Safety Council
Zero is the only acceptable number. Help us get there.
The ITE Safety Council brings together transportation professionals who want to make safety foundational to every transportation decision and advance the goal of eliminating fatalities and serious injuries.
Our work is grounded in the Safe System Approach: people make mistakes, people are vulnerable, safety should be proactive, responsibility is shared, and multiple layers of protection are needed. We connect practitioners, researchers, public agencies, consultants, educators, and other professionals to turn those principles into everyday practice.
Whether you are an experienced safety professional or just beginning to incorporate safety into your work, there is a place for you here.
What We Do
The Safety Council serves as a home for ITE members working to advance transportation safety and provides leadership across the organization on emerging issues, technical practice, professional development, and implementation.
Advance the Practice
Identify emerging issues, share evidence and experience, develop technical resources, and help transportation professionals put proven and promising safety practices to work.
Act Before Tragedy
Advance proactive and systemic approaches that identify risk before a fatal or serious-injury crash occurs. This includes understanding and addressing kinetic energy risks and mitigating exposure, likelihood, and severity.
Put the Safe System Approach into Practice
Help the profession translate Safe System principles into decisions involving planning, land use, design, speed, operations, maintenance, vehicles, technology, policy, and post-crash care.
Connect the Profession
Bring together people from different disciplines, organizations, career stages, and perspectives to learn from one another and work on problems that cannot be solved within a single professional silo.
Develop People and Leaders
Give members meaningful opportunities to contribute to technical products, webinars, conference sessions, research translation, peer exchange, and leadership.
Find Your Safety Community
Start with what interests you. The Safety Council includes three standing committees focused on important areas of transportation-safety practice.
If you're interested in joining or starting District or Section Safety Committee, our Vision Zero Committee is helping connect others at all levels. Email Alyssa Thomas at athomas@ite.org for additional information.
Vision Zero Committee
Advances plans, partnerships, and projects aimed at eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries.
Transportation Forensics and Risk Management Committee
Shares forensic and risk management expertise to improve transportation decisions and professional practice.
Data Driven Safety Analysis Committee
Uses data to identify risks, select interventions, and evaluate safety outcomes.
Get Involved
All are welcome to help improve our transportation system. You do not have to be a safety expert to make a difference. Transportation safety touches planning, design, operations, data, land use, public health, human factors, vehicles, enforcement, emergency response, policy, and nearly every other part of the profession.
The Safety Council welcomes transportation professionals at all career stages and experience levels.
Connect
15 minutes
Stay connected through the Council's e-Community to follow discussions, receive project updates, and learn about new opportunities to get involved. Simply select "Join Community" to customize your notification preferences.
Explore
1 hour
Attend a council or committee meeting to learn about current projects and meet other volunteers; most groups meet 4–6 times per year. Meetings are open to all members.
Contribute
2–5 hours per project
Review a draft publication, share a case study, or provide technical feedback on a project.
Collaborate
1–3 hours per month
Join a council or committee and help develop technical resources, webinars, and conference sessions. Council members help identify strategic priorities and coordinate technical initiatives across committees. Committee members develop publications, webinars, conference sessions, and other resources while helping shape the council's annual work plan.
Road Safety Audit Great Idea Group
The ITE Road Safety Audit Great Idea Group (RSA GIG) connects practitioners interested in advancing independent, proactive safety reviews of existing and future transportation facilities.
Road Safety Audits use multidisciplinary teams to identify potential safety concerns for all road users and identify opportunities to reduce risk before those concerns result in fatalities or serious injuries. The group supports peer exchange, practical application, and professional development and complements ITE's Road Safety Audit Fundamentals Training Course and related RSA guidance.
Explore Safety Resources
Need technical guidance instead?
The Safety Council connects people. The ITE Transportation Safety Resources pages connect practitioners with guidance, tools, training, case studies, and implementation resources.
Start with:
Transportation Safety Resources
Explore the Safe System Approach, proactive safety, exposure/likelihood/severity, speed management, urban, suburban and rural safety, post-crash care, professional development, and related ITE resources.
Speed Management for Safety
Find guidance on all things speed related: kinetic energy risk, target and posted speeds, roadway design and operations, and comprehensive speed-management programs.
Implementing the Safe System Approach Course
Build practical knowledge for applying the Safe System Approach in transportation practice. ITE continues to offer the course, including 2026 sessions.
Road Safety Professional Certification
Explore professional certification opportunities for transportation practitioners specializing in roadway safety.
Current Projects and Opportunities
Help shape what comes next. Check out our Council Action Plan.
Council meetings are open to all ITE members. If you're considering getting involved, curious about the council's work, or would like updates on current projects and technical resources, we'd love to have you join us.
Register using the Zoom link below and visit the council's e-Community before the meeting to view the agenda and meeting materials.
Upcoming Meetings
| Date | Registration |
|---|---|
| January 2027* | Registration link coming soon |
| April 21, 2027 | Register to Join → |
| July 2027** | Registration link coming soon |
| October 20, 2027 | Register to Join → |
*Meeting will be held in person and virtual as a part of TRB.
**Meeting will be held in person as a part of the Annual Meeting.
Past Meetings
Safety Council Leadership
Priyanka Alluri, Ph.D., P.E., RSP2IB
Florida International University
Miami, FL, USA
Diwu Zhou, P.E., RSP1
Fehr & Peers
Long Beach, CA, USA
Secretary: Sam Harris, P.E., Georgia DOT, Decatur, GA, USA
Webinar Lead: Virginia O'Connor, P.E., PTOE, RSP2I, toXcel, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
About the Safety Council
The ITE Safety Council provides leadership, coordination, and a forum for advancing technical activities across the broad field of transportation safety. The Council works across ITE and with partner organizations to advance the state of practice, encourage innovation, share knowledge, support professional development, and contribute to the elimination of transportation fatalities and serious injuries through the Safe System Approach.
Help Us Get to Zero.
Transportation deaths and serious injuries are not an inevitable cost of mobility.
We know more about how to prevent them than ever before. The challenge is putting that knowledge into practice consistently, proactively, and at scale.
Bring your experience. Bring your questions. Bring your ideas. We'll get to zero together.
Questions?
Interested in learning more? Whether you have questions about the council, would like to attend a meeting, or are considering getting involved, we're happy to help.
ITE Staff Liaison
Alyssa Thomas
Program Director for Safety
athomas@ite.org