Let’s “Summit” Up!- The Second Seattle Youth Transportation Summit 

By: Mari Lennon

Back in April, 35 youth ages 12–19 joined SDOT and other community partners at the Vera Project to participate in the second Youth Transportation Summit in Seattle. From Queen Anne to Rainier Valley, and Redmond to Tacoma, these young leaders came together to show their interest in transportation and city planning, and to provide input on SDOT projects.

The day featured morning and afternoon workshops facilitated by James Rojas and John Kamp, authors of Dream, Play, Build. These sessions invited participants to reflect on their personal experiences with urban mobility and translate into creating their dream city via creative model building. Using everyday objects like blocks, hair curlers, bottle caps, and pipe cleaners, participants let their imaginations run wild. Unconstrained by real-world limitations, they designed cities that included ziplines, mixed-use development, and statues of their favorite sports players. 

Image Descriptions: Two student participant models. On the Left: A group model for the “Build your dream city” prompt. On the Left: An afternoon individual model of a bus stop covered in flowers.

The afternoon began with a series of breakout sessions that introduced participants to the people behind crucial programs like Vision Zero, ongoing projects like neighborhood sidewalk development, and jumpstarted important conversations on how we can build cities for young people and why the policies that shape the places we live are important for environmentally sustainable and socially just cities.

In the final workshop, participants regrouped to connect their ideas to tangible advocacy efforts. They brainstormed projects they wanted to see in their communities, sketched out designs, and built another round of models. Inspired by themes from the morning sessions, many groups proposed ideas for street beautification, more accessible public spaces, and fun, multifunctional public spaces. They also discussed who they could reach out to get these projects done– like council members, school leadership, SDOT, and other local organizations.

The energy and passion brought by each participant highlights the importance of valuing young people as active shapers of their communities—and the need to create new avenues for meaningful youth engagement.