Past Projects (2020 & before)
Virtual Speaking Engagements
April 2020
Transit Talk: Transit & Coronavirus
We are gathering our community to share space and discuss how the coronavirus is impacting transit and our day-to-day lives, the virus’ equity implications, and what a just recovery looks like. There will be opportunities to ask questions of experts in the field.
May 2020
The pandemic has demanded urgent response and has merely revealed and intensified cities pre-existing conditions of inequality, neglect, and discrimination.
May 2020
Transformative Talks Recap: Moving from Harm to Healing
What is the difference between “safety” and “security,” and how has the COVID-19 crisis puts another layer of surveillance in Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) communities? Rio Oxas, Dominique Diaddigo-Cash and others explored alternatives to community safety that center the well-being of BIPOC, implements restorative justice, and operationalizes accountability.
Summer & Spring Talk Highlights
Its important to understand that cars are currently being subsidized, and as drivers we don't pay the actual price of the harm caused by congestion - neighborhood divisions, red lining, air pollution and more. At the same time, its also important to NOT create a dynamic where only those who can pay can drive. We need to go beyond imagination to build high quality neighoborhoods where cars are seldom needed. (August 2020)
Entire communities, businesses, and economies are being impacted while frontline and “essential” workers are putting their lives on the line to keep people safe, healthy, and fed. A key but often overlooked segment of the essential worker population includes transit workers along with many of the frontline workers they help get to work every day. (April 2020)
Featured Written Work:
Get Rad, Be Radical.
I wrote a piece in this compilation that was written by people who identify as TWIG (Trans, Women, Intersex, Gender Queer, etc). The name of my piece is called Meditation, Medicine and Bicycles. It is a series of short vignettes, poetry and brief essays describing my epic bike medicine journey of nearly since I first learned how to bike. As in the spirit of RAHOK, this pieces was a collaboration project with my partner Xoxikoyotl and our kids Yaretzi and Ixchel. Click the link below to get your copy and read the many other bike TWIG stories.
Vision Incomplete written by Río Oxas and People for Mobility Justice
Since the introduction of Vision Zero here in the United States, many of us have had sharp feels of dissonance. It has been touted as a great success in places like Sweden and New York. However, success is often defined by the narrators and those who benefit. We have been in dialogue with other Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) communities across the country and we often share conflicted frustrations with the Vision Zero model. While it attempts to save the lives of pedestrians and cyclists, who are disproportionately low-income and BIPOC, Vision Zero is coming in as part of a wave of urban change efforts with “unintended” (1) consequences of BIPOC being heavily policed and displaced physically, culturally, and psychologically.
The State of Transportation and Health Equity produced by Smart Growth America
In 2019 Smart Growth America conducted this field scan to identify the biggest challenges to health equity facing our transportation system, as well as the strategies we should use to address these challenges in communities of all sizes, with an eye towards strategies that could particularly be applied to small and mid-sized cities, and rural areas.
Interviews
NPR’s All Things Considered: CDC Now Recommends Driving Alone. But What If You Don't Have A Car?
"Our social structure has made it so that for some people, it's OK for them to risk their lives in the name of other people," says Río Oxas.
by: Camila Domonoske
New York Magazine- The Cut: Have you noticed all the bikers?
“Even if someone is honking at me, flipping me off, maybe I get a little startled, but I stop and realize, holy moly, they’re stressed out and I’m not,” says Rio Oxas, a League Cycling coach.
by: Maggie Lange
Featured Past Speaking Engagements
Moving Forward Together - The Future of Bikeshare
The ways we can get around our cities are changing quickly: bike share, car share, scooters,…This panel - with people from diverse backgrounds and differing areas of expertise - will engage in a lively discussion of these to address what we really want to know: what should our streets look like?
New Frontiers for Advancing Equity & Justice in Active Transportation
Panelists discuss new approaches to authentic partnerships for meaningful community engagement, as well as explore emerging social justice issues that intersect with active transportation, such as housing displacement and leveraging active transportation projects for employment pathways. Centering Cyclists and Walkers is key.
Transit Talk: Transit and Coronavirus
We are gathering our community to share space and discuss how the coronavirus is impacting transit and our day-to-day lives, the virus’ equity implications, and what a just recovery looks like. Riders and drivers both need to be protected.
Equitable Economic Development Lens 4 Championing Complete Streets - Safe Streets Summit
In this plenary panel, learn about how the design and implementation of inclusive policies and practices can lead to the strengthening of communities rather than displacement. Complete Streets can be a pathway for improved economies and the quality of life.
How Can Congestion Pricing Advance Transportation Equity?
Cities around the country are starting to plan for and seriously consider congestion pricing —charging people to drive in busy places at busy times — as a remedy for traffic and climate pollution. Learn how pricing can advance equity, discuss the challenges and risks, hear about plans for congestion pricing in cities around the country….
Transformative Talk: QTIBIPOC Bike Medicine
For Queer Trans Intersex Black Indigenous People of Color biking, has become a place to advance mobility justice and promote healing. Panelists describe that riding along with other QTIBIPOC is Bike medicine, which is a collective action.
Routes to Opportunity - UCLA Arrowhead Symposium
As agencies structure equity into their planning strategies, researchers and advocates have looked into how to measure and quantify successful equity programs. ..that will close racial gaps..and look toward the future for leveraging long-term community health and organizational capacity.
Decarbonizing Transportation: Mobility in LA - Hammer Museum
L.A. County’s plan to shift its entire bus fleet to electric by 2030 is leading the way for a decarbonized transportation future. This panel will discuss how to create decarbonized urban pathways and infrastructure that enhance access for pedestrians, drivers, bicyclists, and mass transit riders alike. Moderate by Jay Kim of LADOT
Mobility Justice in the Time of Crisis - PolicyLink
A key but often overlooked segment of the essential worker population includes transit workers along with many of the frontline workers they help get to work every day. Join us for a conversation around the various initiatives we are urging California to take on.