Isabel
Garcia

My name is Isabel Garcia. I am mom to a toddler and the way we move around Vancouver is walking and taking transit, meaning that I usually push a stroller or have a two-year-old walking beside me.

I have always been interested in safe and comfortable traveler experiences. Understanding how people moves always fascinated me. My educational background is a Master’s Degree in Sustainable Transportation and Mobility Management. I learned that life circumstances could make design guidelines incomplete or even dangerous. I endeavor to show that life in modern cities should be safe and welcoming to all and never force people to own and drive a car for their everyday needs.

PROJECT

Living Streets (LS) encourages BC residents to seek walking as feasible Active Transportation. LS collaborates with municipalities to show accessible and safe routes for residents’ daily needs without a personal vehicle.

This programs aligns with CEAP in cutting carbon pollution on transportation. It focuses on How We Move “Encouraging more walking, biking, and transit use. Supporting a transition to active transportation and transit. Walking routes from and to transit hubs.” With LS, we ride public transit to explore different places around Metro Vancouver. We walk the trails in parks and sidewalks in developed areas. We make observations on walking infrastructure and publish short videos about the routes.

We are looking to improve our storytelling and communications. We want to connect to a network that can help us amplify our voice, hoping that a mentor can guide us with the communications strategy and successfully implement this behavior-changing program. We are hoping that engaging with more community partners will give us the support on how to inculcate a transportation shift.