Senior Associate/Program Director
National Center for Bicycling & Walking
mark@bikewalk.org
Mark Plotz is Program Director of the National Center for Bicycling &Walking (NCBW), which became part of Project for Public Spaces in2011. Mark beings nearly a decade of experience in bicycle andpedestrian planning and advocacy to PPS: he has extensiveexperience in Safe Routes to School and complete streets planning,much of it gained working in the car-dependant southeastern UnitedStates. Mark began his career as an apprentice to Charlie Gandy,Peter Lagerway, Dan Burden, Bill Wilkinson, and others for theWalkable Community Workshop program. These half-day communityworkshops bring neighborhood residents and youth into contact withplanners, engineers, and public health practitioners to reimagine their neighborhood as a bike-friendly,walkable place. The dozens of Walkable Community Workshops Mark has facilitated have won sidewalks,bike lanes, better crosswalks, and more inclusive transportation planning for communities in all parts ofthe county.
Mark is Conference Director for the Pro Walk/Pro Bike® conference, the 17th of which will be held in LongBeach in September 2012. Pro Walk/Pro Bike® is the oldest and largest bicycle and pedestrian conferencein North America, regularly drawing 800-1000 people to exchange ideas, best practices, and learn thelatest research. The 2012 conference will focus on walking and bicycling role in Placemaking.
Mark works in the District of Columbia, where he is a year-round bicycle commuter, in addition to beinga bike share member and cyclocross racer. His favorite steed alternates between a Cannondale fixed gearand a custom steel Carl Strong cyclocross bike. He lives in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood on whathe claims is the best street in DC—Mt. Pleasant Street NW—because drivers yield to pedestrians in thecrosswalks. (It is also a great mixed use, diverse neighborhood, with myriad transportation options.)
Prior to joining NCBW/PPS, Mark served two years in AmeriCorps, first in Minnesota and later in thesoutheastern United States.
Education
Masters in Public Administration, Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN. 2002.B.A. in Political Science, Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN. 1997.
Board AffiliationsAmerica Bikes Coalition, 2007 to present.