Ron Papsdorf, Director of Transportation Planning and Operations for the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), gave an overview of the organization’s responsibilities, which include functioning as a regional planning commission, serving as the federally designated Area Agency on Aging, and serving as the region’s metropolitan planning organization. Papsdorf acknowledged that transportation is a major part of all of these.

Long-range plans for DRCOG include Metro Vision and its components of regional transportation, fiscally constrained regional transportation, and the transportation improvement plan. For more information about Metro Vision, go to https://metrovision.drcog.org.

Included in his presentation, Papsdorf talked about DRCOG’s bicycle network planning principles of safety, comfort, and connectivity – which was a perfect segue into Tom Tobiassen’s presentation about Bicycle Aurora.

As the president and founder of Bicycle Aurora, Tobiassen has been advocating for bicycle infrastructure in Aurora for 20 years. The grassroots organization champions bicycle routes that are safe, logical, and connected – both on and off street, and has an impressive list of accomplishments including trail openings, maps, major improvements to bikeway systems, facility design guidelines, and a bicycle and pedestrian master plan. For more information about Bicycle Aurora, go to www.bicycleaurora.org.