March 28, 2019, 11 a.m. EST
Beth Alden AICP, Executive Director
Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization for Transportation
Tampa, Florida
Abstract
Nationally-renowned transit planner Jarrett Walker has said, “The discussion of equity in transportation … is at its best a study of the equal distribution of freedom.” Ms. Alden will discuss the intersection of access, public health, safety, and multimodal transportation investments in Tampa and Hillsborough County, reflecting on the use of tools such as scenario planning and performance-based programming to collaboratively reshape priorities in the community.
Bio
Beth Alden leads an award-winning team of planners with a vision of safe, inclusive mobility choices that promote respect and trust. She has spearheaded initiatives that empower residents to reshape their communities together, including the first multijurisdictional Vision Zero Action Plan in the country, and the first tri-county growth scenarios collaboration in this region, It’s Time Tampa Bay. As the architect of Hillsborough’s Imagine 2040 Transportation Plan, she combined performance metrics and creative public engagement to help local leaders refocus on essentials, laying the groundwork for a successful sales tax referendum in 2018. Appointed in 2017 to the National Academy of Sciences’ NCHRP 08-36 Panel for transportation planning research, she also chairs the Florida MPO Advisory Council’s Noteworthy Practices Committee, has served as a best-practice presenter in several Federal Highway Administration Peer Exchange programs and guidebook panels, and wrote portions of the American Institute of Certified Planners’ first exam to certify transportation planning specialists. Beth has worked in the public and private sectors as a professional planner since 1994, and holds a Master’s in Planning from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor’s in Environmental Design & Architecture from North Carolina State University.