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In this issue:

Letter from the Chair 1

Announcements 2

Recap of Past Events 2

Hot Topic: Car2Go 3

Member Spotlight: Allison Kaplan 3

Board Member Spotlight:

Luis Lopez 4

Highlights from Other

YPT Chapters 5

Upcoming Events 5

2011-2012 Corporate

Sponsors 6

Become Involved! 6

2011-2012

Austin Executive Board

Chair Katherine Kortum

University of Texas

Deputy Chair

Millie Hayes FHWA

Vice Chair - Administration

April Sandoval

AECOM

Vice Chair - Communication Sowmya Chandrasekhar

Alliance Transportation Group

Vice Chair - Finance

Luis Lopez FHWA

Vice Chair - Programs Stephen Ratke

FHWA

Dear Members & Friends:

Summer in Austin has come to a close. Northerners don‘t

understand when we get excited about the ―cool days‖,

where the highs are only in

the 90s; but Texans do, especially after this summer.

The hottest and driest summer on record anywhere in the US

l ed to d ramat i c and devastating wildfires around

the state, many of which were in our own

backyard. With most of the state in extreme drought conditions, please

continue to be very careful with cigarettes, matches, grills, or anything

that could provide a spark. And don‘t

waste any water!

The Jewish New Year occurs in Fall,

which has always seemed appropriate to me. Anyone with a connection to

academia knows that the beginning of September represents much more change

and ―newness‖ than January 1. Even for

those who left school behind long ago, the change of season to one with cool,

crisp air and colorful foliage brings a welcome freshness to our days.

The arrival of Fall means that the YPT

boards, both nationally and locally, are

facing changes. The year 2011

marks YPT-Austin‘s first election season, and we‘re

ready to move forward with another year of strong growth.

V o t i n g m e m b e r s a r e

encouraged to help make a difference in determining the

direction that the organization takes by choosing the board

members they consider to be most aligned with their own

wishes. Those of you who are

members– thank you, and please be sure to vote in the elections. Those who are

friends – consider becoming a member (annual dues are only $20) and help us

determine the future path of YPT-Austin.

I cannot give enough thanks to our sponsors, AECOM and Rios Engineering.

Without their generous support, YPT-Austin would not have been able to get

off the ground, much less provide the networking opportunities that we have

coordinated in the last several months.

With the support, we have been able to plan events for you and the

transportation community around Austin.

Sincerely,

Katherine Kortum, YPT-Austin Chair

L e tt er f r om t h e Ch ai r

FALL 2011 VOLUME 1, ISSUE III

Austin Chapter NewsletterAustin Chapter NewsletterAustin Chapter Newsletter THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION

A n no u nc eme n ts We are pleased to announce our newest member, Jennifer Bennett-Reumuth.

Welcome, Jennifer!

For those of you who took the FE or PE Exam in October, well done! We are eager to

hear your results!

More ways to stay connected! We recently created YPT-Austin Group on LinkedIn,

and we look forward to seeing you there.

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Rec a p of P as t E ve n ts

Blues on the Green August 3, 2011

YPT-Austin braved the searing Austin summer heat for the

long running ‗Blues on the Green‘ at Zilker Park. The com-pany of members and friends, the great views of sunset at

downtown Austin, and music from the Old 97‘s made for a

fun evening.

September Roundtable Event September 12, 2011

Ms. Jana McCann, CEO of McCann Adams Studio, presented

at our September Roundtable Event. Jana updated the atten-dees on the Downtown Austin Plan, with specific attention on

the bicycle components of the plan and the vision for creat-

ing a multi-modal Austin.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Tour November 4, 2011

YPT-Austin gathered at the Planning and Engineering Depart-

ment of the City of Austin‘s Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA). Airport officials provided insights on maintain-

ing, operating, financing, securing, and engineering a large

commercial airport. The event concluded with a tour of the Signature–Austin aviation facility.

November Roundtable Event November 14, 2011

Mr. Patrick Hays, PE, SE, Associate Vice President at AECOM,

presented at our November Roundtable Event. Pat discussed the pursuit, risk mitigation, and management of design/build

transportation projects, reflecting on his experience on the

SH130 and SH161 projects in Texas.

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Allison Kaplan is from Aiken, South Carolina, a city of about 30,000 people.

After graduating from Clemson University in 2008 with a degree in

Language and International Trade, she

moved to Austin in 2009 to attend the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the

University of Texas at Austin. She graduated from the LBJ School in May

2011 with a Master of Global Policy Studies degree.

A l l i son became inte res ted in

transportation issues after returning from Bamberg, Germany where she

was studying abroad in 2005-2006. She lived without a car, and used her

bicycle for most trips. Upon her return

to the US, she found using her bicycle

difficult as a mode of transportation for three reasons: fewer bicycle facilities,

auto drivers did not respect bicyclists‘ right to the road, and bicyclists did not

follow the rules of the road. She was

determined to spread the word to both drivers and cyclists about their rights

and responsibilities.

Soon after moving to Austin, Allison

was involved in a crash. A car right-hooked her on her bicycle, and sent

her to the hospital. This incident

encouraged her to seek out the bicycling advocates and nonprofits in

Austin, to give them her energy and passion. She recently completed an

(Continued on page 4)

M e mb e r S po tl i g ht : A l l i s o n K apl a n

Car2Go is a new mobility concept

headquartered in Austin. Three-hundred of the Smart ForTwo vehicles

are scattered around the city, all avail-able to be rented by the minute, thus

reducing the need for personal vehicle

ownership.

Simply walk up to any vehicle (or re-

serve one in advance). Swipe your membership card over the electronic

reader in the corner of the windshield to unlock the vehicle. Enter your PIN

on the dashboard touch-screen com-

munication system to unlock the glove box and retrieve the keys, and then

drive away at 35 cents a minute. Whenever you are done with the

rental, you can leave the car in a legal

parking space for someone else to rent.

Vehicles must be returned within the 52-square mile ―geofence‖ area that

defines the Car2Go parking area, but the vehicles can be driven as long and

as far as desired; rentals simply cannot

end until they are once again within the geofenced area.

Membership in Car2Go is simple – pro-vide your driver‘s license, submit a

credit card for billing, and hop in a ve-

hicle and drive away.

More than 16,000 Austin-area residents

have become members of the pro-

gram, including many of those who live downtown, near campus, and in cen-

tral Austin.

The distinctly-branded vehicles are in

motion far more than the average per-sonal vehicle, as rentals occur at all

hours of the day. Rentals peak during

the 11 AM to 1 PM period as members run lunchtime errands and take other

mid-day trips. The opportunity for one-way trips, currently unique among car-

sharing programs worldwide, allows a

level of spontaneity and flexibility un-matched by any other travel mode,

including personal vehicles.

Car2Go also has European operations

in Ulm and Hamburg, Germany, and

Amsterdam, Netherlands. It has re-cently expanded services within North

America in Vancouver, Canada, and San Diego, US. Both Amsterdam and

San Diego operations include a fleet of electric vehicles.

Carsharing is not a new concept, as it

has been around for decades, but Car2Go likes to call their innovative

one-way rentals and flexibility in scheduling— ―Carshare 2.0.‖ Other

existing carsharing organizations have

taken notice of this new business model, and carsharing is anticipated to

flourish in Austin and beyond.

H o t To pi c: C a r2 G o Contributed by: Katherine Kortum

Image from: http://www.car2go.com/austin/en/get-in/find/

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Luis Lopez is an Area Engineer for the Texas Division of the Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA), based in Austin. He has six years of experience

in the federal oversight and

construction management fields. Luis currently provides oversight for the

North Houston District.

In addition to serving as the YPT-

Austin Vice Chair for Finance, Luis is a

member of ASCE and Young Member of the Transportation Research Board

(TRB) Committee on Construction Management.

Luis holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil

Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (UPRM). He

also earned his Master of Engineering

Management degree from Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico (PUPR). He is

a Licensed Professional Engineer registered in Puerto Rico.

When did you realize you wanted

a career in transportation?

Maybe I didn‘t realize at first, but I did

well in transportation courses during my undergraduate program at UPRM.

My capstone and final group project were dedicated to transportation. For

good or for bad, I found that the topic

was within my comfort zone.

In Puerto Rico, the civil engineering

undergraduate program is five years. During my fourth year, I was accepted

in the FHWA Summer Transportation

Internship Program for Diverse Group. I was assigned to Region 10 (Long

Island) of the New York State Department of Transportation to do

safety studies. My fifth year, I received a partial scholarship from FHWA to

attend the TRB Annual Meeting in

2005.

Had you not followed your current

career path, what other profession would you have pursued?

During middle school and high school,

my initial career choices were accountant, architect, or civil engineer.

I began to discover that accounting was boring, and that I couldn‘t draw a

straight line to be an architect. Civil

engineering was way too cool to let it

go!

As a young professional, what

advice would you give those expecting to graduate or just

entering workforce?

Probably it sounds cliché, but my recommendation is that you have to go

for your dreams.

You have to do what makes you

happy. Learn and read as much as you can. Take risks if they are worth it.

Also, remember that you work to live;

you don‘t live to work.

Last advice: Join YPT. You are going to

meet a lot of enthusiastic people with similar career goals, but with different

backgrounds and stories. Have fun,

meet other professionals like you, and share experiences.

Now that college is over, what do you do for fun?

I really like to play sports, such as soccer, volleyball, and basketball. I

recently competed in the ‗San Antonio

Rock & Roll Marathon‘ in mid-November.

Now that college is over, I discovered that I like to cook. Two or three times

a month, I take a full day to make

something different in the kitchen. I like food, happy hours, and dance. I

take my wife to dance salsa and merengue.

B o ar d M emb e r S p otl i gh t : L ui s L o pe z

internship with the City of Austin‘s

Bicycle Program, where she learned about the rules of the road from a

government‘s perspective.

The Bicycle Program culminated in a technical paper on bicycle promotion.

She researched two case studies in depth: the cities of Malmö, Sweden,

and Portland, Oregon.

In the first case study, the Malmö 2010

campaign informed its residents that

50% of all car trips in Malmö were ―ridiculously short‖ (three miles or

less). As a result, bicycling in Malmö

increased by 11%.

In the second case study, Portland use a transportation demand management

model, called SmartTrips, to encourage alternative transportation choices. The

program resulted in the reduction of

drive-alone trips by 9 to 13% (in different areas), while bicycling nearly

doubled between 2004 and 2008.

Allison is currently working for ―Please

BE KIND to Cyclists‖, an Austin nonprofit with the mission to increase

harmony and tolerance between

drivers and cyclists. She is also a m e m b e r o f t h e W o m e n ‘ s

Transportation Seminar (WTS), where

she tries to put in a bicycle commuter‘s

―two-cents‖ whenever she can.

Allison hopes that the strong Austin

bicycling community can help change the car-centric trend. Her goals are to

help make the city more bike-friendly

and give more people the option to walk, bike, carpool, or take public

transport.

Her experience in Germany taught her

that not only is bicycling in the snow possible, living without a car is also

possible given the right infrastructure

and attitude. Allison‘s vision is to bring the right infrastructure and attitude to

Austin.

(Continued from page 3)

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U p co mi n g Ev e n ts

Holiday Networking with the WTS Heart of Texas Chapter

We are teaming up with WTS again this year to help benefit Travis County Brown Santa, which gives toys to boys and girls (ages 0-

14). Please bring new and unwrapped toys, or non-perishable food items.

Where: NXNW Restaurant and Brewery at the Arboretum

Time: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

4th Annual Lights Of Love 5K And Kids' K

Members and friends are welcome to volunteer for the annual 5K to benefit Austin‘s Ronald McDonald House & Family Rooms— a

―home-away-from-home‖ for families with seriously ill or injured children.

Where: Mueller Hangar

Time: 5:00 PM

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DEC

Hi g hl i g h ts f r om O th e r YP T C ha p te r s

US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood speaking at the July Leadership Seminar for YPT-DC.

YPT-Boston partnered with the

Transportation Research Board (TRB) Young Member Council for their Sum-

mer Meeting in July. The meeting was followed by a networking reception.

In September, they offered members a

tour of the Rose Kennedy Greenway, a series of parks and public spaces in

downtown Boston that runs above In-terstate 93. Peter Gori, from the Bos-

ton Redevelopment Authority, and

Linda Jonash, from the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, led

the group. The tour was followed by a networking happy hour at Boston

Beer Works.

YPT-Boston at Rose Kennedy Greenway. YPT-New York at George Washington Bridge.

YPT-DC hosted their July Leadership

Seminar, featuring the most senior transportation official in the country,

the Honorable Ray LaHood, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. The mem-

bers-only event attracted several new-

comers to the organization.

In August, they joined the Women‘s

Transportation Seminar (WTS) of DC, Transportation Research Forum (TRF),

and the Reason Foundation for an eve-

ning reception on ―VMT: Could a Mile-age-Based Fee be the Next Transpor-

tation Funding Mechanism?‖

The summer ended with a members

outing to a Washington Nationals baseball game.

YPT-New York organized a series

of tours throughout the summer called ―Summer Vacation‖. Members visited

various engineering landmarks located around the City, including:

Grand Central Terminal

7 Subway Extension

World Trade Center site

NYCT Power Control Center

NYCT Rail Traffic Operations Con-

trol Center

Michael J. Quill Bus Depot

NYCT Substation 13 in Manhattan

NYC DOT Brooklyn Bridge Restora-tion Project

George Washington Bridge

Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Red Hook

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DEC

6

Mail: PO Box 300753

Austin, Texas 78703-0753

E-mail: YPTAustin@gmail.com

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/yptaustin/home

Join us on Facebook and LinkedIn!

If you would like to submit an article or

advertise your business in our quarterly

newsletter, please contact April Sandoval (april.sandoval@aecom.com).

2 011 - 2 01 2 C o r p or a te S p o ns or s

Become Involved!

At AECOM, our global network of planners, engineers,

project managers and supporting technical specialists

provide high quality services to public and private sector

clients around the world. We deliver expertise in the

following market segments and technical practice areas:

Travel by land, by sea or by air, and you will encounter

transportation systems and facilities that AECOM has

planned or designed – whether a new subway system for

New York City, a massive urban development project in

the United Arab Emirates, a major container terminal in

the port of Hong Kong, a 25-mile toll road in Western

Sydney, or the capital improvement program at Los

Angeles International Airport – they are all part of AE-

COM's award-winning global transportation experience.

AECOM delivers comprehensive services over the full life

cycle of a project to benefit the government and private

industry clients that it serves. We have a genuine appre-

ciation and understanding of the operating structures and

business needs of the transportation industry. AECOM's

transportation professionals are constantly looking for

more acceptable, safer and sustainable ways to move

people across cities, countries and continents.

(Source: http://aecom.com/What+We+Do/

Transportation)

Rios Engineering, LLC, is an Austin-based consulting firm that offers professional civil engineering service in the

State of Texas. Rios Engineering consists of a team of well-qualified experts committed to providing quality, client-focused, customized solutions from concept to

construction. We specialize in a broad range of support, including:

Computer-Aided Drafting and Design (CADD)

Roadway Design & Schematics

Advanced GEOPAK Criteria and Cross-Section

Development

Earthwork Processing

Digital Terrain and 3D Modeling

Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (PS&E) Assem-

bly (Retaining Wall & Bridge Plans; Traffic Control Plans; Erosion Control Plans; Drainage Plans)

Rios Engineering realizes that the client plays a critical role in each of our projects. We are known for working closely with our clients throughout the project life cycle in

order to deliver a high quality product on time and on budget. We are dedicated to building lasting relationships to ensure future success.

Rios Engineering is registered with the City of Austin as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Minority-Owned Business Enterprise (MBE). The firm is also

certified as a Texas Historically Underutilized Business (HUB).

(Source: http://riosengineering.com/)