Critical Conversations in Transportation Planning

A podcast series produced in coordination with the American Planning Association

Critical Conversations in Transportation Planning is a lively and informative podcast series that challenges conventional wisdom in urban planning and transportation policy.

Co-hosts Em Hall and Divya Gandhi facilitate deep, meaningful dialogues with leading experts who are reshaping how we think about mobility, equity, and community-centered design. From the bustling corridors of the National Planning Conference to intimate conversations with pioneering advocates, we’re revealing the human stories behind policy decisions and the urgent need for transportation systems that truly serve all communities.

These interviews showcase not just her command of complex transportation issues, but her commitment to amplifying voices that are transforming the field—from Tribal community planning specialists to anti-racism advocates to accessibility experts who are reimagining what inclusive transportation truly means.

Critical Conversations in Transportation Planning is the only APA podcast focused squarely on the needs and interests of the Transportation Planning Division’s 4000+ members.

Mike Pritchard, AICP, Assistant Director at York County Planning Commission, at the 2025 National Planning Conference in Denver explores how human-centered design and empathy interviews can transform transportation planning by prioritizing people's lived experiences over traditional data-driven approaches.

The discussion highlights practical strategies for inclusive planning across diverse geographies—from urban centers to rural communities—while emphasizing the importance of storytelling and strong partnerships in securing funding and communicating complex transportation concepts to stakeholders.

This conversation features Jacky Grimshaw and Nina Idemudia, AICP, from the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) in Chicago. They discuss the evolution of transportation planning, the importance of community engagement, and the emergence of millennial leadership in the planning profession.

Jacky shares her extensive experience in advocating for citizen participation in transportation planning, while Nina reflects on her journey from growing up in Detroit to serving as CNT's CEO, and emphasizes the need for planners to address structural inequities. Together, they highlight CNT's innovative approaches and ongoing efforts to create equitable and sustainable urban environments.

In this episode, we hear from Tamika Butler, a national expert on issues related to public policy, the built environment, equity, anti-racism, diversity and inclusion, organizational behavior, and change management, who wears many hats (and bike helmets!).

The conversation covers a wide range of topics related to Tamika's research, which employs a critical race, historical, legal, and policy-based approach to examine how transportation policy and infrastructure have been used to segregate, isolate, and prevent the mobility of Black and other historically oppressed groups of people. Tamika is the principal and founder of Tamika L. Butler Consulting and a doctoral student in Urban Planning at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs.

Olatunji Oboi Reed - founding President & CEO of Equiticity, a racial equity movement, operationalizing for racial equity, increased mobility, and racial justice to improve the lives of Black and Brown people across the United States - discusses emerging research on the ways in which a neighborhood’s infrastructure can have an impact on reducing violence, and how Equiticity’s Mobility Rituals are increasing social cohesion and collective efficacy through bike rides, neighborhood walking tours, and public transit excursions.

This dispatch of Critical Conversation in Transportation Planning kicks off our safety series and features Wes Marshall, PhD, PE, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Denver, and Trung Vo, AICP, PE, Denver Office Director, Senior Planner, and Owner at Toole Design.

Our speakers highlight how many traffic engineering standards are based on flawed assumptions rather than science, specifically pointing to problems with level of service metrics, automatic traffic growth assumptions, and designing for peak hours rather than community needs. They emphasize the need for courage to tackle arterial roads where most fatalities occur, challenging the reactive approach of waiting for crashes to happen instead of proactively designing safer streets for all users.

In this episode we hear from Misty Klann and Cole Grisham, who are both closely involved in managing the Federal Highway Administration's Transportation Planning in Tribal Communities Research Study. This research seeks to align available planning analysis tools with Tribal community needs based on a range of contextual factors, and to quantify the benefits of planning analysis in the project selection and delivery processes.

The findings are intended to contribute to Tribal communities deciding how best to optimize the funding made available through the Tribal Transportation Program.

In this podcast episode, we’ll hear from Judy Shanley, a Project Director with the National Office of Easterseals in Chicago, and Claire Stanley, a Public Policy Analyst at the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN).

Their conversation brings forth insightful ideas and guidance on how transportation professionals can reimagine how we plan for maximum mobility and accessibility in our transportation infrastructure and beyond.