Mia Birk will present in the panel: Boulder (CO) and Portland (OR) - The Evolution of Two Walkable/Bikeable Cities. She will also present one of our new evening conference sessions: The Life and Times of A Bicycle & Pedestrian Professional. Mia is a familiar face at Pro Walk/Pro Bike conferences; the Madison conference will be her sixth.

Mia has 16 years experience in the transportation field, focused exclusively on energy-efficient and environmentally-sensitive planning, design, and implementation. She is an Adjunct Professor at Portland State University, teaching Pedestrian and Bicycle Issues for Master' students in urban planning. She has developed close to 100 bicycle, pedestrian, trail, and corridor plans, and has managed the public process, design, and implementation of more than 300 miles of new walkway, trail, and bikeway improvements. Mia led Portland, Oregon's Bicycle Program from 1993 until 1999.

"I just completed a study of the growth in bike-related business activity in Portland," Mia reports. "It's very exciting because the growth is due in part to Portland's investment in bicycling infrastructure and promotion. The City is focusing on the bike industry (tourism, manufacturing, retail, other) as a "target" industry in its sustainable business program as a result." Mia is also managing Portland's Safe Routes to School program, which is seeing enormous growth in bicycling and walking to school."

When she's not in the bike saddle or advocating for new trails and facilities, Mia is a tennis addict.