Walkinars

Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and partners across Maryland are working to make walking, biking, and rolling safer and more connected in communities across the state. Each October, MDOT sponsors a series of free 90-minute webinars, known as Walkinars, focused on walking, rolling, pedestrian safety, active transportation, and the places that connect Marylanders to everyday destinations.

Walkinars are designed for planners, local officials, community partners, walking advocates, and members of the public interested in making communities safer, healthier and more walkable. Topics often include pedestrian safety, public health, equity, community engagement, planning tools, new technology, accessibility, and ongoing MDOT initiatives that support walking and rolling across Maryland.

Walkinars also provide key updates on ongoing MDOT initiatives, such as:

The State Highway Administration’s Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (PSAP) works with communities to make streets safer for everyone by making them safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. To improve pedestrian safety, the PSAP uses a data-driven process to identify challenges, set goals and objectives, focus on areas of need, set priorities, and take action.
MDOT’s 2024 Complete Streets policy ensures that a range of safe options for multimodal transportation, including people walking, biking, and rolling, are prioritized throughout all phases of project development.
The Sidewalk Data Collaboration is an effort underway to map all state and locally owned sidewalks throughout Maryland and aligns with MDOT’s vision to provide safe and convenient active transportation that supports equitable access for all.
MDOT is Serious About Safety. This program emphasizes MDOT-led initiatives, legislative action, collaborative advocacy, and customer engagement to provide the safest transportation network in the nation.

Walkinars take place Thursdays in October from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EST. See the specific details for each Walkinar below. These webinars provide American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) with 1.5 Certification Maintenance (CM) credits. Please note, to receive AICP credit you must attend the live broadcast

2026 Walkinar Series

The 2026 Walkinar series will take place on Thursdays in October from 1:00–2:30 p.m. Details will be added as each session is finalized.

This year’s series will include:

October 8: Connection: Building Equity Through Community-Centered Transportation
This Walkinar will explore how sidewalks, streets, and transportation decisions shape access, opportunity, community voice, and quality of life.

Speakers will bring three perspectives to the discussion:

Michael Pollack, author of Sidewalk Nation, will discuss the central importance of sidewalks, why our laws and policies often get sidewalks wrong, and how we can fix them.
Oboi Reed, founder and CEO of Equiticity, will discuss walking as a Community Mobility Ritual, including how neighborhood walks and park walks can build connection, improve safety, identify inequities, and strengthen community ownership in the transportation planning process.
Aviva Klugh, MDOT Environmental Justice Officer, will introduce MDOT’s first Environmental Justice Strategy Plan and discuss how MDOT is embedding equity, transparency, and meaningful public engagement into transportation decision-making.

October 22: Technology and Innovation in Pedestrian Safety
This Walkinar will explore how new technology and data tools are helping transportation agencies better understand how people walk, roll, cross streets, and experience the transportation system. Speakers will discuss how accessibility-focused technology, LiDAR, mapping, smart sensing, data collection, and transportation modeling can support pedestrian safety planning and more informed decision-making. Registration Coming Soon!

Speakers will bring research, accessibility, and real-world agency perspectives to the discussion:

Dr. Anat Caspi, Principal Scientist at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering and Director of the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology, will discuss how open-source and accessibility-focused technologies can support pedestrian navigation, personal mobility, and more responsive urban environments.
Dr. Mansoureh Jeihani, professor and director of the National Transportation Center at Morgan State University and the SMARTER Center, will share research related to transportation safety, intelligent transportation systems, connected and automated vehicles, and data-driven approaches to understanding travel behavior and pedestrian safety.
Caroline Pecker, Transportation Engineer and area lead with MDOT SHA’s Travel Forecasting and Analysis Division, and Dr. Elham Shayanfar, transportation engineer and onsite consultant with MDOT SHA, will provide a state agency perspective on how forecasting, transportation modeling, multimodal analysis, and data tools can support planning, policy, operations, and pedestrian safety decision-making.

October 29: Secretaries Panel Discussion
The Walktober Secretaries Panel Discussion will bring together state leaders for a conversation on walking, rolling, active transportation, and connected communities.

Panelists will discuss how transportation, public health, planning, natural resources, housing, and community development all play a role in creating safer, healthier, more accessible, and better-connected places to walk and roll. The discussion will also highlight opportunities for state agencies to work together to support local governments, schools, community organizations, and residents across Maryland.

Panelists include:

Deputy Secretary Julian Glanz,
Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development
Secretary Dr. Meena Seshamani,
Maryland Department of Health
Secretary Rebecca Flora,
Maryland Department of Planning
Secretary Kate Thomson,
Maryland Department of Transportation

Moderator:

Assistant Secretary Joe McAndrew,
MDOT Office of Transportation Solutions

Click here for previous Walkinars Series (2020-2025)