WTS International invites you to submit an abstract for the 2023 Annual Conference scheduled to be hosted in Atlanta, Georgia on May 10-12th. The event will bring together transportation professionals to explore "The Great Intersection: Transportation & Equity". 

 The 2023 WTS International Annual Conference, The Great Intersection: Transportation & Equity, will be held May 10–12, 2023, at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center, 100 CNN Center, Atlanta, GA 30303.  

Atlanta is a city known for its vibrant history and modern progress in equity and inclusion — in transportation and beyond. The focus of the conference, “the Great Intersection between equity and transportation,” requires a conversation that is inclusive of all opinions, backgrounds, and experiences.  We are looking for abstracts about all modes of transportation, including surface and roads, transit, bicycle and pedestrian, freight, aviation, maritime, ports, micromobility, and other active modes of transportation. We strongly encourage diversity and inclusion across modes and speakers for panels and presentations, and are looking for abstracts that highlight equity, regardless of topic.   

This will be an exciting opportunity to showcase The Great Intersection in all its forms. Abstracts must be submitted by December 16, 2022.   

Consider sharing your specialized transportation knowledge, insights, and experiences as part of a breakout session at the 2023 WTS Annual Conference! 

Breakout Sessions - The following tracks will serve as the foundation for all breakout session content at the conference (descriptions of each track below):

  • Social and Environmental Sustainability for an Equitable Future 
  • Moving People and Goods- An Inclusive Approach 
  • Inclusive Management for Workforce Investments 
  • Career Development for Inclusive Representation 
  • **NEW** Student Track

Submission are being solicited for panels (60-minute sessions), as well as our WTS Talks format- a 10-minute presentation with 5 minutes of questions. 

Selection Criteria includes:

  • Creative and interactive methods of presenting content is encouraged.
  • A rich diversity in geography of speakers.
  • Inclusion of both public and private sector speakers on the panel.
  • No more than 1 or 2 people from one entity, where one is ideal.
  • At least two members of WTS are required on each panel, all is ideal. 
  • The moderator is required to be a member of WTS.
  • Conference registration is required. A one-day complimentary pass will be offered to speakers who are not able to register or attend the entire conference. Full conference registration is ideal. Conference attendance would be in-person.
  • Men are welcome to be a part of any panel with female presenters.

Instructions:

  • Submissions are due Friday, December 16, 2022. 
  • Notification will occur in January 2023. Notifications will be sent to all members of the panel. Two email addresses for each panel member and moderator will be required.
  • If your submission is accepted, confirmation will be required within 10 business days of the selection notification date by all panel members. A special speaker registration form will be shared for completion.
  • A one-day complimentary conference registration option (with certain exclusions) will be available for all speakers as it aligns with their scheduled session date. Full conference registration is highly recommended.

The form will collect the following information: 

  • Track selection
  • Breakout session title
  • Primary point of contact information
  • A primary point of contact is required for each proposed session and will be used to communicate all vital conference details.
  • Geographic Interest
  • Indicate what cities, states, regions that represents the session.
  • Breakout Session Description
  • Provide a clear description of the proposed session content while highlighting any compelling characteristics (maximum 250 words).
  • Breakout Session Format
  • Audio/Visual Needs
  • Proposed Speakers Information: Name, Title, Organization, City, 2 Email Addresses and Speaker Biographies - Provide a brief biography for each proposed speaker (maximum 100 words)

Descriptions of the four tracks for breakout sessions

Social and Environmental Sustainability for an Equitable Future  

Transportation decisions drastically impact, both negatively and positively, social and environmental livability factors across all transportation modes. Many agencies and funding programs are doing the hard work to try to alter their policies and mitigate historical transportation investments that had negative impacts on our communities. The vision for these sessions is to explore:  

  • What agencies, companies, academics, and projects are doing to remedy historical wrongs and move towards a more equitable future 
  • How funding opportunities at the federal, state, regional, and local levels are moving projects forward with social and environmental factors 
  • Public engagement approaches with communities that serve to benefit from future projects or who have been negatively impacted by previous transportation projects 
  • Ways that projects and agencies are adapting their approach with respect to climate change, resiliency, and sustainability  
  • Transportation equity projects and programs in underserved communities 

Moving People and Goods- An Inclusive Approach  

Through advances in technology, adaptations due to the recent pandemic, and other disrupters, our systems have changed  how are we, as transportation professionals, moving people and goods in a safe, efficient, sustainable, and equitable manner while striving to ensure transportation investments are inclusive, equitable and more deliberately considering the interest of underserved communities?  These sessions will present examples of: 

  • Industry best practices in data collection, analysis and performance monitoring 
  • Industry best practices in outreach and communications 
  • Industry best practices in capital and operations investments 
  • How diversity, inclusion and equity are applied in policy development 

Inclusive Management for Workforce Investments  

Leaders across all transportation modes are pivoting to promote inclusiveness and belonging in the workplace and the community to bring the breadth of perspectives required to ensure a project’s success.  The transportation industry must attract, develop and retain a workforce with equity in mind when prioritizing, planning, designing and funding projects. In exploring past successes and future workforce investments to promote, these sessions will present examples of:  

  • Workplace inclusion and belonging through workforce development 
  • Approaches to recruit and retain talent 
  • Cross discipline team building – not everyone is a planner or engineer 

Career Development for Inclusive Representation 

There is a tremendous diversity of career choices and professional roles across the transportation industry, including roles in logistics, operations, maintenance, procurement, finance, and many others. This track seeks abstracts that offer insight and best practices into individual professional and leadership development, with topics including:  

  • Work-life balance and strategies to avoidoccupational burnout by paying attention to one's mental health and wellbeing 
  • Continuing education and career transitions  
  • Unique examples of intersectionality between modes/multidisciplinary project representation, coordination, and project execution 
  • Understanding of how you can impact transportation trends and investments 

**NEW** Student Track  

WTS International is excited to add a Student Track for our 2023 Conference.  Students are the profession's future, and one of the conference goals is to engage students with working professionals to understand how we have advanced to date and how and where our future in the profession needs to be headed.  We look to integrate students in presentations or poster sessions to engage them and their views regarding the key elements of the conference theme.  Students are encouraged to provide abstracts on what they are studying or how they envision the profession needs to evolve to move the industry forward.  Abstracts can involve: 

  • Elements from our technical tracks of social and environmental sustainability for an equitable future and/or crossroads of moving people and goods 
  • Elements from our leadership tracks on inclusive workforces and career development needs  
  • Vision of what is needed to move the profession into the future 


*** Questions? Email conference@wtsinternational.org using the subject line: “Call for Abstracts - Breakout Sessions.” ***


Breakout Session Formats

WTS Talks Format

In addition to our traditional panel breakout sessions, this year, WTS is offering: WTS Talks.  These 10-minute presentations will showcase speakers presenting great, well-formed ideas.  One speaker will have 10-minutes to dive into a topic that is a new idea or invention or present a compelling new argument to an old idea that challenges beliefs and perspectives.  These WTS Talks will showcase only one speaker.  One individual may submit an abstract on a topic that relates to one of the themes.  Additionally, the individual will need to submit a 1 minute or less video that demonstrates your public speaking capabilities.  This video may be of you speaking publicly on another topic or could be a video of you describing your presentation.  The review committee would like to see your presentation style and ability to engage an audience.  

Criteria for the WTS Talks: 

  • Good public speaking skills
  • Idea that is widely relatable 
  • Will commit to presenting talk in under 10 minutes (time will be monitored) 

Tips for WTS Talks style presentation: 

  • Look for ideas that need to be defended- not something self-evident, but an interesting argument, perhaps with an antagonist. 
  • Look for ideas that change perceptions (e.g., a scientific discovery that changes how you think about frogs, a philosophical argument that reshapes your notions of mobility) 
  • Be dynamic: choose a topic you are passionate about, but also think about how to relate and engage the audience 


In the form, you will have the option to choose between our panel session format or the WTS Talks format. Your format type will define the information needed for submission. 

Questions?  Email conference@wtsinternational.org using the subject line "Call for Abstracts- Breakout Sessions"

Breakout Session Information

Proposed Title of Your Session
Define Other
Indicate what cities, states, regions, or countries that represent the session
Provide a clear description of the proposed session content while highlighting any compelling characteristics.
Microphones and screen to share slides are provided. Please list any additional audio-visual needs you are requesting. Requests to be considered by WTS International.

Breakout Session Contact

Primary point of contact for panel.  The primary point of contact does not need to be on the panel. Notifications on acceptance and denial will start with the Point of Contact. 

Primary Contact *

WTS Talks

WTS Talks Presenter *
To be used only if bounce back or no answer from Primary Email
Video Upload *
No File Chosen
File uploads may not work on some mobile devices.
Upload 1 Minute Video of Presentation Skills: File formats accepted are: mp3,mp4,aac,wav,au,wmv,avi,mpg,mpeg

Speaker Information

Moderator*
To be used only if bounce back or no answer from Primary Email
Address (City, State)*
Provide a brief biography of the moderator (maximum 100 words)
How many panelists in your session. *
Speaker #1 Name *
Speaker #1 City, State*
Speaker #1 Sector *
To be used only if bounce back or no answer from Primary Email
Provide a brief biography of the moderator (maximum 100 words)
Speaker #2 Name*
Speaker #2 City, State *
Speaker #2 Sector *
To be used only if bounce back or no answer from Primary Email
Provide a brief biography for speaker (not to exceeed 100 words).
Speaker #3 Name *
Speaker #3 City, State *
Speaker #3 Sector *
To be used only if bounce back or no answer from Primary Email
Provide a brief biography for Speaker #3 (not to exceed 100 words).
Speaker #4 Name *
Speaker #4 City, State *
Speaker #4 Sector *
To be used only if bounce back or no answer from Primary Email
Provide a brief biography on Speaker #4 (not to exceed 100 words).
List the addtional speakers (beyond the first 4) that you recommend on the panel. List full name, title, and organization.

Confirmation Page

Below is the information you are submitting.  Please review for accuracy before clicking submit. 

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