportation and traffic engineering
and planning. Members come from public agencies (federal,
state, MPO, county, city – in the west nearly 80% of
all public agencies have members in ITE), private firms, academia,
manufactures and suppliers of transportation equipment/ products.
Western District, which represents the 13 western states in
the USA, provides benefits to members in five broad areas
that match our goals.
Career Development
ITE tailors its activities to keep our professionals
at the cutting edge of transportation by sharing our expertise
with others. ITE provides training through its Annual Meetings
 (International
and Western District),
Section/Chapter level meetings,
On-line
gateway and Professional
Development Fund that can be used for professional development
hours (PDH). ITE works to certify its activities for use as
PDHs in all states. Because transportation is such a specialized
field, getting practical in-house training or finding effective
academic/continuing education can be difficult and expensive.
Retaining good staff is a goal of all agencies and firms and professional development is a key to a good retention strategy. ITE’s cost effective methods of professional development provide employers practical means of delivering highly applicable training to transportation staff. This can come from participation in meetings and councils to leadership opportu nities with ITE. Employers benefit from having staff that are linked to the latest in transportation research, applications, analysis and design – and are able to apply lessons learned from others efficiently and effectively rather than “reinventing the wheel” to address emerging issues.
 When it becomes time to recruit staff with unique and focused transportation skills in the west, WesternITE’s Jobs Available board links you to over 4,000 transportation professionals. As a professional looking to advance, the Jobs Available board provides you a range of opportunities to consider in searching for a new position. As an employer, the Jobs Available board provides you a range of salaries being paid in the west for various positions that you can use to establish a retention-based salary structure.
Student Initiatives
There is no better way to assure the transportation profession remains strong into the future than attracting the best and brightest to the field of transportation engineering. ITE provides numerous initiatives that allow our members to engage with students, provide financial support to students and to a link between the profession and academic environments. These structured activities allow our members to be productive with their limited volunteer time. Contact with students helps build passion in young professionals for transportation and allows our members to recruit the best potential staff members for their circumstances in engaging environments.
Technical Excellence
 ITE focuses on providing a platform to achieve technical excellence both for the profession and the individual. ITE Publications link you to cutting edge information in transportation where changes are constantly emerging and research is on-going (with discounted prices for members). ITE provides a certification process through its Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE) exam that demonstrates requisite knowledge, skill and ability in the specialized application of traffic operations engineering. ITE provides the most open invitation of any professional society to share your passion for transportation through research using the platform of the Technical Councils – an area where many of the profession’s emerging topics (pedestrian facilities, neighborhood traffic, parking) originate prior to development of standards and handbooks. They develop informational reports, recommended practices and handbooks for use by the profession.
Networking Opportunities
ITE affords its members numerous means to share information. Through ITE organized meetings our members can build their circle of professional acquaintances from other peer agencies and firms, develop relationships that last a career. ITE provides a platform for this networking – through its meetings, councils and leadership opportunities. Our members can share experiences and perspectives on issues with people they grow to know – and be only one email or call away from support and advice.
  ITE
produces a monthly magazine (ITE
Journal) and a quarterly newsletter for the Western District
members (WesternITE),
has specialized technical
newsletters from Councils, web sites (both International
and Western District), a web-based
membership
directory, topic-related ListServ's
(discussion groups) and Washington
Weekly (an update of current issues in transportation
from Washington DC). These all provide avenues for our members
to stay abreast of current issues, share information, build
lasting professional relationships and participate with a
group focused on transportation and traffic engineering and
planning – who have a passion for the profession.
Promoting the Profession
  Western
District ITE seeks to enhance the transportation profession
by increasing awareness of accomplishments, recognizing professional
achievement and developing better skills to contact and communicate
with the public. ITE provides its members an opportunity to
become recognized in the profession through awards,
leadership in ITE through volunteer
opportunities, research and/or elective
office. An on-going element of our Western District Annual
Meeting includes sessions targeted to improve public involvement
methods and avenues of contact regarding transportation.
  But in the end, one of the most important aspects of joining ITE is the forum it provides to build relationships. Relationships that can help you solve problems, share ideas, learn and grow in the transportation profession. Professionally, technically, personally, family – ITE is a welcoming environment for those with a passion for transportation.
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