For this installment of Stories from the Field, UC Berkeley SafeTREC’s Kris Leckie chatted with Marianne Hernandez, from the California Department of Public Health’s Active Transportation Safety Program. In this conversation, she talks to us about her work to improve safety for those who walk, bike, and roll across California as a public health professional. Read her Safety Story below!
Do you mind telling us about your agency and the role you play within it?
Marianne Hernandez: I am a Health Program Specialist for the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) Active Transportation Safety Program. The CDPH has been involved in active transportation since the early 2000s and used to administer the Safe Routes to School Program until Senate Bill 1 was passed in 2017 and led to the creation of the Active Transportation Program (ATP) and was incorporated into its granting structure. Now, my work is housed within the Active Transportation Resource Center’s (ATRC) ATP contract, one of the many contracts funded each cycle, which take place every two years. My focus specifically is on non-infrastructure projects and programming, like ATRC’s webinar series.
What inspires your work in active transportation as a public health professional?
MH: For most of my life, I have used walking or biking as my mode of transportation which has inspired my work in active transportation and public health at large. In the last 15 years, I have seen how infrastructure improvements have made it much safer for me, as well as children and the elderly, to walk and bike.
How is the Active Transportation Safety Program working to prioritize the safety of people walking, biking, and rolling across California?
MH: We work alongside Caltrans to ensure that the non-infrastructure aspects of ATP-funded programs ensure authentic and robust community outreach and inclusion to ensure we prioritize the safety of people walking, biking, and rolling across California. All grants must demonstrate that the resources are spent in under-resourced and disadvantaged communities. Also, community engagement with those affected by the project must be demonstrated in order to be funded. A portion of this work is done through providing resources, technical assistance, and training to transportation partners across California to increase opportunity for the success of active transportation projects.
Part of your work includes hosting quarterly webinars. What is your focus during these webinars in order to make sure they benefit attendees?
MH: Most of our webinars have and continue to promote the primary lesson of inclusion. Whether the webinar is on arts in the active transportation world or e-bikes, we always emphasize that projects are most successful when they successfully engage with the community. Since more people, including younger riders, are using e-bikes, it continues to remain a popular topic over the last few years. Another popular topic we see with our webinars is where applicants can go to obtain active transportation-related funding.
How can the world of public health help inform and strengthen the world of active transportation?
MH: It is my wish that more transportation, physical education, and public health agencies work together since the best way to maintain physical activity (and thus health), over one’s life cycle is to walk or bike as a means of transportation. This could look like walking or biking to public transportation, or to local destinations like the grocery store, medical appointments, school, or work. Transportation agencies must do their best to minimize disparities in their plans and designs and ensure any designs focus on bringing communities together.
In your perspective, what is the key element, or elements, required to create a successful active transportation project or program?
MH: The biggest key element required to create a successful active transportation project or program is to build trusted, fruitful, and long-term partnerships within the community.
What are your visions, either short or long-term, for California?
MH: Speaking on behalf of the ATRC, our vision is to increase safe walking and biking for all Californians, and to work towards our state’s mobility, safety, equity, environmental and health goals.
What is one practice, tool, or approach you wish active transportation planners would adopt from public health?
MH: Focus on community-centered planning to prioritize health outcomes. This involves understanding the social determinants of health, how to engage stakeholders, and implementing strategies that address health disparities and improve overall well-being of the community.
If you had a superpower and could change anything, what would the future of active transportation safety look like?
MH: That the organizational structures at the federal, state, and local levels require the public health and transportation departments to work together to promote safe active transportation. Public health practitioners have the expertise to engage communities and promote health, and safety and transportation practitioners have the expertise in designing safe street infrastructure. Working together, they could drastically improve the safety of those walking, biking, and rolling across California.
If you’re interested in learning more about the ATRC’s work, they are hosting a symposium later this year alongside the California Transportation Commission and Caltrans:
California Active Transportation Program Symposium
The Symposium brings together local, regional, state, and Tribal governments to learn, share knowledge, and network with other agency staff, planners, engineers, public health professionals, and active transportation champions implementing active transportation projects.
This two-day event will include inspiring speakers, interactive workshops, breakout sessions, and opportunities to connect with partners to further your work.
Date: October 22-23, 2025
Location: UC Davis Conference Center
Early Bird Registration: $50 (through August 31, 2025)
For more information and how to register, check out the Symposium website
This Stories From the Field interview was conducted in collaboration with UC Berkeley SafeTREC. The opinions and perspectives expressed are those of the interviewee and not necessarily those of SafeTREC or the Office of Traffic Safety.
Funding is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
