History of Sustainable Transportation Vermont

Two students from the class, Cashel Stewart and Anna Wyner joined Richard in starting STVT - building an organization focused on reducing car dependence and promoting non-motorized alternatives for getting around. They decided to name the organization 'Sustainable Transportation Vermont', or 'STVT' following the sustainable planning paradigm that privileges walking and cycling and transit over driving alone.

The students and Richard created a website, newsletter, Facebook page, and Twitter account. These outlets helped to grow visibility and expand coverage of policy and research news, as well as feature several opinion pieces.

News coverage of STVT began on the ever-expanding challenge to price parking properly and encourage healthier commuting standards.

Cashel Stewart began as the Director of Outreach and Programs for STVT as a UVM Senior. He graduated from UVM in the spring of 2017. Internships along the way included stints at the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, City of Burlington, and the Vermont Clean Cities Coalition. He is currently a transportation planner in Portland, Maine.

Urban planner Julie Campoli joined the team in the spring of 2018 - recreating the web site and elevating the blog newsletter. Support from David Blittersdorf funded a re-creation of the blog/website.

The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) funded an STVT proposal to improve bus ridership on Green Mountain Transit (GMT) Route 116. The project attempted to increase bus ridership by encouraging UVM staff and employees, where parking costs money and the bus is free, to leave their cars at home.

Recently elected to Burlington's city council, UVM graduate Jack Hanson joined the leadership team to grow visibility and contribute content.

CCRPC awarded additional funds to the ridership project for expansion to additional GMT commuter routes, in a second grant.

Led by Jack Hanson, STVT launched an internship program with 10 UVM student interns who worked on sustainable transportation projects ranging from advocacy to research, mapping, and writing. Jack has been instrumental in STVT’s growth through providing substantive learning experiences for engaged students.

Anna Wyner began as the Communications and Research Director for STVT before graduating from UVM in the Spring of 2017. She went on to work for the Department of Public Works in BTV in bike planning, then the Boston Cyclists Union and Lime. She is currently working towards her MSc in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Amsterdam.

Urban planner, author, and walk-bike advocate Jeff Speck spoke to a group of 150+ community members. His insights were well-received by local political leaders, Burlington residents, students, and professors alike.

Student interns wrapped up projects, including GIS mapping, writing articles for the blog, canvassing for bike lane additions, and boosting our social media presence with new content. Several students continued the internship in the spring, either continuing their fall work or beginning new projects.

The parking permit trade-in program earned additional media coverage as it successfully convinced 30 UVM staff and employees to turn in their parking permit and instead commute by bus, bike, walking, and/or carpooling.

Members from the STVT team testified in support of state-level Transportation Demand Management (TDM) requirements. Sustainable Transportation Vermont continues to advocate for increased employer incentives for sustainable commuting.

Julie Campoli joined STVT as the Co-Chair of the STVT Advisory Committee, and as the manager and editor of the STVT blog. Julie is an urban designer, editor, and author who writes about urban form and the changing landscape. She is the author of several books, most recently Made for Walking: Density and the Neighborhood Form.

Intern Brianna Jasset hosted Burlington's Director of Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront, Cindi Wight, in an online speaking engagement on recreation in the time of COVID-19. This was the beginning of a weekly speaker series that has featured a broad range of guests.

The second semester of the STVT internship program ended with several notable projects including published articles, bicycle discount programs with local businesses, and more parking pass trade ins. With many resounding successes, the internship program continued with summer opportunities.

Despite the challenges of a remote experience, students still found meaningful ways to promote sustainable transportation measures during the summer of 2020. Students’ work included replacing parking spaces with garden plots, bike safety surveying, a continued webinar series, and a program that closed streets off for pedestrians and bikes.

After fighting for 20 years, and a recent push by Sustainable Transportation Vermont for the past two years, the Public Works Commission approved parking removal and addition of bicycle lanes on S. Winooski Avenue. This was the first in many changes to the street that balance the community's transportation needs.

Energy Action Network awarded $2,500 to STVT to promote and encourage fare-free transit in Vermont. “If ridership increased and Vermont saw full ridership levels, we would see an 80% reduction in carbon emissions per person,” STVT intern Chris Harrell said in the virtual project pitch that earned STVT the funding.

The idea for STVT came from the engaged students in Richard’s transportation planning classes. Students wanted to do more than study, and the state needed a voice, not beholden to anyone, to demand non-car transportation alternatives, investments, and policy. With students, Richard created STVT as an organization within the College of Arts & Sciences. Richard also directs the Center for Research on Vermont and is a regular bike commuter from his home in Hinesburg.

In December 2020, the Vermont Natural Resources Council reopened the STVT blog - naming it People, Places, and Transportation - under the direction of  VNRC’s Kate McCarthy, who also manages the Transportation for Vermonters (T4VT). STVT will continue to do advocacy, and writing under the STVT brand -- keeping a laser-like focus on policies, programs and stories that put walking, cycling and transit first and help people get out of their cars. 

Jack Hanson and Brianna Jasset partnered with UVM Transportation and Parking Services (TPS) to win a $25,000 grant to expand permit trade-in programs. Parking buy-out programs to incentivize people to drive less is the focus of the grant. Funding will pay students and organizers.

The fall internships concluded with a slew of creative projects, including written articles, a webinar series, community education regarding bike theft protection, and participation in a community bike ride.

After four cycles as an intern and team leader, Brianna Jasset replaced Jack Hanson as the internship coordinator of STVT. Brianna led a new group of student interns in her last semester at UVM.