On January 28th and 29th the New Jersey chapter of the American Planning Association hosted its annual Conference in New Brunswick. Several sessions were of note to bicycling and walking in New Jersey, and included unique and innovative sessions by the New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Center (BPRC) and the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT).
Session attendees providing input for the next update of the New Jersey Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation hosted an interactive forum, “Envisioning NJ’s Next Generation Travel Plan for Walking & Bicycling,” to gather input from attendees for the next New Jersey Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. The session was held by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, Urban Engineers and RBA Group.
Another session of note included “Complete Streets in Your Community – Now and Tomorrow,” led by Debbie Kingsland of NJDOT, which discussed implementation strategies of Complete Streets policies, including facility construction, educational programming, and traffic enforcement.
Finally, “Everyone is Welcome: Diversity and Inclusion through Open Streets Programs” featured a conversation on two successful open streets events: Ciclovía, in New Brunswick, NJ, and Open Streets PGH, in Pittsburgh, PA. The session was moderated by Charles Brown from BPRC, and featured Jaymie Santiago from New Brunswick Tomorrow and Michael Carroll from Bike Pittsburgh. Both panelists talked about the history of their events, the partnerships created to make the events possible, and the outreach efforts to ensure that all members of the community were included.