Mayor Liz Lempert on a bike. (click to expand)

This Saturday, the annual NJ Bike-Walk Summit will take place in the Friend Center at Princeton University. This is a new thing – in recent years the Summit has usually taken place in New Brunswick. Delegates from around the State and beyond will come to Princeton to learn about new developments and best practice for making it easier for people to choose to walk or use bikes. The speakers will include national experts on policy and street design, and our own Mayor Liz Lempert (pictured above).

The Bike-Walk Summit is organized by the NJ Bike & Walk Coalition, a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to protecting, promoting, educating and connecting New Jersey residents who walk and cycle. The conference agenda features a number of sessions on topics like ‘Safe Routes To School’, ‘Community Engagement’ and ‘Equity and Sustainability’. During the Summit, local group ‘Code for Princeton‘ will be holding a civic hackathon, with the goal to “bring together interdisciplinary teams of coders, policy enthusiasts, and community members to design technology solutions to local transportation issues”.

The Summit comes at a timely moment for Princeton cycling. The town is working on a new bicycle circulation plan, which is intended to make a joined-up network of high-quality cycling facilities. This week, local newspaper ‘US-1’ had a cover story on the upcoming Bike-Walk Summit, and the challenges facing local people who use bikes. As one local cyclist wrote:

“I ride daily and year round. Experience suggests that many motorists seem barely aware of the rules of the road”

US-1 also features an article by Barbara McCann, one of the founders  of the ‘Complete Streets’ movement, which aims to give equal importance to all road users, including those who aren’t in cars. McCann is one of the keynote speakers at the summit on Saturday. Also on the roster is Liz Lempert, Mayor of Princeton, who is a member of the Federal Highway Administration “Mayor’s Challenge for Safer People, Safer Streets”.

Online pre-registration is $58.74 or tickets will be available at the door on Saturday at $70. Registration and breakfast is 8.00 a.m. – 8.45 a.m. after which the program will start. The Friend Center is at Charlton and William Street in central Princeton. Signup for the Code For Princeton hackathon is available here.