The 15th Annual National Bike Summit brought together the Nation’s leading active transportation professional and advocates to discuss the state of cycling on Capitol Hill and throughout the nation. The summit highlights were summarized well by former Mayor of Minneapolis, RT Ryback, during the morning plenary, “Freedom to our parents meant owning a car. Freedom to our children means not depending on a car.” Ellen Dunham-Jones, author of Retrofitting Suburbia, provided insights into how millennials and boomers are moving back to cities, and techniques for retrofitting suburban developments with to address transportation safety, improve the local economy, and maximize sustainability through layered approach. Toole Design Group’s Alia Anderson and Jessica Zdeb attended the National Forum on Women and Bicycling – helping showcase how more women are getting on bikes and involved in active transportation.
FHWA hosted two sessions during the summit to solicit feedback for the Strategic Agenda for Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation. Jessica Mortell presented on three different projects TDG is currently working on including Flexibility in Pedestrian and Bicycle Facility Design and Multimodal Conflict Points. Toole Design Group’s Bill Schultheiss, P.E. presented a successful and practical vignette style session with Rock Miller on how to talk to an engineer and be persuasive. Although fear of liability can impede experimentation and innovation, documentation is a key to successful pilots and implementing change. As engineers are problem solvers, Bill recommends approaching the problem at a human level and focus on solving safety.
Congratulations to the League for another successful summit! Keep up the great work.
