Kittelson & Associates, Inc.

Last week, we wrapped up an incredible time at the 2024 Transpo Conference! Check out some of our highlights from the week.   ⭐ The leadership sessions were a powerful reminder that it's all about building strong relationships and staying flexible to achieve the best outcomes, especially in crisis situations. 💬 We discussed how solutions for transportation challenges don’t have to be super fancy. Practical, simple solutions can get the job done most of the time. 🦈 The "Shark Tank" session brought a lot of energy, with students pitching impressive ideas. Our own, Jessica Josselyn served as a “shark tank investor” during the session. We’re excited about the future generation of transportation professionals! (The schools that attended: University of Florida, University of North Florida, Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, University of Central Florida, and University of South Florida.) 🏆 The award night and the fun event at Splitsville—complete with a drone show and networking opportunities—made for unforgettable memories. 🤝 One of our favorite parts of the conference was reconnecting with everyone. FLPRITE made sure to create the time and space to network with each other throughout the conference.   ✅ Big shoutout to all the safety work celebrated, including the City of Orlando's quick-build guide and Target Zero initiatives. Let’s keep pushing for practical, simple solutions that get the job done! #Transpo2024 #LeadershipInAction #TransportationSafety #TargetZero 

Happy Friday! Today we're welcoming two new transportation analysts to the Kittelson team: Lekshmy Hirandas and Justin Delgado. ⭐    ⭐ Lekshmy Hirandas is an urban planner and designer who recently graduated from the City & Regional Planning program at the University of California, Berkeley. Her areas of interest include active transportation planning, ped-bike safety analysis, street design, and regional planning for transportation equity. Outside of work, she is a Studio Ghibli fan who enjoys hiking, going to the movies, and classical performances.    ⭐ Justin Delgado graduated from Humboldt State University with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and management and a master's in city and metropolitan planning from the University of Utah. Justin is excited to support communities looking for visionary transportation projects that push the industry forward. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, road/mountain biking, traveling, and attending concerts.  #KittelsonNewHires 

This summer, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released "Separated Bike Lanes on Higher Speed Roadways: A Toolkit and Guide." The title might seem straightforward, but what exactly does the guide cover? 📚 Here’s a taste of some of the insights you’ll find: 🤝 Enacting supportive policies: Local policies can support separated bicycle lanes on higher-speed roads by requiring separation where bicycle lanes are present. ➡️ Horizontal and vertical separation: This section describes the tradeoffs of different forms of separation types, including delineator posts, parked cars, concrete barriers, raised medians, and raised bike lanes. 🚗 Design guidance for intersections and driveways: Particularly on higher-speed roads, designers should maintain separation on the bike facility for as long as possible through the intersection. 🛠️ Maintenance considerations: This section goes over considerations for stormwater, asset management, street sweeping, and seasonal maintenance. The guide was built as a "toolkit," recognizing practitioners are more likely to grab it off the shelf when they want to jump to something specific rather than read it cover to cover (unless that's your idea of a relaxing Saturday morning). ☀️ Each section contains information, guidance, examples, and key takeaways, all presented in an easy-to-navigate, visual-heavy layout. 👌 #FHWA #bikelanes #transportationplanning #transportationdesign Photo: Joe Linton/Streetsblog

Internships are more than just a line on your resume—they’re a launchpad for your future. 🚀 At Kittelson, our internship program is designed to fuel your growth and set you up for success. We encourage you to not only dive into the work but also reflect on your experiences. What did you enjoy the most? What sparked your curiosity? How can these experiences shape your career moving forward? 💡 Applications open on September 9th—just days away! Don't miss your chance to create the future you want. 🔮 https://lnkd.in/gCNwvqWN #internshipprogram #interns #internship

The 2024 Transpo Conference, hosted by Florida Puerto Rico District of ITE and ITS Florida, is a hub of innovation and connecting with each other. The conference is dedicated to Intelligent Transportation Systems, gathering experts, professionals, researchers, and policymakers from around Florida. From discussions on leveraging the Florida Department of Transportation’s vast data through new dashboards to advanced AI applications, the future of transportation planning is looking bright. 💡 🚦 FDOT District 5 showcased how traffic signal health monitoring and the FDOT Central Office’s E-Storm system are speeding up recovery processes after hurricanes. This technology is not just about fixing what’s broken, it’s about transforming how we respond to and manage these situations. 🔧 The network screening tool for safety, Strides2Zero, can pull together crucial data to show where safety improvements are beneficial and provides countermeasures to improve road safety. 📈 The advancements in Advanced Traffic Signal Performance Measures for signal retiming and the use of drones for operational and training purposes are just a few examples of how we’re embracing tech to enhance our transportation systems.  #Transpo2024 #TransportationInnovation #FDOT 

Speed is a well-documented risk factor in severe crashes involving bicyclists. The chance of a bicyclist fatality doubles at vehicle speeds of 30 miles per hour and continues to increase exponentially with higher speeds. But until now, agencies have been challenged by a lack of examples and guidance for how to safely provide bicycling facilities on high-speed roads—leading to either unsafe facilities or bicycling network gaps that, if filled safely, could connect bicyclists of varying abilities and confidence levels to key destinations, transit stations, and their communities as a whole. 🚩 With a goal to get more separated bicycling facilities on our roads, and specifically on higher-speed roads, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has released "Separated Bike Lanes on Higher Speed Roadways: A Toolkit and Guide." 🚲 The guide provides best practices for the planning and design of bicycling facilities on roadways with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or higher. Learn more about the guide below. ✅ https://lnkd.in/g998ce-w #bicyclist #fhwa #bikelanes #transportationplanning #transportationdesign Photo: Joe Linton/Streetsblog.

Welcome to the Kittelson team, Barbara Mosier and Sydney Hutton! ⭐ ⭐ Barbara Mosier has over 15 years of experience in traffic operations and transportation engineering and has led corridor studies and safety audits; provided small-area and master plan support; and overseen traffic analysis and delay calculations, traffic modeling, crash analysis, and parking studies. Barbara also has experience supporting land development projects and performing dozens of traffic impact analyses and helping develop policies for updating traffic impact study guidelines. Outside of work, she can often be found swimming, paddling or boating on the Chesapeake Bay, biking, or running. ⭐ Sydney Hutton graduated from Oregon State University with a bachelor's degree in digital communication arts, focusing on production and visualization. Sydney works closely with staff throughout the firm to enhance proposal preparation and support business development efforts essential to Kittelson’s success. In her free time, Sydney enjoys exploring Central Oregon, snowmobiling in the mountains in the winter, and waterskiing or paddle boarding on the lake in the summer. #KittlesonNewHires

Can you relate to any of our 2024 interns? If so, consider applying for our 2025 program! Applications will open in early September. 📝 In the meantime, learn all about our program here: https://lnkd.in/gCNwvqWN   #internships #internprogram #interns  

Conference season is in full swing, and the 2024 Florida Planning Conference "Building Bridges, Connecting Communities" is just around the corner! Join us in Tampa, Florida from September 3-6 for engaging sessions, hands-on workshops, and valuable networking opportunities! Don't miss out on presentations by our Kittelson team members—be sure to check them out! 🤝    🚎 9/4 at 2:45 pm ET: Creating the Place that Transit Serves  Jady Chen, AICP (Kittelson), Alex Morgan, PE (Kittelson), Megan Barrow (City of Orlando), Trish Whitton (LYNX), and Carter Gresham, PLA, AICP (Orange County)  Learn how data-driven analyses and community-led engagement can revitalize areas and prepare them for premium transit services.    💡 9/5 at 9:30 am ET: FDOT & Sarasota Advance Local Context Based Design   Jennifer Musselman, PE (Kittelson), Jacqueline Morris, ATD, CPM, CNU-A (FDOT Central Office), Corinne Arriaga (City of Sarasota), and Alvimarie Corales-Cuadrado, AICP (City of Sarasota)  FDOT and the City of Sarasota will share lessons learned and efforts to advance context-sensitive design on state and local streets.     🌟 9/5 at 3:15 pm ET: Grand Central: A New Vibrant Main Street for All!  Angelo Rao (Kittelson), Cheryl Stacks (City of St. Petersburg), Nicole Roberts (St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership), and Whit Blanton, FAICP (Forward Pinellas)  Learn about the growing pains of reinventing Central Avenue from its original implementation, evolving multi-modal and infrastructure development, and business and diverse community participation.  #FAPA2024 #FloridaPlanningConference #BuildingBridgesConnectingCommunities 

Where does AI have the greatest potential in transportation planning? 🤔 While transportation professionals are still working through plenty of obstacles when choosing how to use and engage with AI applications, there are some powerful ways that AI capabilities can support human decision-making to make our roads safer: 🚑 AI can struggle to identify causal relationships between situational factors, but it has great potential to assist in transportation safety problems where knowing an exact cause isn't essential. For example, AI can proactively position first responders throughout a large area to minimize response time in a roadway emergency. Machine learning can arrive at lifesaving answers faster than any human analyst. 📊 AI can fill in missing data, enhancing our understanding of roadways. State and local agencies often lack complete information, such as on-street parking locations, roadway width, and intersection details, and this is where AI can be of great service. For example, through a Small Business Innovation Research grant, we proposed using AI to analyze aerial images of intersections, helping us assess risk for cyclists. We see AI as a tool that, depending on a project’s time, budget, and staff, can generate hard-to-obtain data and insights beyond the reach of traditional statistics. AI is an exciting frontier that provides a fuller picture of the risks of our roadways; a partner in safety, not a boss. 🤝 #ArtificialIntelligence #RoadwaySafety #TransportationPlanning