Last week three of our WalkBoston staff had the exciting opportunity to attend the NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) Designing Cities 2022 conference! Our Executive Director Stacey, our Deputy Director Brendan, and our new Senior Program Manager Iolando spent the week exchanging ideas with over 1,000 officials, planners, and practitioners in NACTO’s first in-person conference since 2019. They participated in “Walkshops” (mobile workshops that allow attendees to visit, learn about, and reflect on local transportation projects) and attended talks whose topics ranged from best practices in public communications to universal basic mobility. WalkBoston attendees also got to hear from compelling speakers such as Mayor Michelle Wu and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. 

The conference was pervaded by a spirit of optimism for the future of cities which Iolando found contagious. He left feeling “upbeat and happy,” because NACTO was “such a great opportunity to build relationships with like-minded people who are working on the ground on these topics,” including how to make transportation more equitable. Iolando attributes this energy in part to the many transportation experiments conducted since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; experiments whose failures and successes provided plenty for practitioners to come together and reflect over. “As a person who is new to this organization, it felt like ‘Wow, this is such an awesome time to get started!’”

Iolando believes this positive energy (even in the midst of Boston’s current struggles to adapt to the Orange Line closures) is a testament to the conference’s skillful highlighting of the strides Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville have made towards a more equitable, safe, and sustainable transit system. For example, Iolando attended a Walkshop in Cambridge entitled “Reimagining Shared Spaces in Cambridge’s Cultural District” that took participants to explore Central Square. It focused on how transforming parking for cars into places for people improves walkability, thereby expanding the community’s access to services, arts, and cultural items. Another Walkshop Iolando attended, “Making Tremont Street Safer: A Journey through Space and Time,” looked at Boston’s South End and featured an interesting discussion of what it looks like to improve pedestrian safety and accessibility while balancing historical preservation in a storied neighborhood. Participants even observed construction crews building safety features such as raised crosswalks, lane reallocations, and separated bike lanes. 

WalkBoston is immensely grateful for the opportunity to attend NACTO this year. Thanks to generous support from the Barr Foundation, NACTO was able to provide funds to support attendance to the conference for people from New England cities.