At Mobility Lab’s “People First: The Future of Transportation in America”, Secretary LaHood will be speaking to the public for the first time since leaving the DOT. At this event, dedicated to promoting walking, biking, rideshare, and public transportation, the Secretary wants to encourage people to keep the momentum going that he has helped build in cities and towns across the country.
Residents of the benefiting communities have helped build affordable housing next to biking and walking paths. They are helping their neighbors get out of their cars. LaHood himself, with his wife, walk the talk by regularly riding their bikes on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Trail in Washington D.C.
People-focused strategies – hence, “People First” – happen when planners focus on where there is demand for infrastructure to help humans move from place to place. That is not traditionally how planners have built networks of movement.
Mobility Lab believes “transportation demand management,” something they are focused on each and every day, is key to maximizing the benefits of popular livability initiatives like transit-oriented development, complete streets, and walkable activity centers. All of these initiatives put people – not cars – first.
Making inroads on the monumental task of how best to move people – using all the modes of transportation available – is crucial to our society’s well-being.
To be inspired by Secretary LaHood (and presenters Tom Fairchild of Mobility Lab and Josh Kavanagh of the Association for Commuter Transportation), please register now for the event. Space is limited. It is happening at Founders Hall on the Arlington campus of George Mason University, Wednesday, October 16, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.