UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. —  Transportation professionals from around the country will gather for the 25th annual Transportation Engineering and Safety Conference (TESC). Held Dec. 11-13 at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center, TESC brings together experts in industry and academia to discuss some of the most important issues in transportation.

Themed  “25 Years of Transportation Engineering: Honoring the Past with Our Eyes on the Future,” the 2019 conference is divided into six key tracks. In addition to traditional TESC tracks — safety, operations, planning, design and technology — this year’s conference will include a new track that focuses on leadership. 

Topics to be discussed include:

• autonomous vehicles 

• intelligent transportation systems 

• new/revised state and federal transportation guidelines 

• public/private partnerships and innovative financing 

• work zone innovations 

• safety improvements 

• smart city applications

Robert Bemis, retired Pennsylvania State Police Academy sergeant, will serve as the conference’s keynote speaker. He is scheduled to speak at 12:45 p.m. on Dec. 11.

The Larson Lecture, an annual speech given in honor of the institute’s namesake, will be presented by John M. Mason, chancellor, Penn State Harrisburg. Mason is scheduled to speak at 12:45 p.m. on Dec. 12. 

Featured sessions include:

• Future Ready: Preparing Cities, Infrastructure and Companies for a Future World

• Electrification and Vehicle Electrification in the Transportation Industry

• The Past, Current and Future in Transportation

• Transportation Oxymoron: The Big Impacts of Micromobility

• From Distribution to Digestion: Solving a "Bunch" of Problems

• Multimodal: Adapting for the Future

TESC is made possible each year with the help of a long list of sponsors and exhibitors. This year’s platinum sponsors are AECOM, HNTB, Jacobs, Michael Baker International, Pennoni Associates, Inc. and WSP. A complete list of sponsors and exhibitors may be viewed on tesc.psu.edu. 

For more information about #TESC2019, follow the conference on Facebook and Twitter. 

The Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute is Penn State’s transportation research center. Since its founding in 1968, the Larson Institute has maintained a threefold mission of research, education and service. The institute brings together top faculty, world-class facilities and enterprising students from across the University in partnership with public and private stakeholders to address critical transportation-related problems.