Inside TransportationCamp DC 2026
TransportationCamp DC was back and better than ever. On a rainy January Saturday, more than 400 transportation professionals, advocates, and first-time attendees proposed and led more than 50 original sessions, shared big ideas, made new connections, and challenged one another to think differently about the future of transportation. The day demonstrated why TransportationCamp is so vital—and why we were so glad to be able to bring it back.
On a rainy Saturday in Washington, DC, more than 400 transportation professionals and advocates gathered at Catholic University’s Pryz Student Center for TransportationCamp DC 2026. Despite the weather, attendees showed up with energy to break through any bad-weather blues. TransportationCamp DC once again proved that when people are given space to share ideas, challenge the status quo, and learn from one another, momentum for exciting new ideas will follow. Before we dig into the excellent content shared at TCamp, we want to thank our underwriting sponsor, Arnold Ventures, and our local sponsors, Coalition for Smarter Growth and Greater Greater Washington, for making the day possible.
Jarrett Walker kicked off TransportationCamp DC 2026 with an incredible keynote that set the day’s focus with a clear call to design transit around people and outcomes, not just boxes to check. Above and beyond Jarrett’s presentation, the last question he answered about the misconception of there only being “choice” and “captive” transit riders helped capture the sentiment of his speech. Jarrett pushed back on the question’s framing because, as he said, when planning transit delivery, everyone should be considered a choice rider. If transit does not meet people’s needs, they will find another way to get where they need to go. He argued that we should treat every rider as though they had the choices they do and give them a better reason to choose transit.
For the Transportation for America team, the best part of the day was the palpable sense of joy and passion that filled the Pryz. There’s always been a feeling at TCamp that it’s predominantly full of “regulars,” a tight crew of people who know what TCamp is and attend almost every year. While that may have been the case in years past, this year’s camp was loaded with first-timers. In the morning, while going through instructions for the day, Steve Davis, Interim Director of T4America, asked everyone in the auditorium to raise their hands if this was their first TCamp. It felt like at least 60 percent of the room raised their hands! While that was an astounding response, it was also encouraging, because bringing in new people and new voices is precisely at the heart of what TCamp is all about.
On top of that, TCamp DC 2026 saw the highest number of session proposals we have ever received, with more than 70 individuals and groups submitting ideas. From the pool of submissions, attendees voted, and the T4America team identified the top 50 sessions to put on the “Big Board.” Topics ranged widely, from jargon and communications to Complete Streets and roadway safety, to youth perspectives on transit, green street design, and the future of service and funding.
And for Beth Osborne, our President and CEO, one of the most memorable sessions came from some of the youngest voices in the room. Two high school students led a standout session that included a presentation on what makes transit work, how it is performing in the DC region, and where it falls short. Their energy and excitement to present was infectious, but it was the way that they focused on real-world outcomes that pushed a room full of seasoned advocates and practitioners to consider what success actually looks like for all riders, and how we talk about it.
Understanding your audience and communicating with them clearly were recurring themes throughout the day. Multiple sessions focused on the way transportation professionals talk about their work, and how jargon and acronyms can unintentionally shut people out. In one session attended by a T4A team member, participants were literally called out with a clown horn every time they used a wonky phrase or acronym. The exercise was fun and playful, but the message of the session was clear: it’s easy to get used to speaking in wonky terms or acronyms, but to ensure our ideas are easily understood by everyone who might join the fight for better transportation, we need to communicate clearly.
Another interactive workshop led by T4America team members invited small groups of participants to redesign actual streets in Tennessee, Texas, and Florida using maps, markers, and cutouts of bus stops, benches, greenery, and public space. After the session, our team heard from several participants who said the activity made them feel like a kid again. That’s an important reminder that approaching transportation in fun, creative, and collaborative ways can help us identify new solutions that can help us achieve better outcomes.
Throughout the attendee-led sessions, impromptu hallway conversations, and the event reception at City-State Public House, it was clear that people were genuinely glad to be back with other transportation nerds at TransportationCamp. After a pause in 2025, we heard from so many attendees how meaningful it was to be back to reconnect in person and pick up on sharing and generating new ideas that push transportation to work better for everyone. By the end of the day, it was clear that, after 50 attendee-led sessions, the attendees—including T4America staff—went home energized for the year ahead and were better equipped to take these big ideas back to their communities.