ITDP U.S. Announces Formation of Advisory Group
Six national leaders to guide ITDP U.S. program as cities reimagine transit service and streets for greater mobility, cleaner air, improved access to opportunity
New York, NY, November 19, 2020 – The United States program of the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP) announced today it has convened a group of national advisors. Comprised of leaders from around the country in the fields of transportation, urban planning, just sustainabilities and mobility justice, the advisors will provide strategic guidance to shape the future of the ITDP U.S. program.
The U.S. program is the newest focus area at ITDP, which has historically centered on the Global South with regional offices in China, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, and Mexico. The U.S. program developed as increasing numbers of U.S. cities are exploring solutions such as bus rapid transit (BRT), bicycle infrastructure, and pedestrian-centered streets – particularly in response to COVID-19 and climate change. These cities are seeking to overcome longstanding U.S. challenges around highway sprawl, over-reliance on driving infrastructure for most travel and lack of safe walking environments. U.S. mobility infrastructure, along with land use policies, have also historically been used to segregate communities. The U.S. program partners with cities, communities and advocates on sustainable mobility efforts in Boston, Los Angeles, Richmond, Albuquerque, Dallas, Denver and many other regions.
“Now is the moment for people in cities across the country to come together to create reliable transit systems, inclusive public spaces and that help us meet our urgent climate goals,” said ITDP U.S. Director Michael Kodransky, who is convening the advisors. “As the ITDP U.S. program continues to evolve, this advisory group will provide invaluable insights to ensure our efforts are effective, equitable, and tied to the needs of local communities.”
Members of the ITDP U.S. Advisory Group are:
- Julian Agyeman, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University – Julian Agyeman is a Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University. He is the originator of the increasingly influential concept of just sustainabilities, which explores the intersecting goals of social justice and environmental sustainability. He believes that what our cities can become (sustainable, smart, sharing and resilient) and who is allowed to belong in them (recognition of difference, diversity, and a right to the city) are fundamentally and inextricably interlinked. We must therefore act on both belonging and becoming, together, using just sustainabilities as the anchor, or face deepening spatial and social inequities and inequalities. He is the author or editor of 12 books. In 2018, he was awarded the Athena City Accolade by KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, for his “outstanding contribution to the field of social justice and ecological sustainability, environmental policy and planning.”
- Tilly Chang, Executive Director, San Francisco County Transportation Authority – Tilly Chang serves as Executive Director of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. The Transportation Authority’s mission is to make travel safer, healthier, and easier for all. Ms. Chang oversees the Transportation Authority’s administration of the voter-approved half-cent transportation sales tax and other funding programs. She also leads the agency’s county congestion management functions including long-range planning for San Francisco’s multi-modal, multi-operator transportation network. Ms. Chang serves as Chair of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority’s Peninsula Rail Program Executive Steering Committee and on the Boards of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, the California Transportation Foundation, and SPUR.
- Benjamin de la Peña, Founder, Agile City Partners – Benjamin de la Peña runs Agile City Partners (agilecity.co) and consults for cities, city leaders, and transportation tech companies. He also writes Makeshift Mobility, a fortnightly e-newsletter about informal transportation. He served as the first-ever Chief of Strategy and Innovation for the Seattle Department of Transportation where he was working to prepare the agency and the city for institutional and technological change. He’s worked on urban development issues that cover technology, transportation, and informality. His ideas have been featured in Citylab, Atlantic Cities, Next City, FutureEverything, and TED City 2.0.
- Chrystal Kornegay, Executive Director, MassHousing – Chrystal Kornegay has 20+ years of experience in community development in a variety of roles and is currently MassHousing’s Executive Director. MassHousing lends over $1 billion annually to produce and preserve affordable rental housing and create homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income borrowers. Under Chrystal’s leadership, MassHousing launched a highly successful Down Payment Assistance Program and secured substantial additional resources to expand the agency’s Workforce Housing Initiative. Chrystal also serves on the boards of Massachusetts’ transit authority (MBTA) and transportation agency (MADOT). Before joining MassHousing, Chrystal served as the Baker-Polito Administration’s Undersecretary for Housing and Community Development in Massachusetts.
- Beth Osborne, Director, Transportation for America – Beth serves as the director of Transportation for America, which is Smart Growth America’s transportation arm. In this position she leads transportation policy development and technical assistance with departments of transportation. She was previously at the U.S. Department of Transportation, where she served as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy beginning in 2009. At USDOT, Beth managed the TIGER Discretionary Grant program, the secretary’s livability initiative, the development of the Obama administration’s surface transportation authorization proposal, and the implementation of MAP-21. Before joining USDOT, Beth worked for Sen. Tom Carper (DE) as an advisor for transportation, trade and labor policy, as the policy director for Smart Growth America and as legislative director for environmental policy at the Southern Governors’ Association.
- Adonia Lugo, Cultural Anthropologist – Adonia E. Lugo, PhD, is Interim Chair of the Urban Sustainability department at Antioch University Los Angeles. Dr. Lugo began investigating sustainable infrastructure during her graduate studies at UC Irvine, when she co-created the bicycle event CicLAvia in Los Angeles. After receiving her doctorate in 2013, she worked at the League of American Bicyclists in Washington, D.C. as a national leader in building better “human infrastructure” (diverse social networks and cultural norms) to promote bicycling. Today, Dr. Lugo looks for ways to bring her racial justice expertise toward planning equitable and sustainable urban futures. She is currently collaborating with partners around the country to define “mobility justice,” a concept that highlights the complex difficulties that people of color and other marginalized groups face both when traveling through public spaces and in urban planning and development processes.
In addition to her role as an educator at AULA, Dr. Lugo is involved in a number of projects designed to uplift the voices of multiracial communities in mobility planning. She is a core organizer of The Untokening, an urban anthropologist with Pueblo Planning, and co-founder of the Mobility Justice Research Network. Microcosm Publishing released her book, Bicycle/Race: Transportation, Culture, & Resistance, in 2018.
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About ITDP
The Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP) is a not-for-profit organization based in New York City with offices worldwide. ITDP works to promote environmentally sustainable and socially equitable transportation policies and projects around the world. Our work is to accelerate change toward sustainable mobility, access to opportunity and a just future.
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