On Saturday, February 27, the New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition hosted their annual New Jersey Bike & Walk Summit. This popular event brings together planners, engineers, advocates, elected officials, and others interested in learning the latest about bicycling and walking in New Jersey and around the country. The summit has continued to grow in popularity, and for the first time was held in Princeton to accommodate the growing crowds.

Morning plenary at the 2016 NJ Bike & Walks Summit

Morning plenary at the 2016 New Jersey Bike & Walk Summit

The Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) was well-represented among conference presenters. They included “The Importance of Equity in Active Transportation in New Jersey,” given by Charles Brown of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Center. VTC’s Safe Routes to School Center was especially active at the conference, with Leigh Ann Von Hagen, Trish Sanchez, Sean Meehan, and Catherine Bull giving multiple presentations on ways to increase the number of children using active transportation to get to school.

The Summit also presented awards to notable advocates, two of whom attendees of the 2015 New Jersey Complete Streets Summit may be familiar with. Fair Haven’s Mayor Benjamin Lucarelli was recognized for his efforts to reverse Monmouth County’s policy to saddle municipalities with all costs associated with Complete Streets improvements on county roads. Additionally, Bike OCNJ (Ocean City New Jersey) was recognized for its leadership in helping to make Ocean City one of the most bicycle-friendly communities in the state, which BPRC also recognized in the 2013 – 2014 New Jersey Bicycle Benchmarking Report.