{"304061":{"#nid":"304061","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Safstrom Devoted to Improving Two-Wheeled Transit","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EDuring a bitter winter in January 1998, Lisa Safstrom loaded herself and her bike onto a Greyhound bus in Boston to visit a friend in Atlanta. She planned to stay for a week. Instead, she moved here.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u201cI was a bike messenger up there, and we worked in the worst weather,\u201d Safstrom said. \u201cI came down here in January, and it was 64 degrees.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p3\u0022\u003ESafstrom continued working as a bike messenger in Atlanta, which eventually inspired her to enroll in graduate school at Georgia Tech in 2004 for City and Regional Planning.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p3\u0022\u003E\u201cI was used to biking everywhere in Boston, and I wanted to make Atlanta a better place for cyclists and pedestrians,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p3\u0022\u003EShe\u2019s worked in transportation planning since then and came to Tech from the Georgia Department of Transportation to fill the role of campus transportation planner last July.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p3\u0022\u003EAs campus transportation planner, Safstrom coordinates the many alternative transportation options offered by Parking and Transportation Services \u2014 Zimride, Zipcar, MARTA passes, BuzzBikes, carpool incentives \u2014 as well as campus transit, including the Stingers, Trolleys, Stingerette, and GOTCHA Ride. She chooses to bike, riding in from Reynoldstown and making her part of the 8 percent of campus that commutes by bike each day.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p3\u0022\u003E\u201cI\u2019m so happy to be in an environment that supports a multimodal, alternative transportation network, because that\u2019s what I\u2019m really into.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5 class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003EWhat are you working on right now that you\u2019re excited about?\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EWe just implemented a new bike rental program called BuzzBikes that lets students rent a bike for a semester at a time. We\u2019re also adding electric vehicle charging stations around campus and working with Capital Planning and Space Management on the Campus Bike Master Plan.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5 class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003EWhat\u2019s your favorite place on campus?\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EI walk the campus a lot, so I really like it all. I like to get exercise during lunch and often walk along Ferst Drive so I can observe the transportation infrastructure for any issues.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5 class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003EWhat have you accomplished at Tech so far that you\u2019re proud of?\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe first small thing would be getting a sign at the Midtown MARTA station for the Tech Trolley \u2013 working with MARTA and the City of Atlanta on that was fun. We also won the PACE Award last year for State Employer of the Year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5 class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003EWhat do you like about working in Parking and Transportation Services?\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EWe have a great team and nice people. My supervisors, David Williamson and Lance Lunsway, are really progressive and on board with providing alternative transportation options for campus. We\u2019re working toward becoming a platinum-level Bicycle Friendly University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5 class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003EWhat do you like to do outside of work?\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EI volunteer a lot \u2014 as a bike valet at events for the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, with Atlanta Streets Alive, and with various arts groups like Living Walls. But mostly I like riding. I raced bikes for about 10 years and also once biked from Atlanta to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and have traveled abroad to see bike races in France and Italy. I also am interested in urban planning in general. I go to a lot of meetings \u2014 not specifically work-related \u2014 for projects such as the BeltLine and Streetcar.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELisa Safstrom has worked at Tech as a campus transportation planner since 2013.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Lisa Safstrom has worked at Tech as a campus transportation planner since 2013."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2014-06-19 12:59:10","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:37","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"304051":{"id":"304051","type":"image","title":"Lisa Safstrom","body":null,"created":"1449244609","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:56:49","changed":"1475895009","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:09","alt":"Lisa Safstrom","file":{"fid":"199641","name":"safstrom_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/safstrom_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/safstrom_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":778110,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/safstrom_0_0.jpg?itok=1v42mjJb"}}},"media_ids":["304051"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/pts.gatech.edu\/","title":"Parking and Transportation Services"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181","name":"alternative transportation"},{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"},{"id":"15611","name":"parking and transportation services"},{"id":"11075","name":"The Whistle"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}