The Cities Doing Transportation Right

The Cities Doing Transportation Right

From How to Really Run a City powered by Accelerator for America by The Philadelphia Citizen

March 5, 2026 · 49 min · Season 1 · Episode 51

About this episode

The episode discusses effective transportation strategies for large-scale events with expert Jannet Walker-Ford.

On this episode, our hosts, former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt, invite onto the show a guest well-known to our mayors. Jannet Walker-Ford is a nationally recognized transportation expert who worked on the recently released Special Event Transportation — Guidance and Opportunities Playbook (SetGo) to help transit agencies navigate "mega-events" like the upcoming FIFA World Cup and the many semiquincentennial celebrations across the country. "How do you use these events for engines of future growth?" asked Platt. "It's part of our playbook," she said. "We want to sustain those collaborations and relationships, as well as changes in infrastructure, processing and procedures. [And] really pulling in stakeholders — that's the important piece." Another piece that's important: Everyday residents who still need to get to work or open their businesses despite large-scale disruptions. "You've got to be thinking about them and engaging the community so they survive the event," Walker-Ford said. "You're in a unique position," Reed responded, "who do you see out here getting things right?" Walker-Ford named former guest…

People in this episode

Hosts: Kasim Reed, Michael Nutter, Larry Platt

Guest: Jannet Walker-Ford

Topics covered

  • transportation
  • mega-events
  • community engagement
  • infrastructure
  • stakeholder collaboration

Keywords

  • transportation
  • FIFA World Cup
  • community
  • infrastructure
  • stakeholders
  • mega-events
  • guidance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SEPTA

Places: Los Angeles, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, Philadelphia

More episodes of How to Really Run a City powered by Accelerator for America

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the How to Really Run a City powered by Accelerator for America podcast page.