After careful consideration, Transportation for America is announcing that we have decided to pause TransportationCamp DC this coming January. For years, we’ve enjoyed hosting the event and particularly enjoyed bringing together all of the dedicated transportation leaders and advocates to share ideas, shape the future of mobility, and tackle pressing challenges like emissions reduction and street safety.
While it was a hard decision, it ultimately came down to two things: timing and resources. With the New Year’s Holiday falling on the Wednesday before TCamp, there’s not sufficient time for our staff to conduct the intense preparations that make this event so successful. Additionally, hosting the event requires significant funding and venue flexibility, which have been harder to secure in recent years, and this year in particular.
We understand that this year’s pause may be disappointing, but it offers a chance to reimagine how we can sustain the “unconference” in Washington, DC. If you or your organization would like to support future TransportationCamps through sponsorship or other contributions, we’d love to hear from you.
Thank you for being part of the TransportationCamp community. We look forward to working together to advance the conversations and new ideas that make this event so special.
TransportationCamp DC is coming back on Saturday, January 6, 2024 at George Mason University’s Arlington campus. This is an annual opportunity to connect with experts, practitioners, and students all at once. Here’s everything you need to know about the “unconference.”
Shabazz Stuart delivers the keynote speech at TransportationCamp DC 2023.
1. Why is it called an unconference?
At TransportationCamp, every attendee has the opportunity to lead the conversation. Attendees submit topics for 50-minute breakout sessions and in-person Campers get to vote on what they want to talk about, giving the power to participants to create the experience they want to have!
2. Who should come to TCamp?
Everyone! Advocates, practitioners, Complete Streets Champions, politicians, business leaders, and students are all welcome to join and learn from each other.
The process is different depending on whether or not you’re joining us virtually or in person. Here’s what it looks like:
In person: Attendees will submit sessions the morning of Camp and have the chance to vote on what they want to discuss.
Virtual: Attendees must be registered for Camp to submit sessions. Look for the submission form in your confirmation email!
If you plan to attend TCamp on Zoom, virtual-only sessions will play a big part in your experience. The deadline to submit virtual session ideas is December 31—have you submitted your session yet?
5. What do I need to know about leading a session?
We want sessions to feel like a conversation, so we recommend a casual, engaging, and inclusive approach. Breakout rooms at GMU will each have a projector, USB port, a computer if you need to use email to access resources, and a whiteboard with whiteboard markers.
Keep accessibility in mind. 14-point font is best for presentations. Be sure to choose a high-contrast design and, if you’re joining us in person, we’ll have a Google Drive folder available where you can drop your slides for people to view on their personal devices. Keeping these in mind will help ensure that everyone is able to enjoy your presentation.
For more advice on leading a session, please check here.
5. How do I get there?
TransportationCamp will be at Van Metre Hall on George Mason University’s Arlington campus, 3351 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22201.
By bike: Bike parking is available near the front entrance on Fairfax Drive and in the parking garage, located at the rear of the building.
By metro: The closest metro stop is Virginia Square–GMU on the orange and silver line. Exit via Virginia Sq-GMU Metrorail Station at the southwest corner of Fairfax Drive & North Monroe Street, then head north on North Monroe St toward Fairfax Drive.
By car: Route to Founders Way North, Arlington, VA in Google Maps to get directed to the parking garage entrance.
For those joining Camp virtually, make sure info@t4america.org emails are reaching your inbox. Check your email the morning of Camp for a Zoom link to join, then you can simply tune in by joining a session using the link we attach.
6. Can I volunteer at TransportationCamp?
This year we are unfortunately not able to do an open call for volunteers. However, for future Camps, we’d like to have volunteer tickets available for partnering schools and organizations. If you are a student or part of an organization that would be interested in volunteering at Camp next year, please reach out to us!
7. Is there TransportationCamp near me?
There are TransportationCamps across the country hosted by various organizations! Visit transportationcamp.org to learn more.
8. Who can I contact for more information?
If you have questions or comments, please email tcampdc@smartgrowthamerica.org. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
The Coalition for Smarter Growth’s Smart Growth Social is coming up on October 24, 2023! This year, we’re partnering with them to bring you a night of networking, community, and celebration of smart growth.
The Coalition for Smarter Growth’s Smart Growth Social is back and better than ever! And, we have exciting news… Our special guest speaker this year will be David Zipper, leading thinker and commentator on transportation, technology, and cities. David is a Visiting Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School and a contributing writer at Bloomberg CityLab, who’s also been published in Vox, Slate, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post.
David will be talking about how we can save transit, offering thought-provoking ideas as we all work together for Metro funding and the walkable, transit-oriented communities that are key to a sustainable future.
Smart Growth Social has always brought together our region’s most passionate urbanists, community activists, and professionals from across public service, urban planning, and transportation sectors in the DC region. We’ve been lucky to hear from amazing leaders and advocates like Jeff Speck, Katie Cristol, Beth Osborne, Jeff Tumlin, Gabe Klein, and Dan Reed.
We’ll have beer, wine, food, and lots of time for networking. There’s so much to enjoy at Smart Growth Social! So, don’t miss this opportunity to connect with friends and be inspired to action by one of the most influential people in transportation policy.
The Transportation Research Board’s Annual Meeting was held earlier this January in Washington, D.C. Despite claiming to be at the forefront of innovation, most of the conference avoided the truth: any system based primarily on moving cars as quickly as possible will leave many people behind.
Earlier this month, I attended portions of the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Across all the conversations, committee sessions, and social events, there was significant discussion of using technologies like modeling, automated vehicles, and intelligent transportation systems to solve the most pressing problems in transportation. The overriding ethos of many panels was that through technological innovation and computational analysis, we could address the increasing congestion, worsening traffic safety, and drop in transit ridership that all persist as we get farther from the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is how much of the transportation ecosystem—from engineers and planners to many private companies and public policymakers—has disconnected innovation from progress. Although many of the new technologies presented in and around D.C.’s convention center may be considered “advancements” by those who worked on them, they do not meaningfully advance one simple goal: to move people and goods where they need to go as quickly, efficiently, and safely as possible, with a variety of mobility options.
The many innovations discussed at TRB seemed far better ways to avoid confronting the truth—that a system that requires 90 percent of the population to own a private vehicle will never be an efficient system—than serious attempts to ensure our transportation system works better for all.
This did not apply to all of the conference’s participants. Students like Evan Taylor presented posters looking not just at vehicular traffic, but bicycle and pedestrian traffic as well. Organizations like the Parking Reform Network hosted happy hours where they discussed local efforts to improve affordability and efficiency through tweeks to transportation policy. I personally was able to have a great conversation with two planners from Montréal’s commuter railroad, one of whom was presenting on on-demand transit efforts they were undertaking. Perhaps most importantly, even federal government officials didn’t kowtow to automobile autocracy. In the conference’s keynote, panel on roadway safety, and the release of a national transportation decarbonization blueprint by DOT, HUD, EPA, and the Department of Energy, prioritizing cars above all else was described as the obstacle to addressing crises of safety and sustainability.
A panel discussion by state DOT leaders on implementation of the 2021 infrastructure law at the TRB Annual Meeting.
Part of the reason these points of view are exceptions to the rule are policy choices, many of which administration officials have limited wiggle room in implementing. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act did increase funding for passenger rail and complete streets to historic levels. But at the same time, it allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to worsen the same sprawl, pollution, and safety problems that rail and active transportation investments are supposed to fix.
Policy isn’t created in a vacuum, though. If there’s any field where that’s true, it’s transportation, where a century of greed-oriented campaigning by the automobile industry and its allies has pushed protecting pedestrians from cars to the background. It has pushed transportation as a field to treat congestion writ large as an enemy, even though many industry professionals experienced the opposite at TRB. Congestion may not be pleasant coming home from the grocery store in a car, but in person it allows for the mingling in bars, impromptu run-ins in hallways and on street corners, and memorable nights at restaurants that give conferences, and cities more broadly, their value. In short, congestion can be a sign of inefficiency, but also of community. Whether it’s a crowded conference or a busy street, congestion can be a clear sign that we’ve created places where people want to be.
TRB and many of its participants have gotten used to instinctively adding vehicle capacity onto every individual problem the transportation system has—and destroying countless communities in the process—instead of asking what tools can move more people, more safely without simultaneously decimating destinations where they gather.
That also means that this status quo isn’t predetermined. During a TransportationCamp session on fighting freeway expansions, one employee at a west coast transportation consultancy described how there are efforts at their firm to make reconnecting communities projects an established team in their organization. The Complete Streets policy passed by Howard County, Maryland, in 2019—which will be reviewed in Smart Growth America’s upcoming Best Complete Streets Policy Report—explicitly described slowing down car traffic as a net positive for the community at large.
At Transportation for America, our three principles are based on the idea that we already have all the tools we need to make sure our transportation system doesn’t divide communities, heat our planet, and kill our friends, family, and neighbors. We don’t need new technology, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we just need the will to better use the tools we have.
TransportationCamp DC 2023 is quickly approaching, and we’re excited to see what you all have to bring to the table. TransportationCamp is an “unconference,” which means that you, the participants, will determine the agenda by proposing and leading sessions. This year, we’re doing things a little bit differently with a hybrid format using virtual and in-person sessions.
In-person sessions
The classic way to join TransportationCamp, in-person sessions are what most people think of when they think about Camp. These sessions are submitted the morning of the event, and the result is usually a mad scramble as hopeful session leaders brainstorm their ideas, find others looking to discuss the same topic, and come up with a plan. Then attendees get to vote on which sessions they want to see!
Do: Think about what you want to present, and be open to new, creative ideas from other attendees.
Don’t: Submit a session until the morning of TransportationCamp. That would just spoil the fun!
These sessions will be in person at George Mason University’s Arlington campus. Register to participate here by clicking “Buy Tickets” and selecting “General Admission.”
Virtual sessions
Virtual admission is the other option for joining TransportationCamp. We hosted TransportationCamp completely virtually in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we know the flexibility was helpful for many of our attendees across the country and the globe.
Attendees still propose and lead sessions, but unlike in-person attendees, your sessions will be all virtual and you get to propose your sessions in advance. Submissions are open now until 12:00 p.m. ET on December 21, and the link to submit will show up in your confirmation email.
Do: Register now for virtual Camp, and keep an eye on your inbox for a confirmation email with session submission details.
Already registered? Check your inbox for an email from info@t4america.org with subject line “Submit your sessions for #TransportationCampDC.”
Don’t: Wait until January to propose a session. That’ll be too late!
What about hybrid sessions? Both in-person and virtual attendees will have access to the morning welcome, keynote address, and one hybrid session presented by INRIX.
TransportationCamp DC is just around the corner. We’re looking forward to a day packed with new ideas, creative thinking, and relationship building. Register today!
TransportationCamp DC is coming back as a hybrid event on January 7, 2023. This “unconference” is a place where attendees get to set the agenda and lead the conversation. Here are the top 4 pieces of advice for people interested in proposing a session.
Campers propose sessions at TransportationCamp DC
At TransportationCamp, every attendee has the opportunity to propose and lead a session on a topic that matters most to them. But how should you decide, and what makes for an engaging session? Read advice from our team and past session leaders below.
In-person attendees propose sessions the morning of the event. Virtual attendees will propose sessions in December. Have a ton of ideas that you can’t wait to share, or are you just eager to hear what other people come up with? We’ll share session previews from our sponsors before the event to give you a sense of where the conversation can go. Register today so you don’t miss a thing.
1. Start brainstorming now
A lot’s changed since our last Camp, including the challenges our transportation system needs to overcome. Transit agencies continue to recover from pandemic shifts. Federal dollars can boost transportation equity, but there’s even more money available to make equity issues worse. States are tasked with building out their EV infrastructure, and a proposed federal rule would require states to monitor their greenhouse gas emissions created by transportation. Plus, there are new opportunities available to explore the role technology can play in improving our system.
Want to talk about these national trends, but not sure where to start? Last year Anna Zivarts, Director of the Disability Mobility Initiative at Disability Rights Washington, co-led a session called “A Quarter of Us Can’t Drive: How BIPOC & Disabled Nondrivers Will Change Transportation.” Her advice: “It’s always good to ground your discussions in stories from people who are most impacted by the work.”
2. Bring in more viewpoints
“The best panels evidence diverse thought—find people with a different perspective and invite them,” said Steven Polunsky, Senior Energy Policy Specialist in Clean Transportation at the Washington State Department of Commerce, and a session leader for “Electric Vehicles Pros and Cons” at last year’s TransportationCamp.
The early morning at TransportationCamp can feel like pandemonium as Campers share their session ideas and forge connections with others who could help lead the session. Whether you’re joining us in person or online, bring in more perspectives and strengthen your idea by pulling in another Camper to get the conversation rolling. Give folks a head’s up in advance and ask them to join you at TransportationCamp.
Social media can be a useful tool to share ideas and build connections. Join our LinkedIn event and tweet out your plans with #TransportationCampDC.
3. Make it fun!
TransportationCamp is known for out-of-the-box thinking and creative sessions. We’ve seen shark tank-style sessions, mock trials, and even a shared mobility caucus. Sessions often come with memorable names, like “WTF Does That Mean?” (on using plain language in transportation advocacy) and “Cage Fight!” (a debate over whether electrification or modeshift had a better chance of addressing climate change).
Campers participate in a shared mobility caucus.
“TransportationCamp is a great opportunity for the young and young-at-heart to come together, throw ideas on the wall, and see what sticks,” said Benito Pérez, T4A Director of Policy and a former session leader. “In our schools, firms, and other professional areas, we might find ourselves in an echo chamber. TransportationCamp gives us the opportunity to jump out of the box, hear from new perspectives, and maybe walk away with changed minds—or at least new respect and awareness of different points of view.”
Past session leaders also urge future leaders to boost the conversation by being open and considerate to the multitude of perspectives in the room. “Be open to different viewpoints. The key word here is ‘and’ not ‘but,’” said Polunsky. “Remember that some people don’t process groups well. Be gentle when redirection is needed.”
4. Jump in
You don’t have to be an expert to host a session. In fact, some of our best sessions have come from people who have a question to ask. A former TransportationCamp DC organizer, Jenna Fortunati, put it best when she described the power these sessions can hold.
Here’s an example of why TransportationCamp is so special to me: [at TransportationCamp DC 2019], my mom hosted a session. She’s a city council member in my hometown, and was worried (rightly so) that a street widening project in our neighborhood would increase vehicle speeds. She needed advice from Campers on street designs she could propose that would keep speeds low.
And the Campers delivered: a group of about 10 urban planners, engineers, and students brainstormed that the best solution to my mom’s problem was a small roundabout. And that’s exactly what my hometown decided to build when my mom brought the idea back home.
TransportationCamp is the place to air out your concerns, explore new ideas, and share your point of view.
“Don’t be afraid to post a session—you may not be the most expert in the topic but your unique perspective may be the most valuable to potential attendees. Your strength is your experience,” added Polunsky. “Lead with that.”
Excited to attend TransportationCamp? Space is limited, so register today to secure your spot. We’ll see you there!
TransportationCamp DC is an annual opportunity to connect with experts, practitioners, and students all at once. It’s coming back on Saturday, January 7, 2023 at George Mason University’s Arlington campus. Here are the top five things you need to know about the popular “unconference.”
1. We’re hybrid this year
We want to reach as many people as possible, so in addition to the in-person event at Van Metre Hall, we’ll also have a virtual option over Zoom.
2. Attendees choose the topics—and lead the conversation
TransportationCamp is a place for all “transportation nerds” to set the agenda and lead the conversation. After the keynote, the full-day event is broken up into hour-long breakout sessions. In-person Campers propose discussion topics on the morning of the event, and if their topic gets picked, they get to lead a one-hour discussion.
3. Virtual attendees propose virtual-only session topics in advance
Virtual attendees gain access to the welcome, keynote address, hybrid sessions, and virtual-only sessions that they lead themselves. Unlike in-person attendees, virtual Campers will propose their session topics in December. Register by December 1 to make sure you don’t miss your chance to submit!
4. You can get to TransportationCamp by bus, car, metro, or bike
Van Metre Hall on George Mason University’s Arlington campus is located on the orange and silver metro lines, right between the Virginia Square—GMU and Clarendon stops. A Capital Bikeshare docking station is located near the entrance on Fairfax Drive. If you’re driving, you can find parking in the garage under Van Metre Hall. Easily route to the entrance of the garage by plugging “Founders Way North, Arlington, VA” into your GPS.
5. Registration is open now, and spots are limited
This unconference is always full of new things to learn —and tons of fun. Register today to secure your seat at TransportationCamp DC, and let others know you’ll be there! Tweet with our hashtag and join our LinkedIn event.
Here’s a quick look at what folks had to say about last year’s event:
Congrats to @T4America @ @SmartGrowthUSA for making an ALL-day Zoom event on transportation👉#TransportationCampDC FUN. Want to make an impact to increase safety on our roads? Join the events. Don’t be afraid, they don’t bite. The industry wants to be our friend & build better👏 pic.twitter.com/GRqWvS3UvM
Last weekend, we hit “Leave Meeting” on another virtual TransportationCamp DC, the annual unconference that brings together advocates, planners, engineers, students, and everyone else passionate about transportation to share ideas and chart a path for the year ahead. To help you get a sense of what it was like, we’ve compiled reflections from staff and volunteers, plus some of our favorite tweets from the day.
Kim Lucas’s keynote kicks off TransportationCamp DC
A unique keynote was a perfect fit for an unconference
By 2022, there is quite a bit of Zoom fatigue with conferences, but speakers and TCamp participants were always innovative in rethinking the presentation paradigm. The keynote speaker, Kim Lucas, really flipped the script on the keynote, which typically is one-sided or a dialogue with a moderator, and decentralized access for all participants to not only ask questions, but share their thoughts on the themes Kim was raising. That energy continued throughout the day with various innovative presentation styles looking to shake up the typical virtual engagement into an augmented reality that otherwise would have been an in-person event. Look forward to TCamp next year, taking lessons learned from TCamps past and continue to support the unconference nature of the event and fostering new ideas and collaborations. —Benito Perez
Online engagement helped share resources
I loved seeing the virtual engagement on Slack and Twitter over the course of the event. We could only make it to so many sessions individually, but between people sharing slides to presentations, articles connected to sessions they attended, and thoughts they had over the course of the day, it felt like I’d attended so many more sessions than I really had! Besides COVID safety, that library of information that I still have access to after the event might’ve been the greatest benefit of being virtual once again this year—though I think I speak for many others when I say I can’t wait for TransportationCamp DC to be back in-person! —Abi Grimminger
Day-long discussions with Campers—despite being virtual
Not only did TransportationCamp DC 2022 manage to overcome the barriers of the virtual setting and maintain the collaborative unconference atmosphere, but the attendees and presenters inspired new ideas and conversations, spinning their work into offline collaborations. What stood out most to me was the dedication of TCampers to thinking systems-wide. Kim Lucas’ keynote address sparked conversations around guaranteed mobility and foundational equity. Other people talked about creating institutional changes to the way we use language when writing about transportation issues and how to launch movements against harmful highway expansions. Campers were empowered to share their personal experiences, like when someone in the chat mentioned the jurisdictional issues present in managing a city that is less than 10 years old. People brought their best, and I can’t wait for next year. —Stephen Kenny
I wasn’t sure how engaged I would be at TransportationCamp 2022 with the Omicron variant surging, spending my Saturday on all-too-familiar Zoom, but wow! TCamp never fails to inspire me. I especially love how this unconference draws informed folks whose profession is not necessarily directly in transportation. That infusion of new energy and ideas is what makes the event inspiring and uniquely informative. For example, I joined a discussion about transportation advocacy and the law, an area ripe with advocacy opportunities. I can’t wait to connect again with some of the participants I met. And maybe even meet them in person at TransportationCamp DC 2023. —Chris Rall
Expanding my horizons on topics I am knowledgeable about but not an expert in, was great. It was amazing to learn more about things that I was not even aware of. TransportationCamp DC was a great experience. —William West Hopper, TransportationCamp volunteer
Congrats to @T4America @ @SmartGrowthUSA for making an ALL-day Zoom event on transportation👉#TransportationCampDC FUN. Want to make an impact to increase safety on our roads? Join the events. Don’t be afraid, they don’t bite. The industry wants to be our friend & build better👏 pic.twitter.com/GRqWvS3UvM
On January 8, 2022, transportation advocates, experts, and organizers working on transportation issues in the DC region and at the national level will come together for TransportationCamp DC, a day-long “unconference” about practice, ideas, and opportunity.
An unconference is an event where the attendees determine the sessions. In a normal year, everyone suggests topics by writing them on sticky notes and then posting them on a single large wall. Similar topics are grouped together in real time, and those topics become the sessions for the day.
This year TransportationCamp DC will come together virtually for the second year in a row. If you didn’t join us last year, you might be wondering, how does an unconference work when everyone is attending online?
Holding an unconference virtually is a little different than in-person, but it’s just as fun and dynamic. Here’s what you need to know about how to attend TransportationCamp DC:
1. TransportationCamp DC will take place on Zoom. TransportationCamp is always a chance to connect with new collaborators and explore challenging issues together. We’ll be together in one giant Zoom for a bit on January 8, but the bulk of the day will take place in scores of smaller Zoom breakout rooms.
2. We’ll focus on issues in the DC region as well as national policy and programs. Got thoughts about how DC is implementing Vision Zero, or WMATA service in the greater DMV region? Or do you want to discuss nationwide research or federal transportation programs? TransportationCamp DC will be a space for all of these conversations.
3. Anyone, anywhere can join. Part of this year’s program will focus on issues in the DC region, and part will focus on nationwide transportation issues. Since national conversations relate to every community, everyone is welcome to join this event no matter where you live.
4. Session proposals will open the week before the event. Starting on Monday January 3, people who are registered will be able to submit ideas for sessions. Session topics can be something you are an expert on, something you want to learn more about, or something you want to create with other people.
If you are thinking about proposing a session, consider who you might invite to co-lead with you. What content would you want to cover, who do you hope will join the conversation, and how will the format of the session be participatory? Mobility Lab’s essential guide to TransportationCamp has some more ideas for proposing a great session, and see below for one more way to brainstorm session ideas.
5. We’ll have a dedicated Slack workspace for all attendees. Our TransportationCamp Slack workspace will be a place to connect, talk, network, and collaborate with other attendees in the lead-up to the event. We’ll open this workspace in late December so you’ll have the chance to brainstorm session ideas with other Campers, and everyone who registers for TransportationCamp will have access.
We’re committed to making TransportationCamp DC an event for everyone. If there’s a way we can make it more accessible for you, please reach out to Abi Grimminger.
TransportationCamp DC 2022 will bring together people from the DC region and across the country to talk about transportation practice, ideas, and opportunity. Interested in becoming a sponsor of this year’s event? Contact Abi Grimminger to learn more about sponsorship.
Since it opened earlier this year, the Florida Brightline that connects Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach has been the only privately owned, operated and maintained passenger rail system in the United States.
Creating the system took collaboration with the Federal Railroad Administration, the State of Florida, and regional economic partnerships, not to mention billions of dollars in private capital.
Now, they’re planning to do it again in California. Earlier this week Brightline announced plans for a new system connecting Southern California to Las Vegas. It will be only the second privately funded passenger rail system in the United States.
Join us at Capital Ideas 2018 to learn how they plan to do it, and about the role states can play in making projects like this happen.
Rusty Roberts, Vice President of Government Affairs for Brightline, will be one of the featured speakers at Capital Ideas.
Roberts will share lessons from the Brightline’s work in Florida, ways they are adapting in California, and tips any state leader should know about making innovative projects like this possible.
Smart Growth America’s arts and culture team and National Complete Streets Coalition, now in partnership with the Urban Land Institute, invite you to the only national conference focused on the intersection of arts, culture, and building safer, complete streets.
On April 3 and 4, in Nashville, TN, Intersections will bring together planners, artists, engineers, public health advocates, and many others to collaborate and find practical ways to integrate arts and culture to create streets that are not only safe for everyone, but also better reflect the unique character of their communities.
The arts and culture connection to Complete Streets
We believe that everyone in America—no matter their age, ability, income, or race—deserves the option to live somewhere affordable, convenient, beautiful, and safe. Our arts & culture team funds pilot projects, supports local and regional partners, and conducts research that shows that art and culture play a crucial role in supporting this vision by providing an organizing force for residents, business owners, and other stakeholders to work towards strengthening neighborhoods, by revealing the authentic character of communities, and by connecting citizens with decision makers to collectively pursue smart, equitable policies and projects.
Whether you’re an artist or an engineer, join us in Nashville to learn more about these vital connections.
The brand new conference website makes it easy to access everything you need to know about Intersections, with new speakers being added regularly. Registration is open, and you can purchase a ticket at the discounted rate of $195 (regularly $250) from now until 11:59 p.m. EST on January 31st by using the promo code: new year_new intersections.
In partnership with the Urban Land Institute
To bring this conference to the next level, we are partnering with the Urban Land Institute to expand conference offerings and explore how to transform vehicle-dominated commercial corridors to better serve those who live, work and travel along them. ULI will bring expertise gained through their Healthy Corridors project to understand the common issues facing commercial corridors that impact the social determinants of health, and how these corridors can be transformed to become safe, healthy,vibrant, mixed-use places.
Full agenda coming soon
The conference will start at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 3rd with registration and breakfast and end at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 4th. Both days will be held at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN.
Speakers and panel sessions are being added regularly to the website. Click here to learn more about experts, advocates and practitioners from around the country who will be at the conference. The agenda will be packed with two full days of interactive panels, and breakout discussions about cutting-edge Complete Streets, healthy corridors, and creative placemaking research, ideas and practices.
For those of you in the DC area next week (including those of you planning to attend the Transportation Research Board conference), join us on Tuesday for the national release of a new academic study on the economic benefits resulting from smart investments in bus rapid transit.
Buses, you say? All across the US, interest in bus rapid transit (BRT) is booming as a smart, more affordable transit option. For the first time, a new peer-reviewed research study provides compelling evidence that BRT systems in the U.S. can generate economic development, attract jobs, retail and affordable housing — at a cost that’s well within reach for many mid-sized American cities. Join us as we help unveil the results of this new study outlining the potential economic returns of BRT investments, plus a firsthand explanation from the former Mayor of Indianapolis on why his city is banking on a brand new bus rapid transit network as one of the city’s primary economic competitiveness strategies.
Tuesday, January 12th, 2016 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
The L’Enfant Map Room, Carnegie Library
801 K Street NW, Washington, DC
(Immediately south of DC convention center)
Join us on social media to talk about the findings, whether you’re attending in person next Tuesday or checking back here to read the full report on Tuesday. Is your city planning a new bus rapid transit line or system?
#BusesMeanBusiness
Hosted by:
The Hon. John Robert Smith, Advisory Board Chair, Transportation for America & Senior Policy Advisor, Smart Growth America
The Hon. Gregory Ballard, Former Mayor, Indianapolis, IN, and Advisory Board Member, Transportation for America
(Study author) Arthur C. Nelson, Ph.D, FAICP, Professor of Planning & Real Estate Development, University of Arizona
The Hon. Christopher Zimmerman, Vice President for Economic Development, Smart Growth America
Can’t make the meeting?
Help us spread the word about the event and the new study (which you’ll be able to read next week). Use the hashtag #BusesMeanBusinessand share the event on Twitter (link below), Facebook, and other social networks.
Beth Osborne, Transportation for America’s senior policy advisor, is making three stops in the Pacific Northwest soon to discuss how investing in transportation can help drive economic development.
The three sessions will focus on how we can plan and develop our roads, transit systems and freight networks to bring the best possible economic returns. You will learn how regions across the country have made investment decisions and the results they achieved with regard to economic development and competitiveness.
Beth Osborne brings five year’s experience from US DOT, including serving as Acting Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, and a national perspective on prospects for improvements to transportation policy and funding. Sign up today. T4America members should have already received a promo code for discounted registration.
Find out more about each session and register with the links below.
15 events around the country today are highlighting the devastating impact of the House’s initial transportation proposal that would cut to public transportation funding by 35 percent.
As we reported last week, today is the “Don’t X Out Public Transportation” day of action to highlight the crippling impacts of the proposed 35 percent cut to public transit. The events are being held in more than 20 cities in cooperation with the American Public Transportation Association and a number of key partners to let Congress know that deep cuts mean Americans losing their jobs or their ability to get to their jobs, as well as groceries and essential services.
These kind of cuts are the last thing Washington ought to be talking about in a fragile economy.
Supporters of today’s action are encouraged to wear red in support of public transit, and some agencies are going one step further — painting large red X’s on the the side of buses with routes threatened by cuts. Check out these photos of Xs being painted on buses belonging to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Association below.
You can find more information about today’s events around the country at supporttransit.org.Looking for a rally near you? Go here to find the full list of cities hosting events.
At 11 a.m. eastern time, members of the media and other interested parties are invited to call into a telebriefing featuring APTA President William Miller; Larry Hanley, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union; John Robert Smith, T4 America co-chair and president and CEO of Reconnecting America; and others.
Photos courtesy of the American Public Transportation Association.
On Monday, June 29th the Minnesota Coalition of Transportation for America welcomed community, city, and state leaders to learn more about the T4 America vision for the next federal transportation bill — and how Minnesotans would benefit from a reformed federal transportation program.
The event, hosted by the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis, was attended by city officials, state legislators, congressional offices, business leaders, labor groups and advocacy organizations from across the state. The packed room heard from Anne Canby and Mariia Zimmerman, the Washington, D.C. representatives of the T4 America campaign, as they walked through the campaign’s Route to Reform, a detailed blueprint for the transportation bill.
The meeting came on the heels of Chairman Oberstar releasing a draft 775-page transportation bill he hopes to pass before the current federal bill expires in September. In describing how Oberstar’s bill fits in with the T4 America vision, Anne Canby said that the draft is “on the right track,” and that “Oberstar is full of fire and ready to go. He has filled a vacuum with his leadership.”
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin and State Representative Frank Hornstein highlighted how Minnesota communities would benefit from sweeping reforms in the transportation bill. In describing the need for new federal transportation policy as proposed by the T4 America campaign, Mayor Rybak indicated that “we shouldn’t strive for less” but that Minneapolis and the State have to be ready for it. Michael Lander, a developer with many projects around the Twin Cities, also spoke about the need to include land use discussions when planning any transportation project because “transportation has always driven development.” He noted that the T4 America vision is “planning to meet the coming demand” for housing in convenient, walkable locations with access to public transportation.
“The market is changing dramatically, and walkable urbanism is what the market is looking for. …Central to the T4 America reform is planning to meet the coming demand.”
— Michael Lander
In attendance were representatives from Chairman Oberstar’s office, Congressman Ellison and Congresswoman Betty McCollum’s offices. State legislators, including Rep. Hausman and Rep. Kahn, county commissioners and city staffers from St. Paul and Minneapolis were among the crowd eager to hear about the work being done to create federal transportation policy that would benefit their communities.
It was not a strictly metropolitan affair as the Mayor of Independence and a representative from State Sen. Clark’s office from St. Cloud came to hear about how smaller and more rural communities could also get their transportation needs addressed in the federal bill.
One concern all of the elected officials shared was making sure Minnesota’s roads, highways and bridges were in a state of good repair. Rep. Hornstein noted that we cannot invest in a “fax machine on the dawn of the internet revolution” indicating that we need to reach what he calls “infrastructure 2.0.”
“Infrastructure 2.0 is what is in this Transportation for America plan.”
