Shannon Hake doesn’t have all the answers — and that’s exactly what she loves about her work. As an urban planner, she embraces the process of iteration and discovery, tackling complex problems by testing new things to learn what works.
Still, Shannon is certain about one thing. You can’t go wrong by putting people at the center. That has been her approach over the course of her career, which has included time at the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). In her six years leading active transportation projects at SFMTA, Shannon launched both the Slow Streets program and the Speed Camera program.
After making an impressive impact in the public sector, Shannon now joins Toole Design as our Oakland Office Director. We sat down with her to learn more about how she approaches her work and what she’s excited for next.
What’s your planning philosophy?
Always start with the most vulnerable. Designing a place for kids or seniors makes it accessible to just about everyone. When choosing locations for the speed camera program in San Francisco, we had to narrow it down from hundreds of places where we wanted drivers to slow down. Taking this philosophy to heart, we chose places with more vulnerable users: streets near schools, playgrounds, libraries, and senior centers.
What excites you about joining Toole Design?
For a long time, I’ve been zoomed in on San Francisco, a city that’s always on the leading edge of roadway safety and protecting vulnerable road users. I’ve learned so much about what works and what doesn’t, and I can’t wait to bring those hard-won lessons to many more communities.
And I’m so excited to lead the Oakland team. They’re a multidisciplinary dream team of planners, engineers, urban designers, landscape architects — all paddling in the same direction but bringing different perspectives to each challenge.
What’s your favorite way to get around?
By bike — especially when I get to ride on streets I helped create! One of my proudest moments was biking with my young daughter on the first Slow Street we opened in San Francisco during the pandemic. There were parents with strollers, people with disabilities, so many neighbors getting out for some fresh air. My team had designed and implemented the street to work a certain way, and I got to see it really working that way. It felt like a planning rendering brought to life!
