From Founder to Student: The Community Transportation Academy Comes Full Circle

By Susan Gaeddert, Commuter Solutions Coordinator

UW-Madison Transportation Services

It all started with a podcast episode. In April 2022, I was six months into my job at 1000 Friends of Wisconsin when I heard an interview with two academics (Nathan McNeil of Portland State University and Keith Bartholomew at the University of Utah) describing what they then called “citizen traffic academies,” where anyone could learn the basics of local transportation planning. 

The lightbulb flashed so bright in my brain it nearly shorted out! What Nathan and Keith were doing in Portland, Oregon and Salt Lake City, Utah, I wanted to do in Wisconsin. It was education, advocacy, and leadership training all in one, with a focus on growing public knowledge and input on the transportation systems we all use every day. It was community-based, community-specific, and designed to be accessible for people at all levels of learning. 

In other words, it aligned perfectly with the mission and vision of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin. The Community Transportation Academy (CTA) was meant to be.

The first CTA was in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in early 2023. It took seven months to plan, and I agonized over every detail of the content, schedule, and format. What topics should we cover? Who should we invite to speak? How often should we meet in person? How will I keep people engaged during virtual sessions? I agonized even more over recruiting participants. What if no one signs up? What if too many people sign up? Can we recruit college students if we offer credit?

Above: Susan Gaeddert facilitates the first Community Transportation Academy in La Crosse, 2023

The La Crosse Transportation Academy was a success, which I attribute to a number of influential people and other ocal factors (too many to name here).* When it concluded, I had a planning template to work from and adapt for subsequent academies. For the next two years, I ran four more academies in Stevens Point, Beloit, Kenosha, and West Allis. I planned another in Green Bay before leaving 1000 Friends of Wisconsin in mid-2025. 

Yet despite living in Madison and being familiar with local issues, I never planned a Community Transportation Academy here. During my time with 1000 Friends, the organization worked in Milwaukee and other communities statewide; Madison was not the focus. Besides, the City of Madison has resources and multiple staff dedicated to transit and bike/ped infrastructure, not to mention an educated population and thriving community of advocates – especially for bicycling. Do we even need an Academy in Madison? 

It turns out, the answer is YES. Madison is grappling with many of the same challenges that cities and towns all over Wisconsin are facing. We lack sufficient funding for transit, we despair every time a fatal crash moves us further away from our Vision Zero goals, and we struggle to navigate competing priorities for our street space. Public processes are slow, messy, and complicated, with layers of state and federal mechanisms that are beyond our control. And just like anywhere else, people here do not want to lose parking.

I was pleased as punch when Jen Walker, Community Programs Manager at 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, contacted me earlier this year to inform me that the Madison Transportation Academy would take place in the spring of 2026 and encouraged me to help spread the word. I signed myself up and was excited to meet other local transportation enthusiasts and experience the program as a participant. I even recruited a coworker to join me!

Above left: Susan with co-worker and Madison Bikes board member, Aaron Levine. Above right: Susan and current Community Programs Manager and CTA facilitator, Jen Walker. Above: Susan with Madison CTA participants during the Madison Metro Transit Tour

As much as I enjoyed running CTAs, it was nice to be relieved of the responsibility of planning, recruitment, and facilitation – not to mention fretting over the weather forecast (no one wants to do a walk audit in the rain)! Jen did a fantastic job running the class.

I signed up for the Madison Transportation Academy so I could learn alongside other residents and understand what they care about. If you watch public meetings, you’re likely to hear a lot about bike lanes, parking, trash collection, and clearance for fire trucks. On the other hand, if you attend the Transportation Academy, you learn that people also want safe places to walk, connected bike routes, and better transit access – not just downtown but across the city. They also want clean bus stops, regional rail, and public art. They want parking, but not too much. They want safe routes for kids to walk to school. They want all of this, and they are willing to advocate for it – not only here in Madison – but in communities across Wisconsin.

James Longhurst

*Note: None of the academies would have succeeded without support and collaboration from local staff, college and university partners, and advocates. In particular, I want to shout out James Longhurst, 1000 Friends board member and professor of history at UW-La Crosse. James was invaluable for the first CTA. He connected me with La Crosse County and City staff and local advocates, offered to wade through university bureaucracy to list the course for credit, and even took me on a bike tour of the city.