Joe Gilpin, Planner

I would venture to guess that for most people, their first true feeling of limitless freedom was when they rode a bicycle for the first time. That feeling stayed with me through life every time I ride by bike and somehow I've turned it into my career. Being part of a movement that reminds people of this freedom and develops the resources and facilities to spread this feeling around to many more is extremely rewarding. Being part of Alta is being on the leading edge of bicycle and pedestrian innovation, I can see into the future, and the future is bright.

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Joe Gilpin brings a diverse background, including European perspectives, in bicycle and pedestrian advocacy, education, design, and planning to Alta. Joe provides technical and analytical research and writing, fieldwork and site analysis, mapping, data analysis, facility design and creative services to the firm.

Prior to joining Alta in 2006, Joe worked in a variety of capacities in alternative transportation modes. Joe participated in research in California freeway congestion pricing, local bus integration of Intelligent Transportation Systems, and bicycle rental analysis at rail stations in England. Joe worked in bicycle and pedestrian advocacy as Executive Director and President of the San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition where he helped grow the organization from infancy and instituted several notable programs such as the ‘Bike First’ commuter incentive package, and ‘Coexist’ public service campaigns. Joe also worked as the County bicycle coordinator continuing promotional/educational campaigns. Since 2004, Joe has worked as a bicycle and pedestrian planner with RRM Design Group and now Alta Planning + Design. Projects include: bicycle plans, trails and pedestrian plans, trail feasibility studies, facility design, and Safe Routes to School Assessment, and safety education.

Recent Projects

• Central Utah Valley Bicycle and Pedestrian Study (Orem, UT)
  Alta Planning + Design was contracted by the Mountainland Association of Governments (MAG) to develop a Bicycle and Pedestrian Study that covers the City of Orem, Utah, and its connections to neighboring cities on all sides within the County. This project contains a heavy public involvement and training components for City and MAG staff in Complete Streets principles to aid in project implementation.
• Dubai Pedestrian Safety and Mobility Action Plan (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
  Alta Planning + Design is working with the Dubai Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) to develop a Pedestrian Safety and Mobility Action Plan. Dubai’s rapid growth in recent years has resulted in significant traffic increases and rising pedestrian road deaths. In 2007, pedestrian fatalities accounted for over 40% of the municipality’s traffic fatalities. While those numbers have decreased over the past year due to ongoing RTA safety efforts, the 3-year goal of the Action Plan is to reduce the pedestrian accident rate an additional 30% while increasing walking trips by 20%. Joe spent over four months in Dubai managing this project and working closely with RTA. 
• Kodiak Island Borough Road Trails System Master Plan (Kodiak, AK)
  Alta Planning + Design led the Borough of Kodiak in the creation of a multiple-use trail plan that capitalized on the Borough’s open space opportunities. Alta’s team included the Angelo Planning Group and local civil engineering firm Kodiak Construction Services. The team carefully examined opportunities and constraints, worked with stakeholders, and designed summer and winter trail options for hikers, bicyclists, and motorized users. In particular, Alta staff trained local volunteers to assess and GPS trails that were used as the base for the existing conditions and identification of positive and negative control points; this helped involved citizens in the project and reduced costs for the Borough. Among the numerous project accomplishments, Alta worked in concert with local leaders and stakeholders to identify multiple trail development opportunities that responded to historical factors including real estate development pressures, private property access and liability concerns, and multiple-use conflicts.
• Bozeman Area Transportation Plan – Bozeman, MT
  As a part of the Robert Peccia & Associates team, Joe performed project tasks specifically related to bicycle and pedestrian transportation including public involvement, facility inventory, existing conditions analysis, network improvement recommendations and implementation strategies. He worked with many interest groups and members of the public and presented at City Commission and TCC meetings.
• Bozeman Safe Routes to School Assessment – Bozeman, MT
  Joe worked with the City of Bozeman, the Gallatin Valley Safe Routes to School Task Force and the Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board to fund and implement a comprehensive Safe Routes to School Assessment for all elementary schools in Bozeman. The project includes a Community Workshop, walking audits for 7 elementary schools, school improvement plans with infrastructure recommendations and next steps for all 5 ‘E’s’ (Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, and Evaluation).

• College to Huffine Bicycle Path – Bozeman, MT
  

  As a part of the Robert Peccia & Associates team, Joe led the design of a 2-mile bicycle path in for the City of Bozeman in Montana. This trail is a key linkage between Montana State University and neighborhoods to the west. Key issues included intersection treatments to ensure visibility to pathway users. This project will be built in 2009.

Selected Presentations & Trainings

• “Planning for Pedestrians and Bicycles” May 2008, IES-APA Conference, Priest Lake, ID

• “Bike First Incentive Program” September 2005 Walk & Roll California (CBC), Ventura CA