Salisbury to Host Statewide Summit Featuring Speakers on Active Mobility, Transportation Safety, and Community Engagement

The keynote speaker at this year’s Summit is Erick Cedeño, an explorer, a historian, and an engaging storyteller. Cedeño has been featured in multiple national and local publications, from Outside Magazine to The New York Times. Recently inducted into the 2022 class of The Explorers Club 50, Cedeño is globally recognized as one of the year’s 50 explorers changing the world. Erick's presentation at this year's summit will focus on his perspective of both the rural and urban cycling infrastructure that he has encountered in his travels, and how that has shaped his experiences.

Featured speaker Dr. Noah Lenstra, Associate Professor of Library and Information Science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), will be speaking on how libraries are strong partners for safe roads advocates. Dr. Lenstra brings a community organizing approach to the study and teaching of public librarianship. Notably, Noah founded the Let’s Move in Libraries Initiative, which focuses on supporting healthy living in public libraries through community partnerships. He is a member of Bicycling in Greensboro (BIG) and has presented at the League of American Bicyclists National Bike Summit and the “Project for Public Spaces Walk/Bike/Places” event.

Other sessions and speakers will include “Funding to Support Bicycling and Walking: Sources, Challenges, and Opportunities,” led by the UNC Highway Safety Research Center, and an interactive session on Transportation Demand Management led by staff of the Centralina Regional Council. New this year will be a session featuring organizations and nonprofits from around the state sharing policy, safety, and advocacy wins in their communities.

The Summit will conclude on Saturday with a number of active sessions offered in partnership with Healthy Rowan, AARP, Catawba College, the City of Salisbury, and the NC Transportation Museum.

“We see this statewide summit as a forum for sharing plans and policies about how to make transportation safe for all users,” said Terry Lansdell of BikeWalk NC. “The goal is to foster and energize collaboration on safe active mobility in communities across North Carolina.” In order to create a fully accessible experience, the NC BikeWalk Transportation Summit offers a Choose Your Price option. Also, AICP credits will be offered.