Reinventing Seattle's Future From The Street Up
Janette Sadik-Khan is an internationally-acclaimed transportation expert. She was widely heralded for the innovations she brought to New York City when she served as its transportation commissioner.
In her quest to improve mass transit, make the city more walkable and increase bike ridership she realized “people are not going to walk or bike if they don't feel safe doing so.”
Her response was to create friendlier, more attractive streets, with places to sit and watch the world go by. She even made the bike racks friendly. Oh, and she said the dumpster pools are very popular.
Sadik-Khan said these projects aren't just nice amenities, they're critical to the growth and sustainability of a city. For instance, she said bike sharing is one of the most cost-effective investments a city can make. In the two years since New York launched its bike share system, users have logged over 25 million miles.
The Seattle Department of Transportation, the Office of Arts & Culture and KUOW have partnered on a series of talks with transportation experts called "Where Are We Going? Seattle’s Transportation Future."
In this talk, Sadik-Khan calls Seattle one of the nation’s capitals of innovation. She also urges us to try new things, take risks and reinvent our future, “from the street up.”
Sadik-Khan spoke at Town Hall Seattle on April 15. She was joined on stage by KUOW’s Ross Reynolds, Seattle’s Director of Transportation Scott Kubly and Mayor Ed Murray. Thanks to Ed Escalona and Kevin Mitchem for our recording.
Photo credit: Pronto Seattle Bike Sharing Station, by Tony Webster on flickr (CC BY 2.0)
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John O'Brien
Senior Producer, All Things Considered
John O’Brien is KUOW's All Things Considered Senior Producer. He spends his days setting up interviews with newsmakers on subjects from politics and public health to arts and culture. John learned to make radio starting in 2006 as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds.
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