Thrive with Bay Area Transportation
Wednesday, October 30 · 8:30-11 am PDT
San José State University, Student Union, Meeting Room 4
Space is limited!
Step into the future of transportation at this Bay Area in-person summit to consider how abundant, affordable, accessible, and safe transportation transforms the ways we move and live. Connect and collaborate with industry leaders, elected officials, disability & environmental justice advocates, and more in a discussion moderated by Mineta Transportation Institute’s Executive Director Dr. Karen Philbrick. Don’t miss this opportunity to be at the forefront of change and discover how we can thrive as a region!
Welcome
Moderator
Welcome
Matt Mahan
Mayor of San José
Matt Mahan is the 66th Mayor of San José. He formerly served as a teacher through Teach for America, before entering the business world where he founded and grew companies dedicated to empowering neighborhoods and holding our government accountable. These core tenets remain key to his policy priorities as he pledges to bring about a revolution of common sense to city government by creating a system that works just as hard as residents do. He currently resides in San José with his wife, Silvia, and their two children.
Keynote
Moderator
Welcome
Carl Guardino
Chair, California Transportation Commission
Carl Guardino is known throughout the region for his transportation leadership which includes successful management of ballot Measures A & B in 1996 (road and rail, $1.4B); and a 2000 traffic relief initiative generating $7.5 billion in local funds to bring BART to Santa Clara County, and improve Caltrain. In 2008, Guardino managed voter-approved 1/8th cent sales tax Measure to fund a 16-mile Santa Clara County BART extension. Guardino led the successful 2016 “Measure B” which generates $6.5 billion in local funds for traffic relief improvements. In June of 2018, Guardino co-led the Bay Area’s first 9-County transportation measure – Regional Measure 3 – which generates $4.5 Billion in its first 25 years.
Moderator
Moderator
Moderator
Dr. Karen Philbrick
Executive Director of the Mineta
Transportation Institute
Karen Philbrick, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Mineta Transportation Institute. She has been appointed four times by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation (Secretaries LaHood, Foxx, Chao, and Buttigieg) to sit on the USDOT Transit Advisory Committee for Safety. She serves on the Transportation Research Board’s “Transit Safety and Security” and “Passenger Rail Transportation” committees. Dr. Philbrick holds leadership roles on the boards of the American Public Transportation Association, the International Transportation Learning Center, and the Women in Transportation Seminar International. In 2023, she received the WTS Bay Area Chapter's Katherine G. Johnson Trailblazer of the Year Award.
Speakers
Margaret Abe-Koga Mountain View City Councilmember
Dylan Fabris San Francisco Transit Riders, Voices for Public Transportation
Margaret Abe-Koga Mountain View City Councilmember
Margaret Abe-Koga is the first Asian Pacific American female to serve on the Mountain View City Council. She served as Mayor in 2009, leading the City through the Great Recession, and then again in 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic. On the City Council, Margaret has championed the issues of public safety, transportation, affordable housi
Margaret Abe-Koga is the first Asian Pacific American female to serve on the Mountain View City Council. She served as Mayor in 2009, leading the City through the Great Recession, and then again in 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic. On the City Council, Margaret has championed the issues of public safety, transportation, affordable housing, environmental sustainability, youth and families and health and wellness. Margaret also serves on regional bodies including the Bay Area Air Quality Management District; the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Board; the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission; the Valley Transportation Authority(VTA), Caltrain Board, and the Cities Association of Santa Clara County. She is currently running for Santa Clara County Supervisor. Margaret and her husband raised two college-aged girls in Mountain View.
Nathaniel J. Arnold III Vice President of ATU 192
Dylan Fabris San Francisco Transit Riders, Voices for Public Transportation
Margaret Abe-Koga Mountain View City Councilmember
Nathaniel J. Arnold III was born in Bakersfield, CA. However he spent half of his childhood in Los Angeles which he can describe as the country life vs the urban life or Opie meets Ice Cube. Code switching and being able to decipher body language and navigate through difficult situations was paramount to his survival. Nathaniel is a retir
Nathaniel J. Arnold III was born in Bakersfield, CA. However he spent half of his childhood in Los Angeles which he can describe as the country life vs the urban life or Opie meets Ice Cube. Code switching and being able to decipher body language and navigate through difficult situations was paramount to his survival. Nathaniel is a retired Police Officer with Master’s Degree in Safety & Risk Management. He's currently the Vice President of ATU 192, the oldest union west of the Mississippi that was chartered in 1901. He is also the President of the East Bay Urban Alliance which specializes in getting returning citizens employment and acclimating them back into society by teaching De- escalation and conflict resolution. Nathaniel is one of the founding father’s of the “Bay Area Black Workers Center” personally recruited by Dr. Steven Pitts out of U.C. Berkeley retired. He also was taught Crisis Intervention Stress Management techniques by Dr. Janet Childs who debriefed the first responders after the Oklahoma city bombing. He was part of a team that was successful in getting De-escalation, C.I.S.M. and conflict resolution into our contract with AC Transit.
Supervisor Cindy Chavez Santa Clara County
Dylan Fabris San Francisco Transit Riders, Voices for Public Transportation
Dylan Fabris San Francisco Transit Riders, Voices for Public Transportation
Cindy Chavez, Santa Clara County Supervisor for District 2, is a leader in expanding transportation services. As Chair of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, she has been instrumental in bringing BART to North San Jose, securing funding to expand BART to Santa Clara, extending light rail service into East San José, and overse
Cindy Chavez, Santa Clara County Supervisor for District 2, is a leader in expanding transportation services. As Chair of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, she has been instrumental in bringing BART to North San Jose, securing funding to expand BART to Santa Clara, extending light rail service into East San José, and overseeing the planning, funding, construction, and community relations for San José’s first Bus Rapid Transit project. She also represents the county on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, where she advocates for regional transportation improvements. Chavez is committed to creating more accessible and efficient transit options for her constituents.
Dylan Fabris San Francisco Transit Riders, Voices for Public Transportation
Dylan Fabris San Francisco Transit Riders, Voices for Public Transportation
Dylan Fabris San Francisco Transit Riders, Voices for Public Transportation
Dylan Fabris is the Community & Policy Manager at San Francisco Transit Riders. In his role, he leads SFTR’s initiatives to support local and regional policy and advocacy efforts with a focus on achieving social and environmental justice. Dylan will also be supporting our engagement with our community of members. Dylan grew up in the subu
Dylan Fabris is the Community & Policy Manager at San Francisco Transit Riders. In his role, he leads SFTR’s initiatives to support local and regional policy and advocacy efforts with a focus on achieving social and environmental justice. Dylan will also be supporting our engagement with our community of members. Dylan grew up in the suburbs of car-dependent Southern California and has since fallen in love with the freedom provided by San Francisco’s diverse public transit system.
Christine Fitzgerald Silicon Valley Independent Living Center, Voices for Public Transportation
Christine Fitzgerald Silicon Valley Independent Living Center, Voices for Public Transportation
Christine Fitzgerald Silicon Valley Independent Living Center, Voices for Public Transportation
Christine Fitzgerald has been working as the Community Advocate for the Silicon Valley Independent Living Center for eight years and has been an advocate for people with disabilities all her life. Christine was born with Cerebral Palsy and has Glaucoma along with several other disabilities and has always worked in the non-profit sector fo
Christine Fitzgerald has been working as the Community Advocate for the Silicon Valley Independent Living Center for eight years and has been an advocate for people with disabilities all her life. Christine was born with Cerebral Palsy and has Glaucoma along with several other disabilities and has always worked in the non-profit sector for over 30+ years! She is committed to making a difference for people with disabilities and encourages people to advocate for their rights and the rights for others!
Rudy Gonzalez Political Director, San Francisco Building Trades
Christine Fitzgerald Silicon Valley Independent Living Center, Voices for Public Transportation
Christine Fitzgerald Silicon Valley Independent Living Center, Voices for Public Transportation
Rudy Gonzalez carried his first Union card at the age of 18 as a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. After serving as a shop steward, he volunteered as a member organizer and learned to campaign in the South, where he saw firsthand the struggle that workers face when they attempt to unionize under hostile conditions. Inf
Rudy Gonzalez carried his first Union card at the age of 18 as a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. After serving as a shop steward, he volunteered as a member organizer and learned to campaign in the South, where he saw firsthand the struggle that workers face when they attempt to unionize under hostile conditions. Informed by his Catholic upbringing's social justice doctrine and motivated by a sense of stewardship instilled by his father’s lifelong career as a firefighter, he found purpose in building power for workers.
Lateefah Simon Bay Area Rapid Transit Board Director (virtual)
Christine Fitzgerald Silicon Valley Independent Living Center, Voices for Public Transportation
Lateefah Simon Bay Area Rapid Transit Board Director (virtual)
Lateefah began her career of advocacy at age 16 as an outreach coordinator for the Young Women’s Freedom Center. At age 18, she gave birth to her eldest daughter, Aminah, and quickly learned as a young single mother that government wasn’t working for people like her. A year later, she became Executive Director of YWFC and spent the next
Lateefah began her career of advocacy at age 16 as an outreach coordinator for the Young Women’s Freedom Center. At age 18, she gave birth to her eldest daughter, Aminah, and quickly learned as a young single mother that government wasn’t working for people like her. A year later, she became Executive Director of YWFC and spent the next decade earning national acclaim for her advocacy on behalf of marginalized young women. In 2003, at age 26, Lateefah became the youngest woman to receive a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship. Lateefah was later chosen by then-San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris to lead the creation of Back on Track. In 2016, Lateefah ran and was elected to the Bay Area Rapid Transit Board of Directors. Born legally blind, Lateefah relies solely on public transportation to go about her day and sought to make BART more affordable for working families and transit-dependent people like herself.
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Organized by Move Bay Area
Move Bay Area brings transportation leaders together with community in-person to discover commonality and regional solutions to our transportation challanges.
