Bylaws

A. NAME

  1. The Society shall be called the World Society for Transport and Land Use Research.

  2. The mailing address of the Society is the address of the secretary or his or her agent.

B. AIMS

The primary purposes of the Society are to promote the understanding and analysis of the interdisciplinary interactions of transport and land use and to provide a forum for debate and a mechanism for the dissemination of information. More specifically, the aims include:

  1. The exchange and dissemination of information at an international level on all aspects of the theory, analysis, modeling, and evaluation of transport-land use interactions and related policy.

  2. The encouragement of high-quality research and application in the above areas, through debates, publication, and promotion.

  3. The provision of a clearinghouse for information on recent developments in the field and to foster contacts among professionals within and between various countries and different disciplines.

  4. The promotion of international conferences, seminars, and workshops on all aspects of transport-land use interaction.

  5. The representation of the viewpoints of members to appropriate national and international bodies, as required by the membership.

  6. The preparation of regular communications to facilitate the above aims.

C. MEMBERSHIP

  1. Membership is open to all those interested in the fields of transport-land use interactions, either from a theoretical, methodological, or policy viewpoint. These include, but are not limited to, engineering, planning, modeling, behavior, economics, geography, regional science, sociology, architecture and design, network science, and complex systems.

  2. Members will be required to pay a subscription fee of $75 for a three-year membership. Fees will cover the costs of running the Society in accordance with its aims.

  3. Each member shall be entitled to receive a copy of all communications, including newsletters and electronic mail messages, and to request information on the professional interests and activities of other members.

  4. Applications for membership shall be submitted, together with payment of dues, to the secretary or his or her agent. The acceptance of dues shall constitute formal recognition of membership.

  5. Members shall receive notification of subscription rates before their membership expires, and one reminder thereafter if payment becomes overdue. The member shall then receive no further newsletters or other information, and lose voting rights, until payment has been received.

  6. If payment is not received within 90 days of notification of unpaid subscription, the person shall no longer be considered a member of the Society.

D. COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD

  1. The affairs of the Society shall be managed by the Executive Board, comprising 14 members. The editor-in-chief of the Journal of Transport and Land Use shall serve as a fifteenth ex-officio member.

  2. Two positions are reserved for early career researchers, an early career researcher is defined as a person who obtained her/his PhD in the past five years.

  3. The composition of the Board should seek to reflect the international character of the Society and strive for geographic diversity from across the globe.

  4. Appointment to the Board shall be by election, based on a confidential ballot of all fully paid-up members.

  5. In the first election, the top six vote-getters will have six-year terms, the remaining vote-getters will have an initial three-year term. In subsequent elections, all Board members except early career researchers shall be elected for six-year terms. Early career researchers are elected for three-year terms. The chair of the first set of elections will serve as an ex-officio member of the board.

  6. The Board shall elect its officers: a chair, vice-chair, secretary, treasurer, and elections chair. Other members of the Board may be assigned ad hoc roles including conference chair, website editor, and other roles as needed.

  7. The posts of chair and vice-chair shall each run for three years, with the vice-chair automatically taking over the chair; the chair cannot serve consecutive terms. The outgoing chair may remain as a member of the Board if her/his term allows.

  8. The immediate former chair of the Board shall serve as an ex-officio member of the Board for a three-year term.

  9. If the in-coming chair has less than three years remaining on her/his elected board term, her/his board term shall automatically be extended by such period as required to allow her/him to serve for a full three years as the chair, notwithstanding any other clauses to the contrary.

  10. No individual shall be elected to the Board for more than two consecutive periods.

  11. No individual shall serve on the Executive Board in any capacity for more than 12 consecutive years. After 12 years of consecutive service (in any capacity), an individual must rotate off the Executive Board for a minimum period of three years before being eligible for election to the Board again.

  12. The Executive Board may fill a vacancy arising between elections by appointment of another member of the Society until the next election is due to take place.

E. POWERS AND DUTIES

  1. The Executive Board is empowered to govern the affairs of the Society, but shall seek the views of the membership (either formally or informally) before making major decisions.

  2. A majority of the elected members of the Executive Board constitute a quorum for making decisions by the Board, including both Board members present and those who have authorized a member present at the meeting to act on their behalf.

    1. Chair. The chair is the chief executive officer of the Society. The chair presides at general meetings of the membership and Board meetings.

    2. Vice-chair. The vice-chair serves in the absence of the chair.

    3. Secretary. The secretary is responsible for recording of minutes of each general meeting of the membership and meetings of the Board. The secretary is responsible for maintaining the by-laws, membership books, and other records of the Society as the Board directs, and such other duties as the Board may assign.

    4. Treasurer. The treasurer is responsible for the Society's funds and accounting for those funds.

F. MEETINGS

  1. The Society shall meet formally once or twice a year, in conjunction with the TRB and/or other annual conferences. In addition, other meetings may be called by the Executive Board of the Society with other international events or if there is special business to conduct.

  2. All members have the right to attend those meetings, or to submit comments in writing to be presented.

  3. Members shall be sent an agenda and relevant background papers at least two weeks before each such meeting to give members time to submit written comments.

  4. If matters arise requiring a formal vote, each member has one vote. Decisions will be taken on the basis of a simple majority of all votes cast, in all of the following ways:

    1. In person at the meeting

    2. By postal or email instruction/ballot to the secretary before the meeting

    3. By the use of a proxy (notified to the secretary by the member granting the proxy before the meeting).

G. ELECTIONS

  1. Elections to the Executive Board shall be held on a three-year basis, in accordance with the composition specified in section 4.

  2. All nominations must be submitted to the secretary or the chair in writing by the date specified.

  3. For all vacancies for which there is more than one candidate, a ballot of members will be held. The minimum period for the ballot will be four weeks.

  4. Election to the Executive Board shall be on the basis of the person(s) recording the highest vote.

H. ADMINISTRATION

  1. The financial year shall run from 1 January each year.

  2. The Executive Board shall be empowered to contract out the day-to-day administration of the Society. Such tasks shall include all or part of:

    1. Keeping membership records

    2. Invoicing members

    3. Recruiting members

    4. Distribution of newsletter and other material

    5. Acting as a communication broker between members

    6. Provision of administrative support for conferences or other events organized by the Society.

  3. At the close of the fiscal year, the treasurer shall perform an audit of the Society's books and financial accounts. On the basis of this audit, the treasurer shall make an annual financial statement available to each member upon request, including all income and expenses of the Society.

  4. As a non-profit organization with minimal membership dues, WSTLUR does not pay indirect costs for outside contracts.

I. ALTERATIONS TO THE BY-LAWS

  1. Any proposed alterations shall be submitted in writing to the secretary with the signatures of at least three other members, no less than four weeks before the meeting at which the proposal is to be discussed, and shall be circulated to members at least two weeks before this meeting.

  2. Members may express views in person at the meeting or in writing and may register their vote in person, by authorized proxy, or in writing or electronic communications to the secretary.

  3. Proposed alterations to the by-laws or the dissolution of the Society shall become operative when approved by at least two-thirds or the votes cast, provided this number represents an absolute majority of the fully paid-up members.