ITS California Chair

Dear ITS Colleague,

As the newly elected Chairperson of ITS California, it is an honor to be leading the key organization representing Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in California. Our leadership and strength as an organization was evident in 2011 as we again had record high attendance for our Annual Meeting in Long Beach. In this weak economy, the fact that our attendance level continues to rise clearly shows our ability to attract key industry leaders, speakers and topics of interest to the ITS community.

 In 2011, our leadership role was also evident in our ability to organize a California Legislative Joint Informational Hearing on ITS which took place in Long Beach. Legislative representation included the Chairpersons from the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, and the Assembly Committee on Transportation. Two ITS California Board Members gave testimony to the Panel: Alan Clelland of Iteris, our former chair, and Tom West of PATH. Legislators expressed their strong support of the ITS industry and promised to continue the dialogue on the role of ITS in our state.

 In 2011 we also continued our strong presence at the Regional level with very successful meetings and workshops. The Southern Section's Adaptive Traffic Control workshop in August had over 100 attendees, and luncheon workshops on the Connected Vehicle initiative were very interesting and informative. In Northern California we sponsored workshops on ITS for Sustainability and ITS for Enforcement (co-sponsored with ITE). The Northern section also hosted early-morning "Business Breakfasts” with directors of local MPOs to discuss how ITS enables many of the corridor and network-wide transportation initiatives of those organizations, and how we can continue to ensure their success.

 The networking opportunity provided by membership in ITS California is unparalleled. With Board Members from industry leaders such as Cisco Systems, Delcan, Iteris, Kimley Horn Associates, NAVTEQ, and Sensys Networks, and government ITS champions such as the City of Anaheim, LA MTA, LA County Public Works, MTC, and SANDAG, membership in our organization ensures an ability to stay at the forefront of recent ITS developments. We are also recognized as one of the top State ITS chapters, and provide a leadership role on ITS America’s State Chapters Council, where Tom West is the current Chair. I would like to take this opportunity to thank current Members for their support and invite non-Members to join us to hear new ideas and lend support to our organization by becoming a Member.

 For 2012, I am pleased to announce a new membership opportunity we have established for Cities and government agencies with populations under 250,000. With your paid membership, your agency will receive a FREE registration to our Annual meeting which will be held in Northern California in 2012. For larger organizations, I hope that you will consider becoming one of our sponsors, which provides enhanced visibility as well as FREE and reduced registrations for our Annual Meeting. Please visit our Membership page  for more information.

We look forward to your participation and support and hope to continue to see you at our breakfast and luncheon workshops and at our Annual Meeting.

Sincerely,

Jane White

Chair, ITS California Board of Directors

ITS Northern California Section