Bike Summit 2008: Speaker Profiles
Trek Bicycle Director of Advocacy Rebecca Anderson
Rebecca has a 20 year background in non-profit executive management with a specialty in fundraising. In 1997 she discovered bike racing and developed three women’s teams. She was elected President of Wisconsin Cycling Association for four years and steered that agency through extensive growth in revenues and membership and continues to serve on the board of directors. Anderson has worked in the cycling industry for 3 years and now oversees Trek's One World, Two Wheels advocacy program and works with Trek’s 2,000 dealers to make bike advocacy part of their marketing plans.
City of Toronto Manager of Pedestrian and Cycling Infrastructure Daniel Egan
Daniel coordinated development of the Toronto Bike Plan and his group is responsible for implementing the Bikeway Network, bicycle parking, cycling promotions and cyclist education elements of the Plan. On the pedestrian front, Daniel is leading development of the new Toronto Walking Strategy, which included hosting the Walk21 international conference in Toronto in October 2007.
City of Toronto Councillor Adrian Heaps
Adrian was elected City Councillor for Ward 35, Scarborough-Southwest in November 2006 and was appointed the Chair of the Cycling Advisory Committee soon after. Since his appointment, Adrian has worked on many initiatives to promote cycling in Toronto including the extension of Bike Week to Bike Month and the streamlining of the bike lane approval process. For 2008, new bike stations will be built, along with over 50km of new bike lanes.
Metrolinx Transportation Policy & Planning Advisor Briana Illingworth
Briana is currently working as part of a team to develop the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area Regional Transportation Plan. Prior to joining Metrolinx, she worked on industry meetings and stakeholder engagement, managing a variety of projects at Moving the Economy.
Vélo Québec’s Research Director Marc Jolicœur
Author of the second edition of the Technical Handbook of Bikeway Design, Marc has trained over 400 professionals in that field since 2004. He coordinates technical support for the development of the Route verte, a 4,000 km bicycle network spanning the province of Québec. A professional engineer involved in transportation for over 20 years, he represents Vélo Québec at highway safety and standards committees.
Bike Train Project Lead and Founder Justin Lafontaine
Justin Lafontaine has been developing innovative tourism initiatives and collaborative partnerships since 2000. Most recently, he founded the Bike Train Initiative, a project supported by over 30 organizations and businesses and launched in summer 2007, introducing bike racks onboard select VIA Rail departures between Toronto and Niagara Falls. The Bike Train is an independently coordinated, promoted and ticketed service, utilizing existing passenger trains and schedules.
City of Seattle Senior Transportation Planner Peter Lagerwey
Peter’s work with the Seattle pedestrian and bicycle program
spans more than twenty years. Seattle’s pedestrian crash rates are the
lowest in the country. Bicycling Magazine recognized Seattle as one of
the most “bicycle friendly” cities in America four times. Peter was the
project manager for the new Seattle Bicycle Master Plan which calls for
installing more than 400 miles of bicycle facilities over the next ten
years.
Transport Canada Environmental Initiatives Senior Advisor David MacIsaac
David has been responsible for the implementation of the Moving On Sustainable Transportation (MOST) and Urban Transportation Showcase Programs (UTSP). Previous to his current position, David worked at the Privy Council Office in Ottawa and with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency in Moncton and Halifax. He has experience and education in program evaluation, policy research, community economic development, sustainable development and sustainable urban transportation.
Chicagoland Bicycle Federation’s Chief Strategy Officer Randy Neufeld
Randy has been a leader in pedestrian and bicycle transportation in Chicago and the suburbs since becoming CBF executive director in 1987. He has experience working in all aspects of bicycle and pedestrian promotion including planning, mapping, safety education, marketing, design, funding, policy, and public involvement. Currently Randy works on the Healthy Streets Campaign including the Drive with Care initiative to combat reckless and inattentive driving. Randy serves on the Chicago Bicycle Advisory Council, the Chicago Pedestrian Advisory Council and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Transportation Committee. He is president of America Bikes the national coalition working to grow bicycling through federal transportation policy and funding. He is the founding chair and current board member of the Thunderhead Alliance. Randy plays a leadership role in the National Complete Streets Coalition and the National Partnership for Safe Routes to School
Alta Planning Principal Jeff Olson
From 1993-98, Jeff served as the New York State DOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager, and has worked on numerous trail and bikeway planning and design studies throughout the United States, and was the creator and founder of the Millennium Trails program for the USDOT. He has served on the Pedestrian Committee of the Transportation Research Board and was a co-founder of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP).
Town of Markham Cycling and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (CPAC) Chair Dwight Richardson
Over the past 4 years CPAC has been instrumental in assisting Town of Markham staff and Council in the planning, design and implementation of all elements of cycling and pedestrian plans within the Town. The Town of Markham has just been awarded a grant from the Province of Ontario to fund an over 18-kilometre cycling and pathway system.
London Cycling Campaign’s Chief Executive Koy Thomson
London Cycling Campaign (LCC) is the largest urban cycling organization in the world. Since 1978, the LCC has been improving facilities, providing information and raising the profile of cycling across London in order to make it a world-class cycling city.
Bicycle Trade Association of Canada’s Director of Advocacy Usman Valiante
Usman’s role within BTAC is to foster partnerships and relationships across the bike industry, governments and advocacy groups and to promote public policies at all levels of government with the objective of getting more Canadians to cycle more often. By vocation Usman is a senior public policy analyst, commercial strategist, negotiator and advocate. His career focus has been on the development and evaluation of public policies and commercial programs regarding the environment. Usman is an avid bike commuter and recreational mountain-bike racer.
