NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials)

Announcing our Designing Cities 2025 peer sessions! We’ve fleshed out the schedule for the 2025 Designing Cities Conference with two dozen peer sessions—led by practitioners, for practitioners. We’ll address many of the most challenging issues facing our field, from managing the curb to building public trust to addressing transportation equity in a changing political climate. Every peer session at Designing Cities is carefully planned by a NACTO staff member or a city practitioner on the Member Program Committee. Peer sessions are designed to foster peer-to-peer learning for city staff and discuss key issues in depth, with tangible outcomes. This year, we’re hosted by District Department of Transportation (DDOT). We can't wait to see you in DC! Check out the schedule—and make plans to register! The Designing Cities conference fills up every year. Sign up soon to guarantee your spot.

Thank you John Simmerman for having me on Active Towns to talk about NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) and our new Urban Bikeway Design Guide, a road map that shows how communities can transform their streets for safety, sustainability, equity and building trust.

What a fun time at the League of American Bicyclists Bike Summit talking about important updates to bike design guides. Both AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) and NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) recently updated their bike guides. It was great to combine forces and share this important work for advancing not just bicycling, but safety for all road users to local advocates. Kevin Marshia from AASHTO gave a great overview of the important work with state DOTs. Bill Schultheiss from Toole Design did a deeper dive into the AASHTO Bike Guide as an important resource for practitioners. Megan McCarty Graham, PE from NACTO member, Arlington County (formerly of Toole) was able to talk about the importance of using. I gave an overview of NACTO's Urban Bikeway Design Guide, Third Edition, and partnered with?Anne Welch?from the?District Department of Transportation? (DDOT), a NACTO and AASHTO member, about how they use the bike guides in DC. Both guides have a ton of the same great content. It was great tying it all together for such an engaged audience. Thanks to Ken McLeod for organizing.

BBSP was thrilled to connect with some of our past Transportation Justice Fellows to share how their careers have evolved since completing the fellowship. Check out our interviews with Abdullahi Abdulle, Anne Phillips, Ph.D., and Barry Greene Jr. to learn more about their paths and the impact they’re making in the field of transportation. https://lnkd.in/gtmuRKiE

NACTO is hiring! We're?seeking a forward-thinking street design expert to join our team as a full-time Senior Manager, Multimodal Design and Programs. This role will work on providing expertise on street design and technical projects on the Policy and Practice Team within NACTO. Apply by Monday, April 14 at 5 p.m. EST.

Our latest newsletter update is out! Sign up for NACTO's newsletter to get the latest updates on city transportation planning, policy, and design issues. ?? In this update: ??NACTO leaders advocate for direct federal funding to cities ??General registration is open for the 2025 Designing Cities Conference in Washington, DC. ? Introducing NACTO Merch ? Follow NACTO on Bluesky and Threads ? Other news to know, including wins in San Antonio, Seattle, and Austin

In powerful speeches last week, NACTO Executive Director Ryan Russo and Board President Michael Carroll championed the critical need for cities to have access to direct federal funding. Addressing the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) at a meeting chaired by NYS Department of Transportation, Russo celebrated the success of Safe Streets and Roads for All, highlighting the importance of providing direct funds to MPOs, counties, cities, and small towns. Testifying before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works the previous day, Carroll stressed that cities must receive federal funding directly to efficiently deliver projects that meet the needs of local communities, highlighted the importance of city-state partnerships, and called for clear, predictable funding and streamlined processes to maximize federal dollars. Watch Russo's keynote: https://lnkd.in/ePRTzcQ2 More on Carroll's testimony: https://lnkd.in/exi4S-GT

It was an honor to represent the work of the NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) community at the NYMTC Annual Council meeting today. The innovative ways NACTO members are working to create connected, safe and efficient transportation systems is applicable in our cities AND our suburbs.

Transportation is about more than moving people; it’s also about the people that move transportation. This #BlackHistoryMonth, we’ve been telling the undertold Black history of transportation innovation and activism. We also need to reflect on transportation's role in racism. When it comes to race and power, U.S. transportation and land use decisions are not neutral. Throughout American history, government power has been used to control Black people and exclude Black communities from opportunity. The legacy of racist decisions made by transportation planners and policymakers in the 20th century is still with us today. Throughout the 20th century, racist lending & housing practices—redlining—limited where Black families could live. Now, Black neighborhoods are disproportionately disconnected from centers of opportunity, perpetuating systems of exclusion & oppression. In many cities, these practices forced Black communities into areas that today are more prone to flooding and other early impacts of climate change. In the 1950s, Black neighborhoods were disproportionately seized & razed to build Interstate Highways. This racist practice created freeways that led through—not to—neighborhoods, benefiting White suburban commuters at the expense of Black communities. Highways didn’t just cut through neighborhoods: they also generate small-particulate pollution from cars and trucks. Today, many Black communities have elevated rates of asthma as compared to white areas. Inequitable resource allocations and decision-making processes persist; often Black neighborhoods lack basic safety features like sidewalks, street lights, crosswalks, and bike lanes. Today, it is much more dangerous to walk while Black than almost any other race or ethnicity. An overreliance on enforcement to manage transportation systems often places Black people in danger. Research shows that helmet laws, e-bike bans, jaywalking and fare evasion are often disproportionately enforced against Black people. To move forward, the transportation industry and, we, the people in it, we will need to grapple with these topics and more.

In 1955, Juanita Abernathy crafted the plan for people to travel—by bike, foot, carpool, and horse—during the Montgomery bus boycott. Planned for one day, it lasted 13 months and resulted in a Supreme Court decision ruling segregated transit unconstitutional. Transportation is about more than moving people; it’s also about the people that move transportation. This #BlackHistoryMonth, we’re reflecting on transportation’s role in racism and telling the undertold Black history of transportation.