Thank you to everyone who attended the 2021 Rail~Volution virtual conference and to our speakers and sponsors. We know it was not the same as being together in-person, but we heard from attendees that the conference proved to be a powerful opportunity for people to connect and get a sense of how work is going forward at this time of change.
The sessions, discussions, plenaries and mobile workshops provided stimulating excursions into the details of projects from many angles. There were calls to be nimble in meeting the changing landscape and strong assurances that the underlying issues have not changed: we need more robust transit and mobility networks built with community vision. It takes vigilance to ensure that the results serve people.
- New faces – Nearly half of attendees were attending the Rail~Volution conference for the first time.
- Diverse speakers – The conference achieved a GOLD GenderAvenger Stamp of Approval for a stellar speaker lineup! “This is what curating with intention looks like,” they said. Our own figures going into the conference showed our speakers were 53% women and 34% people of color.
- Cutting edge topics – Conference sessions focused on community-driven approaches to specific challenges in transit and development, with examples of implementation.
Comments from attendees about Rail~Volution 2021
“Thank you for excellent topics with people who have real examples of implementing successful projects and playbooks on how to get this done.”
“The TOD Managers Forum was great networking.”
“I thought the content was so on-point and very engaging. It really helped me reframe issues or expanded my thinking on how to approach some challenges in my own work.”
“The Community-Rooted Economic Inclusion panel was excellent, by far the best that I attended.”
“Really enjoyed the value capture session.”
“I especially liked the session, Regional Transit-Adventures in Climate Resiliency Collaboration.”
“The session about how to activate a neighborhood and work with the neighbors with real actionable steps and partnering with the community (also helping alleviate gentrification) was great.”
“[I liked the] focus on specific transit issues, such as negotiating with freight railroads and effective ways to speed up BRT.”
