Jarrett Walker

Jarrett Walker is an international consultant in public transit network design and policy, with 25 years of experience planning public transit networks.  His firm Jarrett Walker and Associates, based in Portland, Oregon, provides transit planning and executive advice to clients worldwide.  

He has worked in about 100 cities in nine countries.  He has led the planning for many of the ridership-increasing network redesigns in the US, as well as for successful projects in Europe, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand.

He is a frequent keynote speaker, both at conferences and at events building a city’s interest and understanding of the public transit challenge.

He is a known innovator in describing transit issues to the public, in building values-based policies and standards, and in running interactive design processes for transit plans.  His training programs range from executive workshops to two-day intensive courses.

His book, HUMAN TRANSIT: HOW CLEARER THINKING ABOUT PUBLIC TRANSIT CAN ENRICH OUR COMMUNITIES AND OUR LIVES, was published by Island Press in 2011.  It has become a widely used reference book helping both leaders and advocates understand public transit issues.  The book offers an introduction to transit issues for the average reader, designed to help anyone form clearer views that reflect their own values.  A new edition was released in 2024, updated to address new issues such as the post-pandemic transition, planning for diversity, and the need to push back against many tech industry fantasies about "disrupting" public transit.  In addition to his consulting, teaching, and speaking, he writes about public transit issues at HumanTransit.org.