In early celebration of Bike-to-Work Day, CIP presents a FREE webinar, “Planning for Active Transportation”. Invited panellists will share their expertise and discuss how they encourage walking, cycling, and other modes of active transportation in their communities through research, planning, and advocacy.

We are also pleased to welcome Member of Parliament for Halifax and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Andy Fillmore, who will be join us as the moderator for this panel. Please scroll for panel and moderator bios.

Panellists:

  • Armi De Francia (Town of Ajax)
  • Dr. Ahmed El-Geneidy (McGill University)
  • Chris Bruntlett (Dutch Cycling Embassy)

Register: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6586598432433374221

Panellist Bios:
Armi De Francia
Armi is an Active Transportation Planner at the Town of Ajax who challenges misconceptions on who can benefit from active transportation. She works to enable more communities to receive the benefits of active transportation by collaborating across disciplines, building capacity, and leveraging existing community assets. In addition to implementing the Integrated Transportation Master Plan and the Transportation Demand Management Plan, she manages the Town of Ajax Active School Programs and implements active transportation actions in the Age-Friendly Ajax Community Plan. Her approach to inclusive engagement involves applying an intersectional lens as well as techniques in a counseling method called motivational interviewing. In 2020, she became the second Canadian, 1st Filipino Canadian, and 1st racialized Canadian to receive the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals Public Sector Employee of the Year award.

Dr. Ahmed El-Geneidy
Ahmed El-Geneidy is a full professor at the School of Urban Planning, McGill University. He conducts research in the area of land use and transport planning, public transport operations and planning, travel behavior analysis concentrating on the use of motorized and non-motorized modes of transport and their impacts on health and well-being, and measurements of accessibility in urban contexts. Ahmed has a special interest in measuring and understanding the transport needs of disadvantaged populations. He established the Transportation Research at McGill (TRAM) research lab in 2007, which is known for generating practice ready research that impacted communities in Canada and around the world. He has published more than 140 articles in peer reviewed academic journals through his collaborations with students trained in the TRAM lab.
Ahmed received his Bsc and Master’s degree in Architectural Engineering, University of Alexandria Egypt and received his PhD in Urban Studies from Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, Portland State University, USA. 

Ahmed is currently serving as the co-editor in chief of Transport Reviews and the editor of the Journal of Transport and Land Use and Transportation. He is also serving as the chair and board member of the World Society on Transport and Land use Research (WSTLUR). He is currently serving on the board of directors for the regional public transport planning authority in Montreal Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM).

Chris Bruntlett
Chris Bruntlett is Marketing and Communication Manager at the Dutch Cycling Embassy, a public-private partnership that represents the best knowledge, experience, and experts from the Netherlands. As a long-time campaigner in Vancouver, he fell in love with Dutch bike culture in 2016, inspiring him to co-author the book, “Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality”. Chris uses his knowledge and passion to share practical lessons for global cities wishing to follow their footsteps, and become better places to live, work, and—of course—cycle.

Guest Moderator:
Andy Fillmore, MP
Andy Fillmore is the Member of Parliament for Halifax and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities. First elected in 2015, he previously served as Parliamentary Secretary for Canadian Heritage, as well as for Democratic Institutions, and served as Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs. Before politics, Andy spent twenty years as an urban planner and community builder in the private, public, and academic sectors, including as Halifax’s first-ever Manager of Urban Design. He attended Acadia University and holds graduate degrees from Harvard University and Dalhousie University. Andy grew up in Halifax, and he is a proud, unrelenting champion for his hometown in Canada’s Parliament.