Introducing the Advisory Committee for the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI) Program

Dr. Meredith Glaser

Meredith is an urban mobility researcher, lecturer, and Executive Director of the Urban Cycling Institute, at the University of Amsterdam. She brings an interdisciplinary perspective to urban mobility, with her background in public health, urban planning, and environmental science. Her research focuses on policy innovation, knowledge transfer, and capacity building for accelerated implementation of sustainable transport goals. Her research has been published in international peer-review journals. She has managed academic output for several international projects. Alongside research, Meredith is one of the world’s most experienced educators for students and professionals seeking to learn Dutch transport planning policies and practices, and has created and led numerous education and training programs. She is also a member of the advisory board at CROW Fietsberaad, a Dutch knowledge platform for bicycle policy, and the Lab of Thought. She is originally from California and holds Masters degrees in urban planning and public health from UC Berkeley. She received her Ph.D. in urban planning from the University of Amsterdam, promoted by Prof. Dr. Marco te Brömmelstroet.

Emmanuel John

Emmanuel John currently serves as the President of the Africa Urban Cycling Organization. He is also a Board member and Vice President for the African chapter of the World Cycling Alliance and a former Board Member of the Cycling Federation of Nigeria.

Emmanuel is the Director of Africa Sustainable Urban Mobility Course and Open Streets Abuja initiative. He also coordinates the activities for World Bicycle Day in Nigeria and is the host of the Capital City Cycling Championship. An expert in sustainable transport and road safety with 24 years of experience at government and NGO levels, Emmanuel John leads the advocacy for Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) inclusion in urban mobility while providing leadership for public transport policy development at national, regional, and city levels.

Emmanuel John is involved in several regional projects and initiatives. He serves as Chair of the Capacity Building for NGOs and Civil Society Work Group at the UNEP/WALK21 Africa Network for Walking and Cycling. In addition, he has authored nine books and is a regular keynote speaker at conferences across the world. Emmanuel John is a Transport Planning Ph.D. candidate at the University of Portharcourt, Nigeria, with research focusing on determinants of cycling mode choice in Nigeria.

Jon Orcutt

Jon Orcutt has 30 years of experience shaping sustainable transportation policies. Before joining Bike New York in 2019, he was the Communications and Advocacy Director at TransitCenter, a foundation setting a national agenda for rebuilding mass transit in American cities. Jon was Director of Policy at the NYC Department of Transportation from 2007 to 2014. He oversaw the development of a new strategic plan for NYCDOT and was a leader of the team that initiated major street design innovations on New York City streets. Jon managed the creation of the Citi Bike bike share system and coordinated the development of Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero traffic safety policy. Jon has also consulted governments, organizations, and companies on city transportation strategies, traffic safety, bike share systems, and bicycle transportation policies. Earlier in his career, he served as Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

Janette Sadik-Khan

Janette Sadik-Khan is one of the world’s foremost authorities on transportation and urban transformation. She served as New York City’s transportation commissioner from 2007 to 2013 under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, overseeing historic changes to the city’s streets. She oversaw the pedestrianization of Broadway in Times Square, built nearly 400 miles of bike lanes and established Citi Bike, the largest bike share system in North America, and she launched seven rapid bus lines across the city while setting in motion the creation of more than 70 plazas. A founding principal with Bloomberg Associates, she works with mayors around the world to reimagine and redesign their cities. She chairs the National Association of Transportation Officials and the Global Designing Cities Initiative, implementing new, people-focused street design standards, which have been adopted in more than 150 cities across the United States and around the world.

Heather Thompson

Heather Thompson is the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), a pioneer organization for the global movement for better cycling infrastructure and policy. ITDP is also the founder of the Cycling Cities campaign which aims to bring 25 million more people closer to safe, accessible cycle lanes by 2025. Heather has been a part of ITDP for over a decade, including serving on the Board of Directors.

Throughout her career, Ms. Thompson has worked with the environmental non-profit sector to design strategies with large-scale impact. She has advised clients, including the Asian Development Bank, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and Environmental Defense Fund on finding ways to help cities and natural systems increase resilience in the face of climate change, population growth, and other development pressures. Previously, Ms. Thompson was co-founder and Vice President of Programs for ClimateWorks, a network of teams that promote sectoral policies to mitigate climate change, and a Principal at CEA, where she led the firm’s work in philanthropic strategy. Ms. Thompson has lived and worked abroad in China, the U.K., and Denmark.

David Uniman

David Louis Uniman served as the former Bicycle Manager for the city of Bogota under the leadership of Mayor Enrique Peñalosa, and is currently consulting for the World Bank to design Vital Neighborhoods using the Superblock/Low Traffic Neighborhood approaches. He has a double Masters from MIT in Transportation Engineering and City Planning, and is currently pursuing his third Master in Landscape Architecture at the UPC in Barcelona. He’s worked at the intersection of urban revitalization and active transport with organizations like Steer, the World Resources Institute, Gehl Studio, TransMilenio and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. Most importantly, David spends most of his free time playing with his Cocker Spaniel “Oli” and trying to win at tennis.