John Lieswyn

John Lieswyn, MET Cantuar, BSc UF, is a former US national road cycling champion who now plans and designs streets for all transport modes, ages and abilities. Starting as the transport planner for Palmerston North City Council, he joined ViaStrada in 2009 and obtained his masters from the University of Canterbury in 2011. John worked on walking and cycling projects across the USA and Canada as a project manager for Alta Planning and Design between 2012 and 2015, before returning to ViaStrada. John manages bicycle and pedestrian master plans, plans and designs street infrastructure and undertakes transportation research and traffic studies. He is an innovator in the areas of automatic data collection, demand estimation, and level of traffic stress modelling. He is also a leading specialist in school and workplace travel planning. Based on his experience with school travel plans in the US, in 2016 John set up the New Zealand Travel Planners group with 24 members representing 14 local authorities. The group’s listserv collates resources and provides a forum for the exchange of best practices in school and workplace travel planning. John's NZ experience includes walking and cycling projects in Whangārei, Auckland, Whakatāne, Hamilton, Hastings, New Plymouth, Taupo, Palmerston North, Wellington, Blenheim, Nelson, Christchurch, Greymouth and Queenstown. On behalf of various clients, John frequently presents to elected members. He is an Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) certified Professional Transport Planner (PTP) and the current Chair of the Engineering New Zealand Transportation Group.

John's service areas include:

• School and workplace travel planning / travel behaviour change initiatives / travel demand management (TDM)
• Business case writing and economics
• Strategy and policy development
• Transport research
• Active transport network development
• Monitoring and evaluation strategies and plans

Outside of work, John is often seen walking or cycling with his Doberman. He is also a member of the Alfa Romeo Club of New Zealand and tinkers with his fifty year old classic car on many weekends.