2026 NJDOT Complete Streets Summit Agenda
8:30am
Breakfast & Registration
Multi-Purpose Room
9:00am
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Multi-Purpose Room
9:30am
Session 1: Breakout Panels
Complete Streets policies offer an opportunity to make New Jersey communities more vibrant and inclusive spaces for all road users. The goal of this session is to discuss how to create a comprehensive policy that aids local governments in making Complete Streets the standard planning practice in their communities. Topics of discussion will include developing and using a Complete Streets checklist, the role of a Complete Streets Advisory Board, establishing benchmarks, and tracking progress through data collection. The session will also include information on technical assistance opportunities available to communities and how to incorporate community engagement best practices into Complete Streets planning and implementation processes.
Room TBD
There is no one-size-fits-all model when designing Complete Streets, and municipalities across the state must address their own set of needs and priorities. Fortunately, there is an abundance of guidance available to assist with planning, designing, and implementing Complete Streets. In this session, speakers will explore how to apply Complete Streets design principles to real-world projects. Panelists will also discuss guides and resources including the NJ School Zone Design Guide, the NJ Pedestrian Lighting Guide, the New Jersey Bicycling Manual, the NJDOT Complete Streets Design Guide, and Safe Routes to School programming resources that can help make Complete Streets a reality.
Room TBD
NJDOT and NJDEP share a focus of creating more vibrant and accessible communities through the expansion of active transportation networks both on- and off-road. Complete Streets principles can also support the development of the State’s network of trails and greenways. This session will focus on efforts statewide to expand access to trails for people walking and bicycling, including an introduction to circuit trail planning and how to effectively create an interconnected network of multi-use trails.
Room TBD
10:30am
Break
11:00am
Session 2: Breakout Panels
All 21 New Jersey counties are taking a fresh, coordinated look at how to make county and municipal roads safer for everyone through the development of comprehensive safety action plans. With support from the State’s three metropolitan planning organizations, these county-level efforts reinforce NJDOT’s 2025 Strategic Highway Safety Plan and help shape a statewide vision for safer streets. This session will examine the safety action planning process at the state and county levels, take stock of what has been accomplished so far, and explore how Complete Streets fit into strategic transportation safety planning.
Room TBD
Well-designed Complete Streets support accessibility and mobility for all New Jerseyans, including those living with diverse mobility needs. This session will focus on how to promote accessibility and inclusivity in Complete Streets design and implementation, including planning for the needs of neurodivergent individuals, Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG), the role travel training programs play in ensuring New Jerseyans with disabilities can enjoy the benefits of Complete Streets, and how NJDOT’s ADA Transition Plan and updated universal design guidance can help create Complete Streets that meet the needs of people of all abilities.
Room TBD
Improving transit starts before you reach the platform. This session highlights strategies to enhance station access and first- and last-mile connectivity. Explore how diverse New Jersey communities—from urban hubs like Hoboken, Jersey City, and Metropark to local centers in Metuchen, Dunellen, Aberdeen/Matawan, Mahwah, and Atlantic City—are working to better leverage transit facilities to support Complete Streets. Participants will learn approaches to reduce physical barriers, better align transit operations with pedestrian safety, and move toward more seamless, multimodal networks that strengthen connections to rail.
Room TBD
12:00pm
Lunch & Keynote
Multi-Purpose Room
- Veronica O. Davis, PE – Vice President, Planning, Engagement & Urban Design – AtkinsRéalis
1:00pm
Awards Ceremony
Multi-Purpose Room
Complete Streets Champion and Complete Streets Excellence Awards recognize individuals, groups, or communities who have worked to further Complete Streets policies or implementation in New Jersey.
1:45pm
Break
2:00pm
Panel Discussion
Multi-Purpose Room
As a wrap-up to the day’s activities, this panel takes a broader look at Complete Streets from regional and statewide perspectives. Speakers from New Jersey’s three MPOs will highlight technical assistance programs and efforts to develop county safety action plans and regional active transportation plans, as well as how these plans can be incorporated into ongoing State efforts to update the NJ Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. Key to the discussion will be the role zero deaths initiatives play in advancing Complete Streets that safely accommodate the needs of all road users.
3:30pm
Closing Remarks & Adjournment
Multi-Purpose Room
3:40pm
End
Veronica O. Davis, PE
Veronica O. Davis, PE is a globally recognized transportation leader and the US Vice President for Planning, Engagement & Urban Design at AtkinsRéalis, where she brings more than twenty-five years of leadership in civil engineering and planning.
Veronica is a powerful voice for community-centered transportation and the author of Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities, a book that challenges our industry to rethink how we design, build, and invest in infrastructure
Her career spans the public, private, and entrepreneurial sectors — from leading Transportation & Drainage Operations for the City of Houston to cofounding Nspiregreen LLC, a firm dedicated to planning for people. She also cofounded Black Women Bike and represented Houston nationally as Vice President on the National Association of City Transportation Officials.
In recognition of her impact, the White House honored Veronica as a Champion of Change and Transportation Innovator, celebrating her work to advance safe, reliable, and affordable mobility for all communities.
Veronica holds dual master’s degrees in Engineering Management and Regional Planning from Cornell University, along with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Maryland. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and makes her home in Baltimore with her family.
She is leader who blends technical rigor with humanity, who understands both systems and people, and who continues to push our industry toward a future where everyone — in every neighborhood — has access to opportunity.
Anthony Talerico, Jr.
Mayor Anthony Talerico, Jr. is a lifelong resident of the Borough of Eatontown. He is in his second term four-year term as mayor, elected after serving nine years on the Borough Council. Mayor Talerico is a strong advocate for Sustainable Jersey, championing his town’s Silver Certification. Eatontown has also adopted several noteworthy ordinances. They were the first town in NJ to adopt the NJDOT Complete and Green Streets for All Policy, by Ordinance. Eatontown also bans invasive species in all Zoning and Planning Board applications and has an ordinance requiring diversity in commercial tree plantings to eliminate monoculture. Mayor Talerico is proud of Eatontown’s ability to strike a palatable balance between development and sustainability which oftentimes brings different stakeholders together to be unlikely co-advocates. Mayor Talerico is a recovering Certified Public Accountant who now practices as a Registered Nurse in a local hospital. Michael Dannemiller, PE
Michael Dannemiller is Supervising Engineer at the Middlesex County Office of Planning. He has been planning and designing transportation safety projects for over 30 years. Mike is working to implement Middlesex County’s Vision Zero Action Plan. He is advancing the County’s Electric Vehicle Readiness Plan, and has prepared concepts for enhancing bicycle and pedestrian accommodation in projects from New England to Florida to Oregon. Mike has developed and presented training sessions on complete streets, traffic calming, bicycle and pedestrian planning and design, safe routes to school projects and senior mobility. He is trained by the Federal Highway Administration to facilitate complete streets and safe routes to school workshops; and serves on The Nikhil Badlani Foundation Board focusing on Traffic Safety Awareness, and as an Advisor to the New Jersey East Coast Greenway Committee and the September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance.Jeevanjot Singh, PMP
Jeevan serves as the Section Chief, leading Safety Programs Management and Highway Safety Improvement Program at NJDOT. She has over 28 years of experience, 15 of which have been at NJDOT where she has been a Traffic Engineer, ITS Engineer, Project Manager and Safety lead. She holds a bachelor’s in civil engineering and three Masters in Highway Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Transportation Engineering. She also has a Masters certificate in Project Management and a PMP. Jeevan is an active participant in ITS NJ and ITE Met Section. She has represented NJDOT on NCHRP panels and published many research papers.
She oversees the Safety Resource Center which includes NJ 2020 SHSP Implementation, Lunch & Learn trainings, HSIP Reports and analytics.
Greg Woltman
Greg Woltman is a Research Project Coordinator at the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center. His work with the New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Center includes research focused on micromobility, pedestrian access for older adults, and federal zero deaths initiatives and grant programs. He is interested in multi-modal transportation planning, mixed-use development, and bolstering the car-free lifestyle in New Jersey. Before joining VTC, Greg worked as a freelance computational linguist at Lionbridge Technologies. He received his Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) and Certificate in Transportation from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University and a Bachelor’s degree in French and Linguistics from New York University.
Sam Rosenthal, AICP
Sam Rosenthal, AICP, is a Research Project Coordinator at the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University. As a staff member at the New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Center, Sam has contributed to planning for safe and accessible active transportation. His work involves transportation research, report writing, and graphic and web design. Prior to joining VTC, Sam served as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Hoboken, NJ, coordinating community engagement and job training programs related to green infrastructure. Sam received a Master of City and Regional Planning from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University and a B.A. in Urban Studies from Vassar College.
Jennifer Toole, AICP, ASLA
Jennifer Toole is the founder and President of Toole Design, a consulting firm with 19 offices throughout North America and a staff of over 250 planners, engineers, landscape architects and data scientists. Toole Design is known for their ground-breaking work to create livable communities where people of all ages, abilities, backgrounds and incomes are able to move comfortably from one place to another, regardless of their mode of transportation. Jennifer is a certified planner with a degree in Landscape Architecture.
William Riviere
William Riviere is a Principal Planner and the Safe Routes to School Coordinator with the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Safety, Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs. As the lead administrator of NJDOT’s Local Technical Assistance Program for bicycle and pedestrian projects, Bill provides guidance and expertise in creating streets as corridors for all modes of transportation for all ages and abilities. As the statewide Safe Routes to School Coordinator, Bill oversees the technical assistance program working closely with the Safe Routes Resource Center at Rutgers and all eight New Jersey Transportation Management Associations.
Elise Bremer-Nei, AICP, PP
Elise Bremer-Nei is the Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator and a licensed professional planner with the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Safety, Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs. Over the last 25 years, she has worked on active transportation issues in both the private and public sector, at the county and the state level. Among other responsibilities, Elise oversees implementation of NJDOT’s Complete Streets Policy and supports updates and improvements to designs and guides for Complete and Green Streets, heads the Bicycle and Pedestrian Emphasis Area team for the State Strategic Highway Safety Plan, and supervises implementation of the statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan.
Sean Meehan
Sean Meehan is the Research Project Manager for the New Jersey Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Resource Center at the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University. With over ten years of experience, Sean works in the area of pedestrian and bicycle mobility and safety with a goal of- making it easier and safer for both children and adults to walk and cycle more. Sean oversees projects for the New Jersey SRTS program in conjunction with the New Jersey Department of Transportation and with the state’s eight Transportation Management Associations (TMAs). As part of his work with the NJ SRTS Resource Center, Sean provides services, training, coordination and technical assistance to TMAs, local and regional governments, schools and school districts and other organizations to encourage students to walk and bicycle to school and to identify opportunities for infrastructure and policy improvements that make walking and biking to school safer.
The focus of Sean’s work has been on active, sustainable transportation and working with multi-disciplined stakeholders and partners to help individuals and communities integrate these healthy and physically active forms of transportation into daily routines. Working with a wide array of partners, Sean helps to cultivate a culture of safe walking and bicycling by providing technical assistance and community outreach, contributing to research, creating instructive resources, and developing and distributing informative training programs for a variety of audiences.
Prior to joining VTC in 2008, Sean worked for five years as a Transportation Planner and Program Coordinator for Keep Middlesex Moving TMA based in New Brunswick, NJ. Sean received a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from the Bloustein School at Rutgers University and a BS degree in Environmental Policy from Cook College at Rutgers.
James Sinclair
James Sinclair is a Senior Research Specialist at the Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Center. His work includes developing Complete Streets Implementation Plans, analyzing solutions to address distracted driving in New Jersey, and evaluating the New Brunswick Ciclovia.
James is a graduate from the Master of City and Regional Planning program at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. While there, he focused on transportation and urban design, with a special emphasis on bicycle and pedestrian planning. With his undergraduate degree in business administration from Boston University, he was previously involved in bringing a bike share system to the Boston region. That experience solidified his interest in planning for sustainable transportation.
Cassidy Boulan, AICP
Cassidy Boulan is the Assistant Manager of Bicycle Programs in the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s Office of Transit, Bicycle, and Pedestrian Planning, where she focuses on bicycle and pedestrian planning and counting. She has a BA from the University of Michigan in Sociology and Environmental Studies and continued her education by completing a Masters of City Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. She began her time with DVRPC in 2010 and has since worked on a variety of projects including access plans for transit stations and developing a complete streets design handbook for Trenton. Her current work includes managing a regional cyclical bicycle count program and working on tactical urbanism projects as part of DVRPC’s Expo (experimental pop-ups) program. After growing up in the Detroit area, she continues to be interested in the importance of a diversity of transportation options in providing a foundation for healthy, sustainable places.
Leigh Ann Von Hagen, AICP, PP
Leigh Ann Von Hagen is a Managing Director and Adjunct Professor with the Voorhees Transportation Center at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. As a licensed professional planner, Leigh Ann has over 20 years of experience in transportation and land use planning, specializing in creating healthy, active communities for all ages and abilities through design, research, education, and training. Leigh Ann is currently the managing director for the NJ Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes and Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Centers and conducts research and training on Health Impact Assessment and health in all policies.
Jeffrey Perlman, AICP, PP
Jeffery Perlman currently serves as the Senior Director of Planning at the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority. He is responsible for overseeing and integrating metropolitan transportation planning initiatives for the North Jersey region. Previously, Jeffrey has worked as a planning consultant for a number of New Jersey municipalities, where he conducted a variety of planning studies including master plans, redevelopment studies, and affordable housing plans. Jeffrey holds a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University, and a Master’s Degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Jeffrey is a licensed planner in the State of New Jersey and certified with the American Institute of Certified Planners at the American Planning Association.
Eric Powers, AICP, PP
Eric Powers joined the New Jersey Department of Transportation in 2001 as a Transportation Planner in the Division of Statewide Planning serving as project manager for the State’s first Statewide Freight Transportation Plan. From 2008 to 2011 he worked directly for the Assistant Commissioner of Planning. In 2011, he returned to the Division of Statewide Planning to lead the MPO Liaison unit. He was promoted to Section Chief in the Bureau of Trucking services in 2013 and in 2014 he joined the Division of Capital Investment Planning and Development as the Manager of the Bureau of Capital Program Coordination. He was promoted to Director of Capital Investment and Program Coordination in 2017 and served in that capacity until being appointed to the position of Assistant Commissioner of Statewide Planning, Safety and Capital Investment in October of 2023.
Eric earned a BS in Economics with a concentration in Public Sector Finance from Florida State University and a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University. He is a licensed Professional Planner in the State of New Jersey and is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners.