St. Louis Hosting Institute of Transportation Engineers' Student Leadership Summit

ST. LOUIS, June 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, St. Louis will be hosting an ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers) Student Leadership Summit, to be held June 17, 18 and 19 on the Washington University in St. Louis campus.

Through breakout sessions, technology demonstrations and the event's cornerstone design competition, students will put their knowledge to work, participating in discussions and projects aimed at finding solutions to today's critical transportation challenges. As one of the top 10 cities in which to found a startup company, St. Louis is well-positioned to host an influential conference for transportation leaders, future entrepreneurs and other key stakeholders. 

St. Louis also is home to one of the world's largest transportation providers, Enterprise Holdings, which owns the Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand. Enterprise is sponsoring the 2019 St. Louis ITE Student Leadership Summit. Other transportation services marketed under the Enterprise brand name include Enterprise Fleet Management, Enterprise Car Sales, Enterprise Truck Rental, Enterprise CarShare, Commute with Enterprise, and the recently launched Subscribe with Enterprise program.

"This event not only showcases our region's strengths and opportunities, but also represents a unique nexus for transportation, education and innovation," said Shawn Leight, who previously served as ITE's 2017 International President, and currently serves as Vice President and Chief Operations Officer at CBB and as an adjunct professor at Washington University in St. Louis. "Today, people have more options than ever for getting from point A to point B. That means transportation engineering students will be at the forefront of expanding these options and driving the mobility solutions of tomorrow."

ITE Student Summits

The mission of the Institute of Transportation Engineers is "to provide the global community of transportation professionals with the knowledge, best practices and skills to serve the needs of their communities, and to help shape the future of the profession and transportation in the societal context." Of more than 15,000 ITE members worldwide, approximately 2,000 are students.

ITE Student Leadership Summits are entirely planned by students on campuses around the world to provide the leadership training, professional development and networking opportunities needed to shape and inspire the next generation of transportation engineers.

The first ITE Student Leadership Summit was held in 2014 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Since then, 12 events have been hosted by ITE student chapters around the U.S., Canada and Australia. More than 1,000 students have participated in Summits held at colleges and universities such as Purdue University in Indiana, Oregon State, the University of Florida, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the University of Minnesota. This year, there have already been four ITE Student Leadership Summits held in North America: University of California at Berkeley, University of South Florida, Clemson University in South Carolina and Carleton University in Ottawa (Canada).

Mobility & Sustainability Goals

Students enrolled in the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Washington University in St. Louis Joint Undergraduate Engineering Program organized the St. Louis Summit. The conference will feature local public transportation engineers, academics and thought leaders from the two universities as well as the Missouri Department of Transportation and event sponsor Enterprise.

For decades, Enterprise has partnered with transit authorities and other government agencies at the federal, state and local levels to improve mobility and enhance fleet management, proving that private industry can be an important partner in the urban mobility, sustainable transportation and public transit arenas. "Technology and innovation continue to reshape local transportation options and land-development priorities," said Enterprise Vice President Mike Mangan, who authored an ITE Journal article last year: "The Value of Vanpooling as a Strategic, Cost-effective, and Sustainable Transportation Option."  

"That means strategic transportation providers – including car rental operators – have both an opportunity and an obligation to help businesses, government agencies and communities of all sizes reach their own mobility and sustainability goals," stressed Mangan, a keynote speaker for the St. Louis Student Leadership Summit. "As a result, it's a special privilege for Enterprise to sponsor this gathering of future transportation professionals and entrepreneurs."

About Enterprise
Enterprise Holdings, Inc., manages the largest and most diverse privately-owned fleet in the world through an integrated network of more than 10,000 fully staffed neighborhood and airport rental locations. This global network of independent regional subsidiaries and franchises also operates the Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand – as well as the National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands – in 100 countries. Combined, Enterprise Holdings and its affiliate Enterprise Fleet Management, which currently manage more than 2 million vehicles and employ 100,000 worldwide, accounted for $24.1 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2018. In total, the annual revenues of Enterprise Holdings and Enterprise Fleet Management rank near the top of the global travel industry, ahead of many airlines and most cruise lines, hotels, tour operators and online travel agencies. Since 2008, Enterprise has spent almost $2.4 billion on acquisitions and corporate-venture capital investments or commitments in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Ireland, Spain, Brazil and China. These acquisitions include car rental companies, carshare operations, technology platforms and franchises. Enterprise Holdings currently is ranked as one of America's Largest Private Companies and if it were publicly traded, would rank on Fortune's list of the 500 largest American public companies.

SOURCE Enterprise Holdings

Related Links

https://www.enterpriseholdings.com