Rail~Volution is this country’s premier conference on “building livable communities with transit” and it's hosted this year by Seattle from Oct. 20-23. Mariia Zimmerman, Principal of MZ Strategies will be at the conference and is moderating two sessions and presenting findings from several new reports prepared by MZ Strategies for the University of Minnesota, Enterprise Community Partners, and the Metropolitan Council.

The following sessions will feature this work:

Monday, Oct 21 from 10 -11:30 am: "Measuring What Counts: Tools You Can Use to Evaluate Investments" featuring Stephanie Pollack with the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy to discuss social equity and TOD metrics; Stefan Francie with the City of Santa Monica, CA to discuss work by the city to incorporate bike/ped safety elements into long-range planning; and, Peter Hurley with the North American Sustainable Transportation Council (STC) to discuss the STARS framework development by STC to identify economic, environmental & equity benefits of proposed transportation projects to achieve a "triple win".

Monday, Oct 21 from 2:00 - 3:30 pm: "Regional Programs to Fund Livable Communities" will feature staff from leading Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and Regional Transportation Authorities to discuss the impact of cutting-edge programs and innovative regional planning techniques to support increased investment in transportation choices, strong communities and housing. MPOs participating include: Regional Transportation Authority of Northeastern Illinois; the San Francisco Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission; the Twin Cities Metropolitan Council; the Puget Sound Regional Council; and the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority.