Slow Down in Town — Streets Are for Everyone
See & Share / In-Person Education – June 4, 2026
People from all over the Commonwealth who are working on improving walking, biking, ADA accessibility, and access to transit in their communities gathered in Harrisburg in early June of 2026 to confer, compare notes and learn about best practices in active transportation. If you are working on these and related topics, consider attending the next time such a summit is offered (likely in 2028 somewhere along the Amtrak line between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh). It’s a great way to meet people doing this work in various parts of PA, see examples of work underway, and discover key elements to help you bring active transportation improvements home for your area.
The event took place in Harrisburg at Locust Court in the center of the city, three blocks from the Capitol Complex, one block from the downtown bus transfer center, and four blocks from the Amtrak station.
The keynote speaker was Barkha Patel, former Director of Infrastructure in Jersey City, NJ, which holds the distinction of having made meaningful progress on the city’s Vision Zero goals, even achieving zero deaths on local roads in a recent year. She shared an inspiring story of bringing about meaningful changes in road safety on a modest budget, outlining a process of demonstration projects for proof of concept, providing an opportunity for engagement and refinement, followed by quick build projects in priority areas indicated in the High-Injury Network, and then by permanent installations.
Immediately after the keynote, there was a panel discussion introducing the new Coalition for Active Mobility in Pennsylvania. The panel consisted of representatives from the founding organizations for the new coalition, who along with the moderator, also from a founding partner, discussed the history of community advocacy for active transportation, road safety, and inviting connected networks for people and how a statewide rallying voice is needed. As stated on the group’s new website, “We envision a Pennsylvania where residents do not need to drive in order to thrive.” The coalition aims to be a group of groups, so if you are part of a regional or local group with an interest in promoting walking, biking, accessiblity, and access to transit, you may want to suggest that group complete the interest form and start getting involved this summer. Individuals can also sign up to be on the email list, but the direct participation is intended to take the form of intra-group exchange and collaborative action.
The full Summit program is available here. Bios for all of the speakers from the summit, including Ms. Patel, are available here. And all the presentation slides are here.
Introducing the Coalition for Active Mobility in PA!
MOBILE TOURS OFFER ON-SITE ENRICHMENT
There were tours before, during, and after the AT Summit this year. Participants were encouraged to bring a bike — Bike Valet parking was provided by Recycle Bicycle Harrisburg — and their walking shoes. And for those who wanted to ride but hadn’t brought a bike, there were two options, either take advantage of the temporary pass afforded to attendees by SusqueCycle BikeShare or borrow one of the PDC’s Micro-Fleet vehicles.
On Wednesday evening, before the Coalition for Active Mobility in PA Reception at Millworks, there was an AT Infrastructure Walking Tour of Downtown and Midtown locations. Did you know the City of Harrisburg has built examples in place of raised crosswalks, contraflow bike-lanes, modal filters, one-way to two-way reversion, roundabouts, and road diets? The tour looked at work completed, in progress, and still in need of improvement.
During the Summit, Bicycle South Central PA led an on-bike tour of bike infrastructure after lunch and there was a shuttle to take attendees to visit the Recycle Bicycle warehouse and workshop in the Allison Hill Neighborhood east of Downtown.
Following the Summit, there was different bike options for those able to stick around for the afternoon — a SusqueCycle BikeShare guided ride along the Susquehanna and an E-bike Tour of the southern portion of the Capital Area Greenbelt, checking out amenities along the route like trails on trails for mountain biking and the Five Senses Garden (and ice cream from Urban Churn).
Further information about the tours, including links to route maps are available in the full conference program.
Find Out What's Where in Downtown HarrisburgThis event was suitable for a wide variety of participants, whether people who have formal roles with municipalities or those who are engaged activists and advocates as well as anyone just interested in getting involved in promoting active transportation in their communities. There were people involved in active transportation from the state agency side, metropolitan and regional planning organizations, county and city planners, and design consultants, like engineers, planners, and landscape architects.
For those coming in the evening before, there was an option to do an evening walk in town. And there was a reception originally scheduled to be held at Millworks Brewpub, but moved on an emergency basis to The High Dive after a car crashed into the electrical box at Millworks and shut down the power earlier in the day. During the reception where people were able to meet the founders of the Coalition for Active Mobility in Pennsylvania, the irony of “cars ruining everything” was amply noted — that said everyone had a great time at the alternate location!
There were also tours integrated into the event day-of, though it was challenging to convince people to pry themselves away from the rest of the proceedings. Check out the event schedule literally at a glance below and in a downloadable file including the session descriptions and relevant links HERE.
For a plan of the event venue and list of which sessions were in which rooms, check out this document.
Now that the event has past, you can access pdfs of all the presentation slides here.
DOH PRIORITY COMMUNITY BENEFIT
Travel Cost Assistance Coverage Was Available!
The Department of Health, the principal sponsor of the 2026 Summit, has a particular interest in providing technical assistance and funding for planning in priority communities, so people attending who work or live in those areas were able to apply for funding to help cover travel expenses. The current DOH priority counties are Berks, Clearfield, Erie, Fayette, Forest, Green, Lackawanna, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mercer, Northumberland, and Philadelphia. This includes several new counties that have not been on the priority list in previous years. The DOH county list is supplemented by the DEP PennEnviroScreen 2.0 assessment, with municipalities with overall ratings of 60% or higher on the Environmental Justice index also qualifying as priority locations.
Learn About the Scholarship Program
Summit Sponsors Came Out in Support of Active Transportation Promotion, Education, and Planning in PA!
This year, the principal sponsor of the Statewide Active Transportation Summit was the PA Department of Health, with funds from a Public Health Improvement Grant awarded in connection with implementation of the State Health Improvement Plan. In addition, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources was supporting the event at the Safe Streets Champion Level as part of the education component of a Community Conservation Partnerships Program Grant made possible by the Environmental Stewardship Fund. PDC sought additional sponsors interested in showing their support for Active Transportation in Pennsylvania.
For future reference, consider whether you have an organizational commitment or stake in public health and physical activity? Are you a service provider with skills and expertise that Active Transportation advocates should be aware of? Do you supply products or equipment that improve road safety and enhance opportunities for walking and biking? Plan to sign on to sponsor the next Statewide Active Transportation Summit and put your program, brand, name, and/or product in the mix. This is an opportunity to reach people in a range of roles and from communities across the Commonwealth. You can see the outline of the 2026 sponsorship levels here.
Learn About SponsorshipTHANK THE ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT SPONSORS!
Registration Closed
Registration has closed for the 2026 event.
The cost was $75 per attendee prior to the late registration period as of May 21. Speakers and approved Priority Community attendees were eligible for reduced registration rates.
The reception was $40.
Partial refunds of registrations were only available for cancellations prior to May 21.
PHOTOS FROM THE 2026 AT SUMMIT
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