Keynote Speaker
Barb Chamberlain – Chief Strategic Officer at Cascade Bicycle Club and Washington Bikes
Barb Chamberlain joined the Bicycle Alliance of Washington as executive director in August of 2012, and a year later led its name change to Washington Bikes. In 2015 she led the organization into a merger with Cascade Bicycle Club, a Seattle-based regional nonprofit, in the process creating the nation’s largest statewide bike nonprofit; she now serves the merged organization as Chief Strategic Officer. The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals named her their 2015 Nonprofit Professional of the Year.
An Idaho native born in Lewiston, Barb served four years in the Idaho state legislature in the early 1990s, the youngest woman ever elected to the state House and Senate. The community activism that helped launched her political career included volunteering with the North Idaho Centennial Trail Committee. She later was elected to the North Idaho College Board of Trustees and served for 5 years, chairing the board for 2 years.
Barb led communications and public affairs at Washington State University Spokane for over 14 years. As a volunteer advocate in Spokane, WA, she established Bike to Work Spokane, chaired the Bicycle Advisory Board, and served on the board of the Spokane Regional Transportation Council, the region’s metropolitan planning organization. She founded womenbikeblogs.com, won a national award for her brand-building work with Twitter, and speaks regularly on the use of social media for advocacy.
On Twitter: @barbchamberlain
Keynote Speaker Daniel G. Johnson – Idaho Senator
First elected to the Idaho Senate in 2012, Legislative District 6, Nez Perce and Lewis Counties; Senator Johnson graduated from the University of Idaho in 1989. He is also a graduate of Virginia Tech with an M.S. in forest economics. He currently resides in Lewiston, Idaho.
Senator Johnson’s non-motorized story is unique. He chose to live without a car for approximately 16 months to see what it would be like. Occasionally he would accept rides from people that took them out of their way, but mostly the Senator walked or biked to his destinations. Sometimes Johnson travelled on the bus system which was not that developed at the time to doctor appointments, work, and just to get from point A to B. One time he even took the bus to Moscow for a meeting at the University of Idaho.
Because Senator Johnson lived close to church, work, grocery center, and the doctor’s office, walking or biking really worked well. Our favorite quote: “I really enjoyed the freedom of not driving. I had to walk up a long steep hill and on occasion I would get to the top of the hill at the same time as a car that passed me up the hill because of the traffic from the 4-way stop just ahead.”
The Senator’s longest walks were around 12-15 miles round trip with various stops along the way and groceries always the last stop before heading straight home. While in Boise for the legislative session, the Senator lives close enough to walk when the weather is reasonable. We are appreciative of Senator Johnson’s support to raise awareness of walkers and bikers as well as routes to facilitate different modes of transportation.
Presenter Gary Toth – National Transportation Expert
Gary Toth has substantial expertise in transportation, particularly with Complete Streets implementation, Livable Street Design and the integration of transportation and land use planning. Gary Toth has helped communities, environmental interests and transportation agencies collaborate during his 41 year career as a transportation engineer. He was instrumental in the creation of the Smart Transportation Guide for Pennsylvania and New Jersey, an overlay to each state’s design manuals that foster use of transportation to support Livability and Complete Streets outcomes and was part of the team that created the Model Street Design Manual for Living Streets. He summarized his insight in a 2009 book – the Citizen’s Guide for Engaging Transportation Professionals.