When Lynn Peterson began working as a transportation engineer, she was taught to evaluate roadway projects based only on metrics related to driver safety, allowable speed for the highest number of cars, project schedule, and budget. Involving the community and collaborating with peers were never part of the discussion. Today, Peterson is a recognized leader in transportation planning and engineering, known for her approach that is rooted in racial equity, guided by a process of community engagement, and includes collaboration with other professionals. In Roadways for People, Lynn Peterson draws from her personal experience and interviews with leaders in the field to showcase new possibilities within transportation engineering and planning. Join us as we dive into how to pave the way towards a more inclusive transportation scene.
Speakers:
Elizabeth Doerr, Principal and Founder, Doerr & Co
Lynn Peterson, President, Oregon Metro Council
Robert Puentes, President and CEO, Eno Center for Transportation
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Elizabeth Doerr is a writer, mother, and small business owner in Portland, Oregon. She writes about issues of social justice, parenting, travel, resiliency, and climate change. Bringing her experience working in community engagement and social justice education, Elizabeth co-wrote Roadways for People: Rethinking Transportation Planning and Engineering with Lynn Peterson. She has written for a variety of publications including Parents, CityLab, Scalawag Magazine, Portland Monthly, and Baltimore City Paper. Her 2015 Baltimore City Paper story about street harassment, “Stop Calling Me ‘Baby’” earned her Maryland/Delaware/DC Press Association award. She is currently working on her second book about combatting her climate grief through building preparedness skills called Cramming for the Apocalypse
Elizabeth is also principal and founder of social impact communications and writing firm, Doerr&Co and co-founder of the community for writer-moms, Scribente Maternum. She earned her Master’s in Writing from Johns Hopkins University and has a Master’s in International Education Policy from the University of Maryland.
Lynn Peterson is the Oregon Metro Council President. She leads the nation’s only elected regional government, representing over 1.7 million Oregonians in the Portlandarea. Peterson oversees an agency charged with affordable housing and parks investments, protection of farms, forests and water resources, planning and investments in transportation, overseeing tourism and cultural venues as well as management of garbage and recycling.
Prior to serving as Metro Council President, Peterson worked in a variety of roles in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. She first held elected office as a Lake Oswego City Councilor before becoming the first elected chair of Clackamas County, one of Oregon’s fastest growing suburban and rural counties.
A transportation and land use expert with degrees in engineering and planning, Peterson served in Salem as senior advisor to former Gov. John Kitzhaber, before a serving as the director of the Washington State Department of Transportation, appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee. At WSDOT, she oversaw a $10 billion budget for operation and maintenance of roads, rails, ferries, congestion pricing and megaprojects such as the Seattle Tunnel Project, the SR 520 Floating Bridge and the Columbia River Crossing.
After returning to Oregon, Peterson consulted nationally on transportation and land use best practices with Smart Growth America, and served as interim executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon, the state’s leading land use advocacy group.