Principal, resume
Michael Jones has managed more than 200 studies since 1985, ranging from major national, state and regional plans to corridor studies and plans for small towns. He is a nationally recognized expert in bicycle, pedestrian and trail planning and design, as well as in financial analysis and transportation and parking management. Michael has developed innovative methodologies and models for topics such as bicycle demand, GIS-linked roadway suitability and shared-use parking. He has presented to and been published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, the American Planning Association, the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
back to top
Principal, resume
Brett Hondorp has more than 10 years of non-motorized transportation and environmental planning experience. In addition to his work developing dozens of bicycle, pedestrian and trail plans and feasibility studies, Brett is a leading national Safe Routes to School (SR2S) expert. He has worked on a wide range of SR2S projects from coast to coast, including leading walking audits, developing engineering improvement plans, preparing grant applications, creating walking route maps and managing strategic SR2S funding and implementation programs. As a Safe Routes to School National Course instructor, Brett has taught numerous SR2S trainings attended by local agency staff, advocates and community leaders. Brett is an avid bicycle commuter and a competitive road, mountain and cyclocross racer who helps manage a prominent Bay Area cycling team.
back to top
Principal, resume
George Hudson is one of the leading trail and bikeway designers in the western United States. He has worked exclusively on alternative transportation projects for the past 12 years. He has acquired rights-of-way, master-planned more than 200 miles of alternative transportation routes, secured in excess of $10 million for development projects, facilitated public processes on more than 25 projects, addressed endangered species issues in conjunction with development projects, successfully negotiated trail rights with railroads and overseen $35 million of construction. George has a proven record of accomplishment on complex projects requiring a multi-disciplinary team approach. His experience has ranged from major urban waterfront esplanades to earthen hiking and ski trails in national forests.
back to top
Principal, resume
Mia Birk has 16 years of 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’s degree students in urban planning. She has developed more than 60 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 is a nationally recognized author and speaker on pedestrian and bicycle issues, including Main Street design, traffic calming, context-sensitive design and safe routes to school.
back to top
Principal, resume
Jeff Olson is a registered architect and recognized as one of the leading experts in the country in the area of trail and bikeway planning and design. He has worked on numerous studies throughout the region and country, and was the creator and founder of the Millennium Trails program for the USDOT. Jeff has developed and teaches a course called “Bicycling, Walking and Trails: Innovations in Transportation” at the State University of New York, the first university program of its kind in the U.S., and is director of the university’s new Initiative for Healthy Infrastructure (iHi). He has served on the Pedestrian Committee of the Transportation Research Board and was a co-founder of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP).
back to top
Senior Planner, resume
Eric Anderson has seven years of experience in the bicycle and pedestrian transportation field, spanning agency, consulting and advocacy roles. Prior to joining Alta, he served as the Director of Planning for the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, where he was involved with bicycle and pedestrian projects such as the countywide bicycle plan update process, the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) rail-with-trail pathway, and the Non-motorized Transportation Pilot Program. He also assisted the County of Marin with their efforts to implement the County of Marin Unincorporated Areas Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan (2001). Eric got his start in non-motorized transportation as one of the first staff members for the City of Chicago Bicycle Program, where he biked to every neighborhood in the city while conducting field work.
back to top
Senior Planner/Landscape Architect, resume
Michael Rose has been with Alta since 2004. He is a registered landscape architect in Oregon and has a background in transportation planning. He has experience with a broad range of planning, design and engineering projects including parks, soft-surface trails, rails with trails, regional trails, light rail transit and bus rapid transit. Michael also has strong technical skills in data analysis, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), digital visualization graphics and construction drawings.
back to top
Transportation Planner, resume
Dr. Sherry Ryan is a transportation planner with a focus on GIS applications, transit, transportation planning and research. In addition to her duties at Alta, she is also an Associate Professor at San Diego State University in the graduate program for city planning, where she teaches courses in GIS, transportation planning and land use planning. Sherry has published extensively on the subjects of transportation-land use relationships, travel behavior and urban form.
back to top
Associate, resume
While working for Sonoma County, Philip Sales was responsible for managing park acquisition, development, park and trail construction, major park renovation projects, resource management planning and environmental documentation for the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department (SCRP), with an annual capital budget of $6 million. During his tenure, the SCRP received more than $30 million in competitive grant funds. He has extensive experience working with public agencies, elected officials, community organizations, private, state and federal funding organizations and the general public. During his tenure, the SCRP developed 22 new park and regional trail facilities and expanded 10 existing parks. Prior to his tenure with Sonoma County, Philip worked as a landscape architect in both the private and public sectors, including employment as a landscape architect with the cities of London, England; Oakland, CA; and Las Vegas, NV.
back to top
Senior Associate, resume
Steve Durrant’s experience includes award-winning waterfront redevelopment, greenways and trails, interpretive plans, regional open space policy, and national park planning and design. He recently received national recognition for his innovative light rail station designs in Minneapolis, where he led a team of artists and architects designing stations as individual civic landmarks for the region’s first LRT. He has more than 25 years of experience across the U.S. and Canada, as well as in Taiwan and South Korea. Steve’s bicycle, pedestrian and greenway work includes the Spokane River Centennial Trail, the Cedar Lake Regional Trail and the Great Rivers Greenway District—River Ring Plan (St. Louis). He is also a Bicycle League Certified Instructor.
back to top
Planner, resume
Adrian Leung began at Alta in 2007. His knowledge of transportation planning comes with skills in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis and experience with bicycling advocacy organizations. While he has comprehensive technical, research and communication skills, he also has a keen interest in questions regarding transportation identity. This is the notion that the way people move contributes to the way they experience the world and how they view themselves, which informs their participation in society. This line of inquiry adds a dynamic and creative approach to the projects in which Adrian collaborates.
back to top
Planner, resume
Lauren Buckland has seven years of technical writing, data analysis and research experience. In 2005, she earned her master's degree in urban planning from UCLA, with a concentration in transportation planning. While at UCLA, she had extensive training in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), technical writing and data analysis. In June 2005 she received a Lewis Center GIS award for her GIS project utilizing land use, transit access and residential density to determine potentially walkable neighborhoods in Los Angeles. She has also developed a map of suitable bicycle routes for central Los Angeles, using traffic volume and street gradient data. For her thesis, she analyzed the suitability of redeveloping an industrial area adjacent to the Los Angeles River into a pedestrian-oriented district. Lauren has been involved in bicycle advocacy organizations in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and has been instrumental in creating a pedestrian advocacy nonprofit in Los Angeles.
back to top
Planner, resume
Matt Lasky joined Alta in 2006. He brings experience in transportation planning, data analysis, report writing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Prior to joining Alta, he worked on various transportation planning projects, including bicycle plans, transportation elements of general plans and environmental impact reports, and traffic impact studies. For many of these projects he focused on traffic operations and level-of-service analyses. As the non-motorized transportation intern with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Matt interviewed Bay Area planners, focusing on why they included bicycle and pedestrian facilities in various types of transportation projects. With the results, he wrote a report that included recommendations to ensure bicycle and pedestrian facilities are included in more transportation projects.
back to top
Planner, resume
Jessica Roberts joined Alta in 2006. She has strong experience with bicycle facilities design and policy, public process and community relations, and data collection and surveys. Her professional work has involved successful collaboration with public agencies at every level of government as well as community groups. Jessica has experience in ADA requirements, international trends in bikeway design and traffic safety measures, innovative pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and Web-based tools for public involvement. She bikes or walks every day, both for fun and transportation.
back to top
Planner, resume
Kim Voros joined Alta in 2007. She is skilled in GIS, cartography, research, technical writing and data analysis. Prior to working for Alta, Kim worked as a research assistant for professor Jennifer Dill, analyzing Portlanders’ bicycling behaviors and perceptions and the viability of replacing paper trip diaries with GPS units. She also worked with the Portland State University library on the Oregon Sustainable Community Digital Library, which aims to make historic planning documents available to the public, planners and scholars.
back to top
Planner, resume
Mike Tresidder joined Alta in 2003. He brings strong skills in technical and analytical research and writing, data analysis, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Prior to joining Alta, Mike was involved in research at the Center for Transportation Studies at Portland State University. His primary research topic focused on creating various street connectivity measurements for bicyclists and pedestrians in the Portland metropolitan region.
back to top
Planner, resume
Rory Renfro joined Alta in 2005. He has experience in technical and analytical research, writing, transportation planning and graphic rendering. He participates in a variety of projects including community-wide bicycle and pedestrian plans, university non-motorized transportation plans, streetscape plans, trail feasibility studies and conceptual design. He also has strong skills in non-motorized demand modeling, mapping, sketch rendering and grant writing. Rory has experience in environmental documentation, including preparing transportation technical reports for Environmental Assessments and environmental impact statements.
back to top
Planner, resume
Matt Benjamin brings to Alta extensive experience in leading public outreach and planning efforts. He has worked with the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Matt specializes in developing strategies to ensure that the desires of the public and the needs of the organization for which he is working are met.
back to top
Planner, resume
Joshua Poppel is a planner and an advocate who has been dedicated to the bicycle and pedestrian cause for the past decade. His initial exposure to bicycle and pedestrian planning was through a cross-country bike trip to raise awareness about the renewal of ISTEA. Since that time, Joshua has been an avid bicyclist, actively involved in the promotion of bicycling and walking. He continues that commitment through not only his planning projects but also education and outreach efforts as a Bicycle League Certified Instructor and Safe Routes to School Trainer.
back to top
Senior Associate, resume
Charlie Denney has more than 15 years of experience in bicycle and pedestrian planning and program management. The majority of his work has been in the state of Virginia. Most recently he has worked for Arlington County, Virginia, as the bicycle and pedestrian program manager, overseeing the installation of 23 miles of new bike lanes and managing more than 50 bikeway and pedestrian improvement projects. Charlie has also worked as a private consultant on bicycle and pedestrian planning and design projects around the country.
back to top
Planner, resume
Joe Gilpin brings to Alta a diverse background, including European perspectives, for bicycle and pedestrian advocacy, education, design and planning. He provides technical and analytical research and writing, field work and site analysis, mapping, data analysis, facility design and creative services to the firm.
back to top
Designer, resume
Hagen Hammons joined Alta in 2006. He has extensive skills in concept design, photo simulations, construction management and documentation, and computer presentation renderings. He has deep interests in non-motorized connectivity and has participated in organizations such as the Central Valley Rail to Trail Foundation and Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates. Hagen is an avid mountain biker and outdoor enthusiast.
back to top
Designer, resume
Karen Vitkay joined Alta with more than five years of plant ecology and landscape design experience. She is skilled in both digital and hand graphic techniques. Her experience includes greenway master planning with the Drachman Institute for Regional Development and Land Planning in Tucson, Arizona, as well as the facilitation of an international design collaboration related to the development of a water conservation demonstration garden in the Middle East. Karen is an ASLA Student Honor Award recipient.
back to top
Designer, resume
Robin Wilcox joined Alta Planning + Design in June 2007 and has over five
years of landscape architectural design experience. She has a wide range of
experience with public and private projects from throughout the western
United States. Robin’s skills include hand drawn and computer generated
graphics, sustainable design, design development and construction
documentation and administration. She volunteers with several organizations
to promote alternative transportation choices and is an Oregon Chapter
ASLA Executive Committee Member.
back to top
Project Assistant, resume
Thanh Do brings to Alta several years of experience in project support, office and contract administration, business development, bookkeeping, research analysis and client services. Her work with Alta includes cover design, report editing, formatting and production. She serves the Berkeley office and the company in a variety of capacities from project support to office administration. Thanh also spends time as an assistant at a foreign language school in San Francisco, where she is either helping teachers and students or working at street fairs to promote the language school. She enjoys learning different languages, has conversational skills in German, French and Vietnamese, and is currently picking up Arabic and Spanish.
back to top
Project Assistant, resume
Susan Peithman has several years of experience working with pedestrian and bicycle programs. Her work with Alta includes support for Safe Routes to School and personal travel planning programs. She assists senior staff in project and proposal research, writing, editing, layout and production. Susan is also responsible for assisting project managers with pedestrian and bicycle encouragement and safety projects, which includes document production of newsletters and reports as well as management and execution of public meetings. She relocated from Chicago to Portland in 2007 to pursue her career in non-motorized transportation. Her previous experience working both as an employee of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and as a consultant located at the Chicago Department of Transportation has given her a valuable perspective on municipal and contractor relations and coordination. Susan enjoys spending her free time as a bike racer, riding very fast in road and stage races.
back to top
Planner back to topSenior Associate, resumeChris Bernhardt has managed natural-surface trail projects in 35 states, three provinces, and Singapore, Tasmania, and Israel, with a focus on building bicycle-friendly multi-use trails. His planning project experience includes team management of transportation, land use, environmental, and legal disciplines, and extensive work in trail advocacy and stakeholder involvement. Chris presents and has been published on the topic of sustainable, risk-managed innovative bicycle trails, and has worked with the Forest Service, National Parks Department, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Land Management, and over one hundred state and local jurisdictions.
back to topSenior Associate, resumeTony Powers has over twenty years of experience in planning, design and
construction of transportation projects, with particular emphasis on
transportation structures, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and transit. He
has extensive experience on projects involving coordination with Caltrans
and Class I railroads. Mr. Powers has been an avid bicycle commuter and
tourist for over twenty years, is a certified League of American Bicyclists
safety instructor (LCI) and has been actively involved in bicycle and
pedestrian advocacy in Sacramento and Folsom since 2000.
back to topPlanner, resumePrior to Alta, Jennifer worked as a policy associate at Livable Places, an
advocacy organization working to establish policies that create more
affordable housing, transportation options, and better public spaces in Los
Angeles. Jennifer coordinated community planning efforts such as the
“Making the Connections” bicycle and pedestrian plan and Westlake
Walkabout; she also led the Alliance for a Livable Los Angeles and Planning
for Justice coalitions. Jennifer joined the Alta team in 2008. Her experience
includes community-based planning, project management, and workshop
facilitation.
back to topPlannerback to top
Planner
back to top
Assistant Planner, resume
Tony has a background in cultural geography and GIS analysis and cartography skills. His primary focus is communicating the spatiality of human interaction by blending aesthetically pleasing cartographic design with geographic analysis. The way in which people interact within various spaces - and the subsequent effects on the environment - depends largely on proximity to transportation networks. This concept drives his interest in public and non-motorized transportation planning.
back to top