Distinguished Members

Richard Nassi has been a Technical Member of NCUTCD continuously since joining in 1981.  During that entire time, he was a member of the Signals Technical Committee (STC).  His longtime traffic engineering employment with the City of Tucson and later with the Pima Association of Governments has enabled him to provide valuable first-hand insights into many of the issues that have been decided by NCUTCD.

Richard served on many NCHRP project panels involving signals research, through which he has developed numerous close relationships with key researchers, enabling him to easily arrange for them to present and discuss their signals research project results and recommendations at NCUTCD meetings. For many years, Richard has been instrumental in developing important NCUTCD recommendations to add the Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon or commonly called the HAWK, RRFB, ramp metering signals, and various other devices to the MUTCD.  One of the many issues he shepherded through NCUTCD is the Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) or HAWK, now widely used around the U.S. as an MUTCD-included device to improve pedestrian safety.

Public Safety has been a key element in his work.   His work has been recognized by the following Institute of Transportation Engineers awards: Individual Achievement Award, Edmund R. Ricker Traffic Safety Individual Award, Pedestrian Award for Safety, and Outstanding Paper Award. Further, he has received recognition by the Federal Highway Administration for the following: Excellence, Children’s Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Program, and Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Regional Public-Private Partnership Regional Traffic Control Center. He also received a fellowship to study at the Bureau of Highway Traffic.

John Sharkey, P.E., has extensive expertise in rail signaling and communications. He started his career on the Illinois Central Railroad where he was engaged in all aspects of wayside signal systems, interlockings, centralized traffic control systems, dispatch control systems and grade crossing warning systems. He was the general manager of the crossings and signals department of the ICRR for 10 years, during which time the majority of the 3,500-mile C&S system was updated.

Throughout his career, Mr. Sharkey has designed or approved the design of more than 1,500 highway-rail grade crossing warning system projects, and more than 1,200 miles of railroad centralized traffic control systems. John joined the NCUTCD in 1988 while employed by the Illinois Central Railroad. He saw the need to provide input from the railroads to the MUTCD regarding traffic control device design and operation at grade crossings. At the time, John was actively involved and had served as president of the Association of American Railroads Committee D which developed the railroad industry standards and recommended practice for all facets of railroad signaling.

John was instrumental in the transition of Committee D into the newly formed group known as AREMA. Both the AAR and AREMA continue as sponsoring organizations to the NCUTCD. Throughout his career, John has assisted in the development of thoughts and improvements to a host of changes which have been incorporated into multiple editions of the MUTCD.