A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

AUGUST 2015 | VOLUME 4

Dear WTS-DC Chapter mem-

bers and friends,

As we enter the final days of

summer, the WTS-DC Chapter

is busy preparing for our up-

coming year-end activities,

and we have already begun

planning several great pro-

grams for 2016.

We are also ready to begin

our annual scholarship appli-

cation process, but we need

your help.

To date, we have not been

able to fully fund our scholar-

ships for this year, and are

still nearly $2,000 short of

last year’s funding level and

$8,000 under our 2015

scholarship funding goal. We

believe that supporting young

women as they embark upon

their career education in the

transportation industry is one

of the most important things

that WTS does as an organi-

zation. Please help us to con-

tinue that support by making

a tax-deductible donation to

the WTS-DC scholarship fund.

Or, if you are interested in

sponsoring a particular schol-

arship in whole or in part,

please contact me to discuss

options for doing so.

Thank you for continuing to

help us support our next gen-

eration of transportation lead-

ers.

Best Regards,

Melany Alliston-Brick, PE

WTS-DC Chapter President

Melany Alliston-Brick,

Toole Design Group

CONTENTS

Upcoming Programs ….........2

Announcements ……….........3

Member Spotlights…….........4

New Members…………..........5

People We Know……….........5

Professional Development

Corner…...………………...........6

Transportation YOU..............7

Program Articles………..........8

For updates on events and

news about women in trans-

portation and transporta-

tion planning and engineer-

ing in the DC Metro area,

follow us on Twitter, Like us

on Facebook, and join the

WTS-DC LinkedIn group!

Join WTS-DC at Our Upcoming Events!

TRF-WTS-YPT-Reason Event:

How Technology will Transform Transportation

Wednesday, August 12 5:30-7:00 PM

For more information and to register for the event, click here.

SAVE THE DATE:

How to Host a Public Meeting Workshop with WTS-DC and VDOT

Tuesday, September 22 5:30-8:30 PM

WTS-DC Book Club for the Busy Professional - October 2015

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

Stay tuned for information on more upcoming programs via email!

UPCOMING WTS-DC EVENTS

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Scholarship Fundraising: 2015 Goals Update

The WTS mission is to “transform the transportation industry through

the advancement of women.” WTS-DC believes that education is a

vital tool to facilitate advancement. Every year, WTS-DC awards schol-

arships to deserving young women who are studying transportation at

undergraduate and graduate programs in the DC area. We believe

that giving scholarships is one of the most important things we do.

So far this year, we have raised $1900 for the scholarship fund. If

you would like to contribute to the advancement of women in the

transportation industry in the DC area, please contact WTS-DC Schol-

arship Committee Chair, Amanda Wall Vandegrift

(vandegrifta@pbworld.com). All scholarship contributions are tax-

deductible and will be acknowledged in our newsletter and annual

report, unless you request anonymity.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

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WTS-DC 2015 Recognition Awards: Last Call for Nominations!

Recognitions are a great way to acknowledge those who support our local WTS-DC

Chapter. We encourage both WTS members and friends to consider nominees for the

following categories to honor the accomplishments of women and men in transpor-

tation:

1. WTS-DC Member of the Year

2. Woman of the Year

3. Employer of the Year

4. Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award; and

5. Innovative Transportation Solutions Award

6. Secretary Ray LaHood Award (This new award honors a man who is an outstanding role model and advo-

cate for women in transportation.)

The criteria and forms for award nominations can be found here along with a list of our past award win-

ners. We are proud to recognize the WTS-DC Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award winner of 2014, US Secre-

tary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx, who subsequently received the WTS International Rosa Parks Diversity Lead-ership Award.

Please submit your nominations today to Kate at klefkowitz@camsys.com.

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Johanna Zmud Senior Research Scientist,

Texas A&M Transportation

Institute,

College Station, TX

Johanna’s background is as

a social and behavioral sci-

entist with expertise in

transportation issues – particularly relating to travel

behavior and emerging technologies. Her doctoral

training at the University of Southern California fo-

cused on policy, new technologies, and attitude and

behavior measurement. Johanna’s journey from

these studies to transportation came about serendipi-

tously. Her former firm, NuStats, was one of the first

to link survey science with travel behavior surveys and

analysis. They were also first in bringing technology to

the capture of travel behavior information. As we built

a reputation for quality and innovation, their opportu-

nities in the transportation field grew and she learned

increasingly more about a diverse set of transporta-

tion issues. After nearly 25 years, NuStats was ac-

quired by a larger firm, and she joined the RAND Cor-

poration to focus on transportation policy research.

Now she is with TTI, which has a breadth and depth of

programs, facilities, and capabilities unsurpassed by

any other higher-education-affiliated transportation

research organization.

Johanna’s most interesting project during her profes-

sional career is the one she is working on current-

ly. TTI runs a Transportation Policy Research Cen-

ter (PRC) under the direction and support of the Texas

State Legislature. And, through the PRC, She is work-

ing on a study to gather empirical evidence on peo-

ple’s patterns of adoption and likely use of self-driving

vehicles, and how these might influence their amount

of travel, mode choice, auto ownership, and other

travel behavior decisions. It combines both my inter-

ests of travel behavior and emerging transportation

technologies. Because self-driving vehicles are not

yet on the market, the study requires an innovative

research design.

WTS-DC members might be surprised to know that

Johanna’s idea of a good time is hiking 150 miles in

seven days.

Kathryn was born and raised

in Jacksonville, Illinois. She

received her undergraduate degree in history and Jap-

anese language from the University of Illinois at Urba-

na-Champaign and her J.D. from the University of

Pennsylvania School of Law. She practiced law with

the environmental group at Sidley Austin LLP (first as

an associate and then as a partner) in Washington, DC

for 19 years before joining USDOT in April 2009.

Kathryn joined USDOT as Counselor to Secretary Ray

LaHood with the responsibility for advising the Secre-

tary on energy, climate and environmental matters. In

January 2012, she was appointed as the first woman

Chief Counsel at the Federal Aviation Administration.

She returned to USDOT in May 2013, first as Acting

General Counsel and then as General Counsel once

she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March 2014.

Kathryn has been fortunate throughout her career to

have worked on numerous challenging and worthwhile

projects. The most interesting and rewarding project

was working with the White House, NHTSA and EPA to

develop and implement the first-ever joint fuel econo-

my/greenhouse gas emission standards for light duty

vehicles and medium and heavy duty trucks. She

worked to solve challenging legal, policy and technical

issues with a large and diverse group of stakeholders

to more than double fuel economy standards for cars

between 2009 and 2025 with no significant litigation.

The standards represent a win for consumers, labor,

the automobile manufacturing industry, safety groups,

the environment and innovation.

You may not know that Kathryn ran her first marathon

at the age of 40. Since that time, she has run a total

of 22 marathons, competed in multiple Olympic dis-

tance triathlons and 2 half-Ironman competitions, and

completed a full Ironman competition. All transporta-

tion-related activities!

WTS-DC MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Kathryn B. Thomson General Counsel,

United States Department of

Transportation

Washington, DC

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NEW AND REINSTATED WTS-DC MEMBERS

Welcome!

Jane Terry, National Safety Council Jeanine Thompson, JM Thompson Landscape

Architecture PLLC

Vineela Pentyala, Rutgers University Sonia Bacchus, WMATA

Deb Miller, Surface Transportation Board Catherine Chardon, RATP DEV America

Claire Randall, Transportation Research

Board

Nickell Thomas, First Transit

Karen Kirksey, Maryland DOT Dana Giddens, 20twenty Strategic Consulting

Ashley Bosch, Chambers, Conlon, &

Hartwell, LLC

Do you have news to share with the WTS-DC community? Please email suggested articles and member updates to wts.dc.newsletter@gmail.com.

For more information from WTS-DC, visit us on: Facebook

Twitter LinkedIn

PEOPLE WE KNOW

WTS-DC board member, Beth Ann Ray accepted a position as Senior Manager of Grassroots

Advocacy at the American Society of Civil Engineers. In her new role, Beth Ann will focus on en-

gaging ASCE members in its Key Contact Program, managing the organization’s annual DC Leg-

islative Fly-In, and supporting the Society’s multiple advocacy campaigns.

Congratulations to WTS-DC board member Adrienne Ameel on her recent promotion to the po-

sition of Office Practice Leader at Kimley-Horn. Her new responsibilities will include business

planning, developing strategies for achieving office goals and managing projects.

Congratulations to WTS-DC board member Heather Rothenberg on her recent promotion to Di-

rector of Policy and Federal Projects at Sam Schwartz Engineering.

WTS-DC PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CORNER

~ Reflections on Placemaking ~

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Last month’s Complete Streets Bike Tour Scholarship Fundraiser

was an eye-opener for me, as one of the organizers. Many of our 37

cyclists were new to urban cycling and intimidated by the crazy bus-

yness of DC streets. How inspiring to see an entire family, children

in tow, tackle the challenges of riding through downtown and experi-

encing the thrill of a new activity in the company of other novice rid-

ers. That trip through the District, as seen from the saddle of a bicy-

cle, was memorable and definitely not reproducible from behind the

wheel of a car.

The lesson I drew from this is one I rely on often, as a landscape ar-

chitect who has morphed into an urban planner with a focus on mul-

timodal transportation. It is important to immerse oneself in the ex-

perience of place. My landscape architecture background has given me a well-organized approach to project

development in the arena of public space, but sometimes it is essential to step outside of the manager’s role

and turn oneself into a participant. I’ve found that there is just no substitute for directly experiencing the corri-

dors and spaces we are designing, from a real-time perspective. Walking, cycling or even taking the bus con-

tinually presents us with unexpected events and makes us active players in the drama of the journey.

Once I had an amazing opportunity to redesign the natural landscape of Fallingwater, the world famous mod-

ernist house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I mean, really – how does one improve on that? We did a plan,

of course, since that is what landscape architects do. But the opportunity to make a difference came when we

asked visitors about what was most meaningful to them during their Fallingwater pilgrimage. People told us it

was the anticipation of walking through the woods, and encountering the house poised over the waterfall – an

almost mystical encounter. So we reoriented our entire plan to focus on the experiential journey of seeing the

house, and framing that through physical interventions in the landscape. We redesigned part of the pathway

as a switchback so that people would have glimpses of the house from

different vistas, drawing out the experience with more nuanced per-

spectives.

Why is this important to professionals in the transportation field? Trans-

portation professionals are considered to be destination-focused, utiliz-

ing traffic data showing levels of service, modal accommodation, and

intersection timing cycles to make the journey as efficient and safe as

possible. These are very important objectives, without question. The

quality of the journey, however, can be as important as a timely arrival

at the destination. Allowing for the experience – a view, a place to slow

down, a slice of street life – helps us truly inhabit our world, and not

just pass through it.

—Marita Roos RLA AICP, Professional Development Committee Co-Chair

WTS-DC members and friends participated

in the recent Complete Streets Bike Tour,

pictured here outside of USDOT.

WTS-DC Professional Development

Committee members and Bike Tour

planners extraordinaire (from left): Mari-

ta Roos, UrbanBiology LLC; Cerasela

Cristei,Parsons Brinckerhoff; & Neelima

Ghanta, HNTB

WTS-DC Attends the Transportation YOU Summit

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Board member Heather Rothenberg and her mentee, Favor Ogu, a rising senior in

the TransSTEM Academy at Cardozo Education Campus participated in the fourth

WTS Transportation You Summit in June. The five-day summit brought together 18

mentor-mentee pairs from WTS chapters across the country to learn more about

careers in transportation, meet other students and professionals with similar inter-

ests, and see some of the sites that make Washington, DC so special.

The Summit kicked off Wednesday, June 24, with a welcome dinner for attendees

and members of the WTS International Board of Directors at the Mayflower Hotel.

This was followed by a workshop for the mentees on developing a personal mission

statement.

Thursday morning began an activity-packed day with an early start at the US Depart-

ment of Transportation where the group heard from a diverse group of transportation professionals about their back-

grounds and experience and met USDOT Deputy Secretary Victor Mendez. Next, the group headed to the Washington

Metropolitan Area Transit Authority where they learned about the technology used to manage their transit system and

provide information to the public. Favor and Heather, along with the others, then spent the afternoon at the America on

the Move Exhibit at the Smithsonian and working on a small group project. Here, Heather and Favor participated in an

information scavenger hunt, giving them the opportunity to discuss transportation topics beyond what was specifically

presented in the exhibit. The last stop for the day before dinner was at Google where they learned about their self-driving

vehicle and other projects under development. Dinner was followed by a guided night time tour of the monuments.

Friday morning began with a tour of the White House, where the group had the chance to meet the President’s dogs, Bo

and Sunny. This was followed by a visit to the National Transportation Safety Board where they learned about the inves-

tigation into the TWA Flight 800 crash. This included seeing the recovered wreckage and learning how it was recon-

structed to help the investigation. Friday afternoon, the group visited FHWA’s Turner Fairbank Research Center where

they toured research labs studying connected vehicles, driver behavior, and pavement engineering. The connected vehi-

cles technology discussion offered an interesting counterpoint to Google’s approach to a self-driving vehicle that is au-

tonomous. Friday ended with a dinner cruise on the Potomac.

The focus on Saturday was on the development and delivery of effective presentations. Summit attendees participated

in a workshop on public speaking before they prepared and delivered their own presentations. This was followed by a

college information panel discussion with current students at several local colleges. Saturday night mentees received a

graduation certificate at a banquet where they were addressed by and had the opportunity to ask questions of Therese

McMillan, Acting Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. Sunday morning, the group met for a final break-

fast and closing remarks.

When asked what her favorite activity was, WTS-DC mentee Favor

Ogu responded that she really enjoyed visiting Google. This appealed

to the budding entrepreneur who dreams of one day owning her own

transportation technology business. She said her biggest take away

was the networking. “It is important not just to meet people, but to

make connections…You never know the doors that may be opened

through networking.”

Favor is spending the rest of her summer as an intern at the World

Bank. Heather and Favor enjoyed time together before the summit

discussing professional goals, college plans, and having fun. They

will continue this mentor/mentee relationship, with plans for a base-

ball game and a double-decker bus tour of DC on the list of things

they’d like to do together. Heather will also be encouraging Favor to

be active in WTS activities, including applying for scholarships.

Heather and her mentee Favor Ogu

WTS-DC Programs: Transportation Project Management Panel Discussion

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A group of WTS-DC members and friends gathered over lunch at Gordon Biersch on July 29 for an engag-

ing panel discussion with a diverse array of speakers. Moderated by Paul Rich of Deloitte, Dr. Yael

Grushka-Cockayne kicked off the session by highlighting several of the most challenging biases that af-

fect project planning and management. These include the following, which set the tone for the rest of the

presentation:

Wendy Messenger, Chief, Program Implementation at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), dis-

cussed the challenges of scaling up as an agency that grew from a multi-million to multi-billion dollar

budget in a short timespan. FRA needed to ramp up quickly by training project management staff and

establishing a risk management framework to proactively anticipate problems and solutions.

Kevin Ginnerty, Director of Project Delivery at Transurban, discussed the public-private partnership deliv-

ery of the 495 and 95 Express Lanes in Virginia. He noted that developing solid relationships between all

project partners and following the mantra “no surprises” in order to keep each other informed was key to

success.

Julie Flores Kriegsfeld, ADS-B Project Manager at the

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), explained that

vision, leadership and critical thinking are all key

skills for successful project management. One of the

highlights of working on her current program will be

the transition of Air Traffic Control operations in tow-

ers from a paper to electronic system.

The speakers then answered a series of questions

from the lively attendees and everyone parted ways

with new ideas after eating a tasty dessert.

WTS-DC thanks Deloitte for sponsoring this informative event!

BIAS Descr ipt ion

Parkinson’s Law The task takes the amount of time you allot it.

Interdependencies Managing task dependencies and sequencing.

Student Syndrome A buffer is established to cushion the time it takes to

accomplish a task. Procrastination ensues and the

project is not started until the last minute.

Multitasking Working on too many things at one time delays com-

pletion of any final product.

From left: Dr. Yael Grushka-Cockayne, UVA; Julie Flores

Kriegsfeld, FAA; Kevin Ginnerty, P.E., Transurban; Wendy

Messenger, FRA; Paul Rich, Deloitte

Many thanks to

our

2014 - 2015

Corporate

Members!

PEOPLE WE KNOW WTS-DC BOARD & COMMITTEE CHAIRS

WASHINGTON, DC CHAPTER EXECUTIVE BOARD 2015 President

Melany Alliston-Brick, Toole Design Group

Vice President Avital Barnea, USDOT

Treasurer

Iris Ortiz, Cambridge Systematics, Inc.

Secretary Dana Jaffe, AECOM

WASHINGTON, DC CHAPTER COMMITTEE CHAIRS 2015

Communications/Social Media Committee

Christine Sherman, RSG Marla Westervelt, Eno Center for Transportation

Christine Mayeur, Nspiregreen

Corporate Relations Committee

Susan Sharp, Sharp & Company Shelley Johnson, Sharp & Company

Patricia Happ, Info Quest Associates, Inc.

Diversity Committee

Balkis Hassane, Parsons

Rosemary Mullane, USDOT-PHMSA Nadia Anderson, AAA

Glass Ceiling Task Force Tiffany Batac, Parsons Brinckerhoff

Jennifer Brickett, AASHTO

Holiday Party Committee

Adrienne Ameel, Kimley-Horn and Associates

Danielle McCray, Kimley-Horn and Associates

Hospitality Committee

Moji Jimoh, WMATA

Erin Shumate, Eno Center for Transportation Mary Ellen Akins, Stratacomm

Megan McCarty, Toole Design Group Dulce Carrillo, WMATA

Legislative Committee

Cathy Connor, Parsons Brinckerhoff Beth Ann Ray, ASCE

Valerie Southern, VJS-TC Isabelle Beegle-Levin, U.S. House of Representatives

Anja Graves, CHG & Associates

Membership Committee Maggie Schilling, USDOT-FTA

Mentoring and STEM Initiative Committee

Meredith Howell, USDOT

Stacy Weisfeld, HDR Inc.

Newsletter Committee

Emily Norton, USDOT

Christine Mayeur, Nspiregreen

Professional Development Committee

Cerasela Cristei, AEM Corporation

Marita Roos, UrbanBiology LLC Neelima Ghanta, HNTB

Programs Committee

Kristine Boswell, USDOT

Sophie Guiny, Booz Allen Hamilton

Genevieve Oudar, Deloitte Amina Popowich, Deloitte

Tiffani Bryant, WMATA

Recognitions Committee

Kate Lefkowitz, Cambridge Systematics Waiching Wong, Booz Allen Hamilton

Scholarships Committee

Amanda Wall Vandegrift, Parsons Brinckerhoff Maheen Aziz, USDOT

Silent Auction Committee Angela Martinez, University of Maryland

Transportation YOU Committee

Jasmy Methipara, NHTS Program Analyst, MacroSys Heather Rothenberg, Sam Schwartz Engineering

Contributors to this issue include: Melany Alliston-Brick, Toole Design Group; Marita Roos, UrbanBiology LLC; Heather Rothenberg, Sam Schwartz Engineering;

Emily Norton, USDOT; Christine Mayeur, Nspiregreen LLC

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