The StopFinder team was at TransitCamp on Saturday, and as we expected, it was predictably awesome.
I’ve been to many events like this in the past, but the great thing about the TransitCamp crew is that the emphasis is definitely on fixing problems instead of just airing them. There is the very strong impression that people are going to leave the meeting and immediately start working on concrete projects that are meant to address the problems discussed throughout the day.
To get an idea of the scope of the issues that were discussed on Saturday, check out the TransitCamp wiki. I attended four sessions in total, and they were extremely diverse. However, the one overarching theme that I was able to take away was this: If we want to work on solving any complex problem that has a number of stakeholders involved, we need to be able to understand and effectively communicate what it means for a design to be of high quality. This became clear to me in a session on walkable communities, as we were talking about how many suburban landowners tend to cringe away from the word ‘density’, even though a high-quality suburban community will be designed with a specific density in mind (so that transit options, community cohesion, proximity to services, etc. can be sustainably supported).
This is certainly a theme that the our team holds dear, and one that we’ll continue to emphasize as StopFinder evolves.
We’re looking forward to the next TransitCamp, and we encourage our users to get involved if they can! Check out http://metronauts.ca to see how you can participate.
Leave a Reply