We are thrilled to announce Barkha Patel as the Keynote Speaker for the 2026 Tennessee Bike Walk Summit in Franklin, Tennessee!

Barkha R Patel is a local government leader and urban planning professional with 10 years of experience in implementing transformational and inclusive public infrastructure. She most recently served as the Director of Infrastructure for Jersey City, NJ, a cabinet-level position for one of the most densely-populated and ethnically diverse cities in the country. Barkha is currently advising leaders and organizations on how to innovate government operations and build safe, sustainable, and people-centered public spaces in their communities. She also teaches the Urban Design Studio at Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

As Jersey City’s first Infrastructure Director, Barkha oversaw the planning, design, and implementation of the City’s critical public infrastructure including all municipal streets, transit, parks, public spaces, buildings, and other public facilities. She led the City’s Architecture, Engineering, Transportation, Sustainability, and Innovation agencies, which are responsible for over $600 million of capital improvements to enhance the quality of life for Jersey City’s residents and visitors. Under Barkha’s leadership, the City has experienced a year with zero traffic fatalities on municipal streets, launch of the city’s first on-demand microtransit system, reconstruction of dozens of streets to prioritize walking, cycling, and transit, expansion of parks, green space, and recreational opportunities in every neighborhood of the city, creation of award-winning innovative public spaces, transition to energy-efficient municipal buildings and fleet of electric vehicles, increased investment in urban forestry with over 1,000 new trees planted, and the incorporation of cultural identity within the built environment through meaningful infrastructure improvements. More information about Barkha and her work is available at www.barkharpatel.com.

Keynote Address: Vision Zero in Action

Safe mobility is a human right. While many of our towns and cities recognize this right in policy, they struggle uphold it through physical infrastructure. The keynote presentation will explore how a growing city addressed its transportation safety problem, one intersection at a time. Under the leadership of former Infrastructure Director Barkha Patel, Jersey City, New Jersey transformed its transportation network within the last ten years to prioritize walking, biking, transit, and public space. As the projects grew in scale from an intersection to a block to entire corridors, consistent innovation and investment in active transportation resulted in historic street safety improvements for Jersey City - including a year with zero traffic deaths on municipal streets. Beyond Vision Zero, these projects have helped the community see that streets can, and should, do much more than move vehicles. In Jersey City, street safety and civic innovation are now embedded within government operations in a lasting way. This presentation will examine how towns and cities can optimize their existing public infrastructure to better meet community needs, with examples of recent transportation, public space, and sustainability projects.