toward a bikeable future for cambridge, MA
We get excited any time a bicycle plan we work on is adopted, but the June 2021 release of the ambitious and comprehensive Cambridge (MA) Bicycle Plan 2020 is particularly special. Unusually, the process began just five years after the previous plan was adopted…because rapid evolution of bicycle-related policies and programs in Cambridge required significant changes.
Just a year after adopting the 2015 Bicycle Plan, Cambridge adopted a Vision Zero policy and revised its Complete Streets guidelines. The Boston area bikeshare system, BlueBikes, expanded significantly, and many of the busiest stations today are in Cambridge. Bike education programs grew in popularity, and the fully established Safe Routes to School program has started to teach students bicycling skills in every public school in the city. And in 2019 a Cycling Safety Ordinance guaranteed growth of a network of separated bicycle facilities on major corridors across the city. The dynamic new plan reflects these important policy priorities and truly charts a course “Toward a Bikeable Future” for Cambridge.
There is extensive documentation of the planning process on the City’s website. We highly recommend the 8-minute narrated video which provides an excellent overview of the plan and the steps towards its creation. Other notable recent bicycle plans by Toole Design include:
- Better Bike Plan 2025, City of San Jose, CA (Oct. 2020)
- Active Transportation Plan: The Bikeways & Trails Component of the Comprehensive Master Plan, City of Virginia Beach, VA (Feb. 2021)
- Edmonton Bike Plan, City of Edmonton, AB (Sept. 2020)
Jessica Fields Promoted to Director of Operations, Mountain West and TEXAS
Toole Design is pleased to announce the promotion of Jessica Fields, PE, AICP to the role of Director of Operations for the Mountain West and Texas region.
“Jessica has established Toole Design in the highly-competitive Denver market and has built a strong team of professionals with a track record of successful projects from Dallas, TX and Las Cruces, NM to Casper, WY and Park City, UT. We are so fortunate to have such an inspirational leader in this new regional position,” said Jennifer Toole, President of Toole Design. Jessica will oversee a territory that stretches from Texas to Montana, growing our presence and pursuing projects throughout the region. Her experience with the company runs deep – she served on Toole Design’s Board of Directors from 2018-2021, led the company’s first DEI Taskforce, and currently oversees the company’s Associates leadership program.
Meanwhile, Trung Vo, PE, AICP is stepping into the role of Denver Office Director. Trung is a talented engineer and planner who specializes in multimodal planning and design, public engagement, and developing design guidance for active transportation. “Trung was serving as the Deputy Office Director prior to this promotion, and is just graduating from our Associates leadership program,” noted Jennifer Toole. “He has managed some of Toole Design’s most challenging and high-profile projects in the region and has also been active on our DEI task force. It’s so rewarding to see such talented people promoted from within.”
Insights
- Toole Design submitted detailed comments to the recent USDOT Federal Register Notice requesting information on transportation equity data. You can see all the comments here; we recommend using the search function. Kudos to Stefanie Brodie, Jessica Schoner, Sagar Onta, Jeff Rosenblum, and Lydia Hausle for drafting our response, and to USDOT for asking the questions.
- Congratulations to Tyler Golly, P. Eng and Ryan Martinson, P. Eng for successfully passing the Road Safety Professional (Level 1) certification. The designation is provided by the Transportation Professional Certification Board to “recognize competency in providing for the safety of the traveling public.”
- Congratulations also to Joel Shaffer in our Oakland, CA office for achieving the PE certification.
- If you’ve ever wondered how national active transportation research topics are chosen, there’s a map for that. The Research Roadmap for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Council on Active Transportation has just been published and it identifies 110 prioritized research needs and a summary of ongoing research on 22 topics. The 18-month process was led by Portland State University’s Transportation Research and Education Center and Toole Design. More.
