February 2018 edit: Enjoy this look at TTAT past from our archives, then register for TTAT 2018, coming to Austin May 2-4. Questions? Call us at 512-476-7433.
On February 3-6, 2010, BikeTexas co-hosted the Texas Trails and Active Transportation Conference with the Texas Trails Network (TTN) for the first time. The expanded conference, including more Safe Routes to School and bike/ped topics, was a natural evolution for the sixteen year old Texas Trails Conference. Nationally-recognized speakers included Rutgers University’s John Pucher; former Olympian and active living expert Mark Fenton; International Mountain Bicycling Association President Mike Van Abel; former Oregon DOT bike/ped coordinator Michael Ronkin; Rails to Trails Conservancy Policy Manager Kartik Sribarra; founding Texas Bicycle Coalition Executive Director and former Texas House Member Charlie Gandy; American Trails Chair and trail planner Robert Searns; and many others.
Three elected officials – State Representative Donna Howard (D-Austin), Austin City Councilmember Chris Riley, and Denton City Councilmember Dalton Gregory – and their staff attended the conference, as well as staff from the offices of Austin Councilmembers Laura Morrison and Randi Shade.
As was reiterated time and again at the conference, many of the improvements we want to see for biking and walking will only come with policy changes, and the vision and leadership of elected officials, so we appreciate the attendance of these public servants.
Other attendees included city and state bike, pedestrian and Safe Routes to School coordinators, trail builders and advocates, engineers and planners, and bike shop owners from around the state. Twenty two of the conference sessions qualified for Continuing Education Units, including AICP, TBAE and CEPH. Many attendees were able to capitalize professionally on the credits while having a great time and learning from experts.
