A Day in the Life of a Transportation Planner: COVID and Recovery

Dan Jatres is the Policy & Program Manager for the City of New Orleans Mayor’s Office of Transportation. The Office, created in 2018 by Mayor LaToya Cantrell, promotes and coordinates projects and strategic initiatives among city departments and external partners. In his role, Dan is tasked with implementing the Moving New Orleans Transportation Action Plan, with current focuses including the citywide bicycle network blueprint implementation, the New Links Transit Redesign, and development of a Vision Zero Plan. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, he has also lead the Mayor’s Transportation Coordinating Committee. Prior to working at the City, Dan managed the Pedestrian & Bicycle Program and later the Regional Safety Program at the New Orleans Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Heather Marx has 25 years of experience in transportation, state and local government, and communications. Heather currently serves as the Program Director for the City’s West Seattle Bridge Safety Program. Following the public safety closure of the West Seattle Bridge, Heather was asked to lead the capital delivery, communications, and transportation management and mitigation efforts associated with the loss of SDOT’s most crucial transportation asset. In addition, Heather serves as Seattle Department of Transportation’s Director of Downtown Mobility, guiding SDOT’s approach to ensuring mobility for the traveling public through an unprecedented era of public and private development. The reconfiguration of State Route 99, the end of joint operations in the downtown transit tunnel, the advent of light rail expansion, and a robust development environment demand new ways of getting around. Previously she served as the interim director for the Street Use Division and managed SDOT’s Project and Construction Coordination Office (PCCO). Prior to her work with the PCCO, she managed Seattle Major Projects at King County Metro Transit and served as the deputy director of SDOT’s Traffic Management division. She lives in West Seattle with her husband, two sons and an overly affectionate bulldog.

Manuel Corona is a Transportation Planner in the Oakland Department of Transportation's Planning & Project Development section. He works to create complete streets projects in Oakland with equitable, community driven design in underserved neighborhoods. Manuel has worked on Oakland's citywide bike plan update and is the Staff on the East Oakland Mobility Action Plan, a community driven plan focused on improving all modes of transportation to have better access to key services locally and regionally. His work is centered on sustainable transportation improvements which reflect the culture of the surrounding community. Manuel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sustainable Environmental Design from University of California, Berkeley

Tamara Lima is a transportation planner and engineer, with a focus on project management. At Remix, Tamara provides full support to customers and one-on-one customization to ensure an exciting and successful on-boarding with Remix. She ensures all users understand the basics in Remix and, through project-assisted training, Tamara works with agencies to complete transit work in the platform. Her expertise is in training, transit planning, and working with agencies to implement their transit planning concepts.