Graduate student researcher Davis Chacon-Hurtado was selected as one of three winners in the 2015 International Road Federation (IRF) Student Essay Competition with his essay titled, "Integrated Traffic-ticketing Management System."

This essay focused on a strategy to reduce traffic police corruption in a context where traffic police are accepting bribes in exchange for not issuing tickets to drivers has become a serious issue in many countries around the world. Currently, diverse reports and corruption indices demonstrate the intrinsic relationship between the degree of countries’ economic development and the levels of corruption (2–4). Healthy sustainable development is disrupted by different factors in which corruption is highly ranked. This essay presented the idea of creating an Integrated Traffic-ticketing Management System (ITtiMS) to manage, monitor, and promote a healthy and transparent traffic ticketing process and ultimately reduce corruption. The steps for the implementation of this system include simple but effective modules such as Training and Branding, Salary and Rewards, enhanced Ticketing Systems, and lastly, Education and Enforcement. This essay also discussed some additional barriers and difficulties that will have to be overcome for a successful implementation in developing countries. The author is convinced that the idea of having a coordinating local agency (ITtiMS) in charge of the whole ticketing system is essential for the success of such efforts. The system will also create a basic platform for the implementation and adjustment of various different strategies, not only to reduce police traffic corruption, but also increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the whole system.

Davis Chacon-Hurtado is a PhD student in the Transportation and Infrastructure Systems program at the Lyles School of Civil Engineering. He is currently working under the direction of Dr. Gkritza and Dr. Fricker at Purdue University. He is originally from Cusco, Peru where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. Davis also earned a M.S.C.E. degree from the University of Puerto Rico, where his research focused on transportation decision-making and community involvement. His research interests include transit, systems analysis and evaluation, and sustainability.