“Let’s think about transit” is the slogan for Jarrett Walker’s transit planning firm, but it’s an apt way to describe what he’s always up to. Whether through his tremendous book Human Transit (revised and updated in 2024), his popular training courses for redesigning transit networks, or his frequent blog posts, he is always aiming to help others step back and take a fresh look at public transportation and consider how we can do it better. We’re excited to welcome Jarrett as this year’s keynote speaker for TransportationCamp DC, where he’ll be helping us think about transit: what makes a successful network? What agencies or cities are doing the best work in the US right now? What are the structural and bureaucratic obstacles that get in the way of providing more and better transit?

Jarrett Walker is an international consultant in public transit network design and policy with 33 years of experience planning public transit networks, including the planning for many of the ridership-increasing network redesigns in the US, as well as for successful projects in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Jarrett is a known innovator in describing transit issues to the public, in building values-based policies and standards, and in running interactive design processes for transit plans. His training programs range from executive workshops to two-day intensive courses. His book, Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking about Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives, has become a widely used reference book helping both leaders and advocates understand public transit issues. It was also updated and expanded in 2024 to address new issues such as the post-pandemic transition, planning for diversity, and the need to push back against many tech industry fantasies about “disrupting” public transit.