SNEAPA Conference 2024

🚲 The Great Micromobility Experiment 🚲

Thursday, November 7th (9 am - 10 am)
MEETING ROOM 4 - CM | 1

Shared bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters have come to play a key role in connecting people to jobs, classes, appointments, and transit. They have also disappeared from some communities when the regulatory environment became unfavorable or profitability margins were too low.

Should the communities that have tried and failed to keep shared micromobility systems operating keep trying?

The speakers in this session are actively grappling with these issues and questions and are employing diverse strategies and vehicle types to attract, maintain, and keep their communities’ travelers and commuters served with an easy, equitable, and point-to-point transportation mode.

🌊 Go with the Flow: How to Live with Rivers 🌊

Thursday, November 7th (1:45 pm - 2:45 pm)
MEETING ROOM 3 - CM | 1

New England has a rich and complex history with rivers, which have been integral to the region’s development as sources of water, power, and transportation. In recent decades, there has been increased recognition of the ecological, recreational, and aesthetic benefits of rivers. However, rivers are also dynamic forces that can cause significant damage through flooding and erosion. This session will provide critical insights into fluvial geomorphology—the study of rivers as interconnected systems of water, sediment, and debris—and its practical applications in planning.

The session will also present two programs focused on using river processes in infrastructure design: the Culvert Replacement Training Site Initiative and the Rivers and Roads training program in Massachusetts, and a new state-funded “Regional Flood Resilience” effort by the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG) in Connecticut. These case studies will illustrate how planners and designers can utilize fluvial geomorphology to enhance community resilience.