We are excited to attend the 2023 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, which showcases the latest transportation research, project evaluation, and best practices from around the world. Papers presented next week will influence the next generation of policy, design, and guidance manuals that Toole Design staff and our clients will be using on the ground for years to come, and participants will identify future research needs and gaps in knowledge that need to be addressed.
Research fuels all aspects of our work at Toole Design, from developing new tools for data analysis and visualization to conducting studies on pedestrian safety, intersection design, equity impacts, and gentrification and displacement. Our staff look forward to sharing and learning with you at TRB. In addition to the sessions below, we’ll be attending many committee meetings and connecting with partners, colleagues, and friends. Reach out if you’d like to set up a time to meet with a Toole Design staff member!
Sunday, January 8
Stefanie Brodie will present about the Evolution of Micromobility and Bikeshare during this workshop on Sunday morning. As Toole Design’s Research Practice Lead and a North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Association (NABSA) board member, Stefanie has her finger on the pulse of microbility’s past, present, and future.
Yes, Stefanie Brodie is so talented she can be in two places at once! She will also be presenting about Transitioning to Electric Propulsion in this simultaneous Sunday morning workshop on the future of public transit, passenger rail, and shared mobility.
On Sunday afternoon, Ian Lockwood will present No Excuse for Ugly Streets Serving Our Communities as part of a workshop of the same name. He will consider the current paradigm in which high design speeds result in ugly outcomes for safety, economics, equity, vitality, and aesthetics. He will explore a new paradigm that would mitigate many of those problems.
Monday, January 9
On Monday evening, Andrea Ostrodka will present about Streetscape Quality, Arterial Design Speed, and Transit during this session about the dangers of both extreme heat and high speeds. As Toole Design’s Transit Practice Lead, Andrea will speak about the factors that make people feel not only safe but comfortable in choosing a particular mode of travel, paying particular attention to how this plays out on arterial streets.
Ian Lockwood will also present at the Monday evening session alongside Andrea. He will speak about Design Speed and the Role of Arterials in Cities, rethinking some of the assumptions about how arterials function. He will consider the potential effects of de-emphasizing speed and emphasizing access and multimodality.
Tuesday, January 10
On Tuesday, Theja Putta will represent Toole Design as part of a panel on Developing an Open-Source Web Tool to Prioritize Safer Streets. Theja was a key member of the team that developed the Safer Streets Priority Finder, which is currently being used by cities and towns to determine priority projects to increase safety, and which recently earned an ITE Transportation Achievement Award.
