Events

We’re delighted to announce a 2026 Chicago session of our “inexcusably fun” two-day intensive course in public transit network design.  This course, which we at Jarrett Walker + Associates have been teaching since 2011, is a chance to work intensively with me and our team to explore the challenges of designing transit networks in various geographies and situations.  It’s not just for budding transit planners, but also for advocates, executives, city planners, developers — anyone who wants to better understand how transit network planning works, and how it can support their own goals for their cities.  Read all about the course here.

Our next offering will be October 1-2 in downtown Chicago, just before the APTA TransForm conference.  $745/student.   The location is near the LaSalle, Monroe, and Jackson Blvd. CTA stations.   Taught by me.    Register here.

AICP Credit is available.

For questions about registration or to request an invoice, please contact Melissa Tverberg of our team, melissa at jarrettwalker dot com.

Please spread the word!

My book Human Transit, revised in 2024, is your friendly, readable guide to how public transit planning works, and the choices that communities have to think about.  Whether you’re an advocate, a transit professional, or someone working in an adjacent field like urban development, this book will make you confident in your decisions and conversations about public transit in your community.

If you’ve been meaning to look at my book Human Transit, or know somebody who would benefit from it, now’s your chance.  It’s half price at Princeton University Press website until June 6.

You can read the preface and Table of Contents here.  You can also read the introduction from the first edition here.  Buy it here at half price until June 6!  Please spread the word!

Our firm’s two-day intensive course in transit network design is an “inexcusably fun” way to go deep into how transit networks work and learn the craft of designing them.  It’s great not just for working transit planners but for those in adjacent fields who need to understand transit better.  You can read all about it here.

We just finished up a successful session in Portland, and now we’re planning the 2026 schedule.

The first one up is likely to be in central Washington DC on January 15 and 16, right after the TRB Conference.  If you’re planning to attend TRB, or you’re already in the region, hold these dates!  We’ll have a proper announcement and registration link by the end of this week.

Update: The course is full and registration is closed.  If you are in the Portland area and would like to be waitlisted, or if you want to be on our mailing list for future courses, please email at courses at jarrettwalker.com, or click the little envelope icon in the black bar above!

For more on the course, what you’ll learn, and how it works, see here: jarrettwalker.com/courses.

The 2024 Transit Research to Practice Symposium is a two day virtual event (October 22-24) with many interesting panels devoted to the challenge of making academic research more relevant to the daily practice of transit planning and management.  It’s many sponsors include the University of Florida Transportation Institute, the University of California at Davis Institute for Transportation Studies, and the California Department of Transportation.

I’ll be doing a keynote for them at 9:00 AM Pacific on Tuesday October 22.  My understanding is that you can attend just for that.  But you need to register here.

Thanks to Kari Watkins at the University of California at Davis for this invitation.  Kari will also be leading the Q&A after my talk.

The next webinar about the new edition of my book is tomorrow, September 12, 2024, sponsored by ITE Toronto.  Of course, you can join from anywhere in the world, but the Q&A will probably be Toronto-focused.  I’ll be introducing the new edition of my book and talking about some new ways to think about public transit planning.  Please register in advance!

I’ve just finished up a complex tour of the UK and Ireland, which took me to London, Cambridge, Cardiff, Birmingham, Belfast and Dublin.  It’s a fascinating time for public transport in these countries, and especially in the UK.  Thanks to everyone who turned out for my events!  A longer piece on the trip is coming soon.

The tide of bus reform washing over the UK (and already much further advanced in the Irish Republic) has created an urgent need for UK decisionmakers to think about bus network design.  Many private companies that have provided much of the public transport in the UK are no longer viable in the wake of ridership drops since the pandemic, and meanwhile, major cities are demanding more control over their public transport so that they can integrate public transport with their other goals, including housing and redevelopment.

On Thursday 9 May at 3 pm London time I’ll be doing a webinar on Redesigning Bus Networks pitched to a UK audience, though of course anyone can attend.  It’s sponsored by the Bus Centre of Excellence a UK Government-funded educational institution.  We’ll be talking about how bus service redesign is an essential step in regaining government control of public transport, based on my long experience with similar reforms in Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

Then, coming up in June, I’ll be touring the UK and Ireland in person.  Current plans include:

• London, an event TBD on the evening of 5 June.
• Cardiff, an event TBD on 6 or 7 June
• Birmingham, an event sometime in the week of 10-14 June
• Belfast, a definite event on 19 June at Queens University, details here.
• Dublin, an event TBD on the evening of 20 June.

Hope to see you at the webinar on 9 May, and at one of these in-person events!