Saturday, March 7, 2026 at Crowne Plaza Princeton-Conference Center
Registration, Breakfast, Networking: 8:00am - 9:00am
Morning Plenary: 9:00am - 10:05am | Amphitheatre
Welcome Remarks
- Debra Kagan, Executive Director, New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition
- Dan Benson, County Executive, Mercer County
Keynote Introduction
- Dan Benson, County Executive, Mercer County
Keynote Speaker and Moderator for Keynote Panel "Getting to Life After Cars"
Sarah Goodyear, Co-Host, The War on Cars
Sarah Goodyear is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in CityLab, Streetsblog, Grist, The New York Daily News, The Village Voice, Ms. Magazine, Psychology Today, and many other venues. She is the coauthor of Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, published Thesis, a Penguin Random House imprint. She is cofounder and cohost of The War on Cars, a podcast that looks at the effects of automobile dependence on our society. She is also the author of a novel, View from a Burning Bridge, published by Red Hen Press. She holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MA in Biography and Memoir from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Sarah lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Keynote Panel: Getting to Life After Cars
Following her keynote, Sarah moderates a conversation digging into what “life after cars” can look like in New Jersey. Joining her are Cathleen M. Lewis, Leigh Ann Von Hagen, and Olivia C. Glenn, offering perspectives that span state leadership, community‑focused mobility, and the intersections of sustainability, land use, and environmental justice.
Leigh Ann Von Hagen, AICP, PP, Executive Director, Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center, Rutgers University
Leigh Ann Von Hagen, AICP, PP, is Executive Director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University’s Bloustein School. With over 20 years of experience, she specializes in planning for healthy, inclusive, and sustainable communities. She leads interdisciplinary research, policy, education, and training initiatives, including support for New Jersey’s Target Zero strategy to eliminate traffic deaths. Her work advances Complete and Green Streets, Health in All Policies, and other efforts that inform transportation decision-making across sectors and scales. She also serves as an adjunct professor, teaching courses that bridge public health and urban planning.
Cathleen M. Lewis, Commissioner, Mercer County
Cathleen Lewis is a government affairs and communications executive with deep expertise in clean transportation, sustainable mobility, and public policy. A seasoned coalition builder and policy leader, Cathleen has spent more than two decades working at the intersection of transportation, energy, safety, and government. She is an engaging presenter at local, state, and national conferences and has played a central role in advancing transportation electrification, traffic safety, and sustainable funding strategies across New Jersey. Since 2023 Cathleen has served as a Mercer County Commissioner where she works on shared services, sustainable mobility, and Vision Zero initiatives. She previously served more than a decade on the Lawrence Township Council, including for 2 years. Professionally she works for the State of New Jersey overseeing a Clean Transportation portfolio advancing electric vehicle and charging infrastructure incentives and helping shape nationally recognized EV policies and utility programs.
Olivia C. Glenn, President & CEO, Baobab Blossom Consulting LLC
Olivia Glenn is the President and CEO of Baobab Blossom Consulting LLC and a proven consensus builder, problem solver, and collaborative leader. She brings deep experience across government and the nonprofit sector, with expertise spanning natural resource management, environmental justice, and stakeholder engagement. Olivia served in the Biden-Harris Administration as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor for Equity for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 2 office, covering the Northeast, the Caribbean, and eight Indian Nations. Prior to EPA, she served at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, including Deputy Commissioner of Environmental Justice and Equity and as Director of the Division of Parks and Forestry. Olivia was also South Jersey Metro Regional Manager for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, advancing land preservation, stewardship, and trail connectivity in the Greater Philadelphia region. She has served on the East Coast Greenway Alliance and as NJ Co-Chair of the Circuit Trails Coalition. She is a recipient of the Camden Environmental Hero Award, the Woman of Purpose Award, and the 2025 NY–NJ Baykeeper Environmental Leadership Award. A proud Camden native, Olivia holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a master’s degree from the Yale School of the Environment.
Poster Session (All Day) | Open area next to the Madison Room
Reconnection: The Bergen Arches
NJIT architecture students, working with NJ Transit, developed design concepts for connecting the Bergen Arches to the Essex–Hudson Greenway. Their 9‑foot 3D‑printed model and project images will be on display all day.
Breakout Block 1: 10:20am - 11:20am
NJ Safe Routes Academy: Start with the School Zone
Room: Madison | Interactive Workshop
Do you want to make your community a safer place for walking and bicycling? Start with the School Zone! Traffic-related crashes remain a leading cause of death among children in the United States, making school zone safety an urgent priority. This session explores critical components of school zone safety: best practices for planning, infrastructure improvements, crossing guard training and safety, and partners and resources that can help you along the way to lasting change. Throughout this interactive session, presenters will work with attendees to share lessons learned, practical strategies, and resources for school zone improvements that protect crossing guards, students, and other vulnerable populations. Attendees will leave with recommendations for creating safer, more effective school zones through a combination of physical improvements and human-centered strategies.
Session Moderator
- William Riviere, Principal Planner, Division of Safety Programs & Transportation Data – NJDOT
Session Speakers
- Sean Meehan, Managing Director – Active Transportation & Safety, Rutgers – Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center
- James Sinclair, Senior Research Specialist, Rutgers – Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center
Advocacy in Action: Target Zero Legislative Actions
Room: Stockton B | Interactive Workshop
With the New Jersey Target Zero Commission’s official adoption of a statewide Target Zero Action Plan in December 2025, a set of legislative actions was identified to be shared with the state legislature to help reduce fatal and serious injury crashes in the state. This interactive session comprises two portions. First, presenters will outline the structure of the Target Zero Action Plan, explain the development of the 32 legislative and 40 non-legislative actions, and highlight key legislative proposals related to speed management, enforcement reforms, roadway design standards, licensing, and data reporting. Then, a facilitated discussion and visioning exercise will assess the legislative actions, identify shared priorities, and help select a set of top policy priorities that advocates and partners can champion statewide.
Session Moderator
- Debra Kagan, Executive Director, New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition
Session Speakers
- Sangeeta Badlani, Founder, Nikhil Badlani Foundation & Families for Safe Streets NJ
- Corey Hannigan, formerly PM, Tri-State Transportation Campaign
Trails: Shifting Policy, Funding, and Mindsets
Room: Wilson | Presentation
New Jersey is rethinking how trails fit into the state’s transportation and community landscape. Instead of treating projects as isolated segments, agencies and local partners are beginning to plan for connected corridors that link towns, parks, transit, and everyday destinations.
This session highlights how that shift is taking shape across the state. The Johnson Trolley Trail shows how local governments, counties, and nonprofits are working together to reconnect Trenton, Ewing, Lawrence, and Princeton, including a new bike‑ped bridge over I‑295. The North Jersey Trail Network Initiative offers a broader view of what coordinated planning can look like across six counties — mapping existing and planned corridors, identifying gaps, and helping partners align local projects with a larger regional vision that highlights opportunities for greater connectivity.
Together, these efforts illustrate how New Jersey’s thinking around trails is changing — and what it means for access, mobility, and community connection.
Session Moderator
- David Sandahl, Chair, Board of Trustees, Lawrence Hopewell Trail
Session Speakers
- Dan Benson, County Executive, Mercer County
- Reba Oduro, Project Manager/Senior Transportation Planner, Horizon 54 (formerly Equitable Cities)
- Tiffany R. Robinson, Trails and Active Mobility Director, New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition
Breakout Block 2: 11:30am - 12:30pm
NJ Safe Routes Academy: Rethinking our Roads with Youth Leadership
Room: Madison | Interactive Workshop
Young people aren’t just the future of our transportation systems—they’re active pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders today. Their lived experiences offer essential insights for building safe and holistic active transportation networks. This session will explore effective and meaningful strategies for engaging youth as true partners in transportation planning. Panelists will discuss why empowering young people with the skills, tools, and platforms to share their perspectives is critical to shaping communities that work for everyone. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for authentic youth engagement—and hear directly from young people about what genuine involvement looks and feels like. Together, we can strengthen today’s active transportation systems while cultivating the next generation of leaders and advocates.
Session Moderator
- William Riviere, Principal Planner, Division of Safety Programs & Transportation Data – NJDOT
Session Speakers
- Sean Meehan, Active Transportation & Safety, Rutgers – Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center
- Isabella “Izzy” Gonzalez, Safe Routes to School Program Coordinator, Keep Middlesex Moving
- Sangeeta Badlani, Founder, Nikhil Badlani Foundation & Families for Safe Streets NJ
- Students from the Youth Advisory Board in Dunellen, NJ
NJ's E-Bike Policy: What’s Working, What’s Stuck in Gear, and What's Ahead
Room: Stockton B | Panel Discussion
The recent “e‑bike” law has sparked many reactions and left many unanswered questions. This session will clarify what the law actually says, where the gray areas lie, and the unintended repercussions for low‑speed e‑bike riders and others who were largely left out of the conversation. Panelists will also explore how the law shapes public attitudes and enforcement, what it means in practical terms for bike shops and agencies, the real causes of micromobility safety issues, and how best to address them going forward.
Session Moderator
- Zoe Baldwin, Vice President, State Programs & New Jersey Director, Regional Plan Association
Session Speakers
- Senator Raj Mukherji, New Jersey State Senator, 32nd Legislative District
- Corey Hannigan, formerly PM, Tri-State Transportation Campaign
- Larry Pizzi, CEO, Pedego Electric Bikes
- Shannon Connor, Founder and President, 3 Wheels from Jesse
Designing for Dignity: Meaningful Engagement, Place, and Belonging
Room: Wilson | Moderated Conversation
Mobility planning in New Jersey is evolving, yet many communities still struggle to meaningfully include residents whose experiences fall outside traditional engagement processes, including unhoused individuals, older adults, youth, and others who face barriers to participation. This session explores the blind spots that often shape local mobility decisions and offers practical strategies for creating more inclusive, community-led planning environments.
Speakers will begin with brief framing remarks before moving into a guided discussion about real‑world approaches to building trust, elevating lived experience, and strengthening community partnerships. The conversation will highlight lessons from projects that engaged residents across different ages, cultures, and housing contexts, as well as examples of working alongside community‑based organizations to reach people who are often overlooked in traditional planning.
Attendees will leave with replicable strategies, engagement tools, and new ways of thinking about mobility planning that center dignity, belonging, and community leadership.
Session Moderator
- Courtenay D. Mercer, AICP, PP, Principal, Mercer Planning Associates
Session Speakers
- Tiffany R. Robinson, Trails and Active Mobility Director, New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition
- Rosa Mannion, RLA, Principal Landscape Architect, NV5
- Ishmael Pulliam, Guiding Alliance for Lived Experience
Scudder’s Mill Road Guided Walk - Hosted by Walk Bike Princeton & West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance
Amphitheatre Foyer | Mobile Workshop
Meet at 11:25 am at the Amphitheatre Foyer.
This walk follows Scudder’s Mill Road, crossing the Northeast Corridor tracks to Plainsboro Town Center and back. Along the way, we’ll observe firsthand the barriers pedestrians face and discuss how roadway design and scale shape safety, comfort, and true walkability.
Click on the “Afternoon Schedule” button to see the rest of the program.
Lunch & Networking: 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Book Signing: Sarah Goodyear will be signing copies of Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile.
Afternoon Plenary & Marty Epstein Awards: 1:40pm - 2:30pm | Amphitheatre
Reconvene
- Debra Kagan, Executive Director, New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition
Keynote Introduction
- Cathleen M. Lewis, Mercer County Commissioner
Keynote Speaker: Kati Angarone, Chief Strategy Officer, NJ Department of Environmental Protection
As Chief Strategy Officer, Kati Angarone advances key environmental and public health initiatives and is an adviser to the Commissioner. A veteran of the Department for more than 25 years, she is responsible for providing executive-level leadership and guidance for the implementation of priority policies and projects. She also oversees the Division of Science and Research and Office of Environmental and Public Health Analysis. Kati most recently served as DEP’s Deputy Commissioner. In that role she had oversight of nearly 3,400 environmental professionals and an annual operational and grant-making budget of approximately $1 billion. A passionate advocate of the environment, Kati is dedicated to DEP’s mission to protect the environment and public health in service to the people of New Jersey.
In her role as Chief Strategy Officer at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Kati Angarone will speak to the nexus between climate action, health and quality of life, and equity, and how sound planning and investment are foundational.
2026 Marty Epstein Advocates of the Year Awards Presentation
Coffee & Networking: 2:30pm - 3:00pm
Breakout Block 3: 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Transitioning Municipal and County Vision Zero Policies into Actions
Room: Madison | Interactive Roundtable
Across New Jersey, several municipalities and counties have adopted Vision Zero resolutions, committing to eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries. However, these commitments have typically stalled after resolution, lacking a clear roadmap, effective accountability mechanisms, or sustained funding to transition from vision to reality. This roundtable will focus on the critical next step: moving from a Vision Zero commitment to a concrete, locally grounded ‘Target Zero’ action plan at the municipal or county level. Participants will explore how local governments and advocates can work together to translate high-level goals into specific policies, projects, timelines, and metrics that meaningfully reduce risk on the most hazardous streets. The session will emphasize practical implementation: how to structure an action plan, prioritize interventions, embed equity, and navigate political and institutional constraints (i.e., realpolitik).
Session Moderators
- Pallavi Nuka, Community Advocate & President, Walk Bike Princeton
- Lisa Serieyssol, Senior Planner, City of Trenton Division of Planning
Session Speakers
- Amy Veach, Community Advocate, Montclair Complete Streets Oversight Board
- Tanner Thul, Senior Transportation Planner, Hudson County Department of Roads and Public Property , Division of Engineering
- Greg Francese, City of Hoboken, Acting Director, Transportation and Parking
- Matt Lawson, Assistant Director of Planning, Mercer County
- Cheryl Kastrenakes, Executive Director, Greater Mercer TMA
Automated Enforcement: Is New Jersey Ready?
Room: Stockton B | Presentation
Hoboken pioneered camera‑based enforcement in New Jersey in 2025 with its CLEAR pilot program, and New York City now has years of extensive data from its large speed and red‑light camera system (including significant data on vehicles with NJ plates) showing that automated enforcement works. Everyday experience tells us that speeding is a persistent problem in New Jersey, yet automated speed enforcement has long been treated as a political “third rail.” This session will draw on lessons from Hoboken’s CLEAR program, New York City’s system, and the state’s own technical evaluations of red‑light running enforcement, as well as national research on automated speed enforcement. Join us to explore the evidence and help shape the talking points needed to show New Jersey that the time is right for automated enforcement.
Session Moderator
- Steve Vaccaro, Principal, Vaccaro Law
Session Speakers
- Andy Kaplan, PE, PTOE, RSP1, Senior Advisor to the Mayor, City of Jersey City
- Jesse McGowan, AICP, RSP1, Deputy Director of Transportation & Parking, City of Hoboken
Greenways as a Target Zero Strategy
Room: Wilson | Panel Discussion
As communities around the state work to implement the Target Zero Action Plan, how can greenways play a role in helping us achieve their safety goals? In this panel, we will hear perspectives from across the state and the country on the role of greenways in achieving zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Join us to explore key questions such as:
- What role does a statewide trail network play in the Target Zero Action Plan?
- How do we design greenways to be real, viable, safe alternatives to on-street routes?
- How can municipalities and advocacy groups leverage safety funding to design and construct trails and fill missing gaps in their local bike/ped networks?
- How have communities in other states implemented greenways as a safety strategy?
Session Moderator
- Sofia Barandiaran, New Jersey & New York Manager, East Coast Greenway Alliance
Session Speakers
- Daniel Paschall, Mid-Atlantic Manager , East Coast Greenway Alliance
- Lyndsey Scofield, AICP, PMP, Senior Transportation Planner, City of Jersey City
Lake Carnegie Loop Bike Tour - Hosted by Walk Bike Princeton & West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance
Amphitheatre Foyer | Mobile Workshop
Meet at 2:50 pm for a 3:00 pm departure.
Join us on a 15-mile, tri-county, Tour of Lake Carnegie, featuring the D&R Canal path, Kingston, Princeton University boathouse, Princeton Junction train station, and back to the Crowne Plaza, for anyone wanting to complete the loop instead of taking NJ Transit back home. Pace will be leisurely, and return time to the Crowne Plaza will be after 4:00 pm.
