The 2022 Safe Streets Summit was the talk of the town! The Safe Streets Summit is an annual collaborative event between the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization (TPO), the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), and the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency (TPA) to provide a local yet regionally connected approach to prioritizing and implementing Complete Streets throughout southeast Florida. This year's theme was "Resilient and Advative Streets," and it was hosted at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami. There were over (insert headcount here) ambitious transportation professionals, elected officials, national, state, and local partners in attendance for the two-day event.
The Summit kicked off on Thursday, February 17, with the mobile workshops sprinkled throughout Miami-Dade. They highlighted future roadway infrastructure plans, climate change challenges, transit access, land development, and more. Participants were able to choose between a 17-mile Key Biscayne bike ride tour, a walking tour through Little Havana, a transit tour through Hialeah's Arts District, and a resilience walking tour of the Little Haiti and Little River neighborhoods.
Day two of the Safe Streets Summit kicked off with a warm welcome from the Honorable Oliver G. Gilbert III, Chairman, Miami-Dade TPO Governing Board. Guylene Berry, Director of Sak Pase Media, Radio & TV Personality, and Entrepreneur was the Summit's emcee. Keynote Speaker Gabe Klein's, Cofounder of Cityfi and Author of "Start-Up City," opening address dissected how to overcome the challenges that come with change: aligning the outcomes, incentives, and interests of public and private to make significant changes, fast, and how to market practically the future that we know that the Southeast Florida region needs, and deserves. Sessions followed that focused on: Hot Topics in Climate Resilience Through Complete Streets; Giving the Green Light to Innovation: Real Solutions for a Multimodal Community; and Adaptive Streets, Flourishing Communities.
The Summit held its annual Safe Streets Awards ceremony, which offers an opportunity to highlight individuals and jurisdictions that have led by example in creating better streets for all users. Conference attendees voted to select Miami-Dade County for the People's Choice Award for their SMART STEP Project Amelia Earhart Entrance. The three counties each honored both an individual and a community or agency.
The Miami Dade TPO awarded the Complete Streets Champion Award to The Honorable Oliver G. Gilbert III, Chairman, Miami-Dade TPO Governing Board, and the Community Award to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District Six. The TPO also awarded the inaugural Outstanding Transportation Partner Award to the Honorable Daniella Levine Cava, Mayor, Miami-Dade County.
The Broward MPO followed by awarding the Complete Streets Champion Award to Jeff Torkelson, Founder, Recyclable Bicycle Exchange (RBX) Program, and the Community Award to the City of Deerfield Beach.
The Palm Beach TPA closed out the ceremony by awarding the Complete Streets Champion Award to The Honorable Chelsea Reed, Vice Mayor, City of Palm Beach Gardens, and the Community Award to the Village of Palm Springs.
Next year's Safe Streets Summit will return to Broward for the 10th anniversary.