Mobility 21 convened Friday at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, with more than 800 attendees representing local governments, local and regional transportation and planning agencies, and the businesses and advocacy groups that work with them on transportation policy.
The Grand Ballroom was full for the morning session; the exhibit hall featured bamboo Zambikes, vanpool contractors, engineering and street-surfacing firms (including Sully-Miller, which is doing slurry-seal work on several Glendale streets this month), bike storage manufacturers (including BikeConnect, which is working with Glendale’s Transportation Department), architectural and design firms, Tesla Motors (a beautiful red Tesla like the one on their homepage was on display), METRO, SCAG, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Bikestation President Andrea White-Kjoss stressed incorporating bike facilities in new developments, LA Street Car Initiative Director Dennis Allen said street cars were the answer to all urban transit problems, and KTGY Group principal Ken Ryan urged that transit planning focus on community building, all in a morning breakout session on Practical Applications of Sustainability and Livability Goals (focusing on SB 375, California’s livable communities initiative). Panelist Kris Murray told the audience that while SB 375 was tied to the goals of AB 32, a recent legal ruling indicated that the senate bill will stand whether or not Proposition 23 passes tomorrow.
The strong attendance, the focus on state-level and federal legislation and regional cooperation, the large number of public/private projects spanning the cheap and easy to the incredibly expensive (commitments of major federal dollars to high-speed rail were celebrated at the conference), and the diversity of players, all demonstrate the importance of transportation infrastructure to the region’s present and future job market.