Steering Committee

TCAT is directed by a Steering Committee who were either chosen at the February 21, 2008 meeting of representatives of TCAT member agencies or appointed mid-term. A brief bio of each of the current Steering Committee members is included below.

Allyson Amster
Toronto is a long way from Allyson's hometown in suburban New Jersey, but with a BA in urban studies from the New School and an MES in Environmental Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, she couldn't have found a better place to live. Allyson got her start in Toronto's bike scene at Bikechain, where she coordinated the University of Toronto's cycling promotion and education facility. She is currently a second year law student at the University of Toronto.

Andrew Bieler
Andrew Bieler is a PhD student in the department of Communication and Culture at York University. He has conducted research in the area of network capital of cycling communities, cycling and social movements, mobile communications and cycling and bicycle sharing. Andrew worked as a researcher and event planner for TCAT’s ‘Bikes as a Public Good’ Community Forum and Stakeholders Roundtable in 2008. His report entitled ‘Bikes as a public good: What is the future of public bike sharing in Toronto?’ summarized the input from the forum and roundtable and included a literature review on existing and planned North American bicycle sharing programs.

Anthony Humphreys
Anthony doesn't have a Masters in Environmental Studies, Urban Planning or Sociology - heck - he doesn't even have a degree. His diploma in Food and Beverage Management from George Brown College doesn't even help get dinner on the table with any flair or regularity. It is Anthony's commitment, enthusiasm and dedication to safe bicycling in the city of Toronto that more than make up for any failings his education may pose. Anthony lives, breathes and eats bicycles for breakfast. He is a certified CAN-BIKE instructor for the City of Toronto, and also a founding board member and Ward Captain Co-coordinator for the newly formed Toronto Cyclists Union. Between his obsession for all-things-bicycle and his day job of computer programming in some obscure language, Anthony also manages to teach an annual bicycle safety course for 3 to 6 year olds at a local daycare, and squeak in a little time for a leisurely ride with his two young daughters and wife.

Neluka Leanage
Neluka is currently undertaking a PhD and research examining obstacles to implementing active transportation interventions across Canada. Her research also evaluates two global policy trends: interdisciplinary/sectoral collaboration (i.e., environment-health/public health-planning), and the use of overarching policy approaches such as Smart Growth and population health as drivers or incentives for active transportation interventions. Prior to returning to school in 2006, she worked in the federal government for 7 years on environmental-health policy in Canada and in developing countries. Included in this work was managing a national policy-knowledge network on children's health, advising on rural-urban development and sustainability, and administration of a variety of environmental programs in Asia. She has redesigned a national children's program, developed national policy and program evaluations, led steering committees, organized a national conference, contributed to the creation of international agreements, played a role in many research studies and reports and regularly briefed ministers. Between 1997-1998 she worked on three international development projects before joining government: participatory national park planning & evaluation in Sri Lanka; building environmental capacity in Thailand; and documenting project impacts in Kenya and Tanzania. She loves being active out of doors and as a personal trainer encourages people to get moving the easy way (walking and cycling of course)!

Rebekah McGurran
Rebekah McGurran holds a Masters in Environmental Studies and Urban Planning. Rebekah is currently an Environmental Coordinator for a GTA municipality and formerly worked with a non-profit transportation demand management association in Toronto. As a resident of the City of Toronto and an active cyclist, Rebekah has extensive experience with sustainable transportation and advocacy.

Dylan Passmore
Dylan Passmore bid his car farewell in Victoria, BC 7 years ago and his legs have been doing the work ever since. He holds a Master's degree in Urban Planning from the University of Toronto, where he focused on active transportation and its relationship to urban form. His school work included pedestrian behaviour research, pedestrian and cycling policy analysis, exploring contemporary approaches to street design, tour-based mode choice modeling, urban design research and practice, critiquing contemporary growth management schemes, and civil society organization around public space & cycling issues. He now works downtown as a transportation planner.

Michelle St-Amour
Michelle is currently a PhD student at the University of Toronto in Linguistics, which has nothing to do with her real passions: active transportation, urban planning, and public policy. She is also an executive of the Graduate Students' Union at UofT, trying to bridge the gap between student politics and public realm issues in Toronto, including active transportation. Growing up in rural Ontario, Michelle was most excited about moving to a big city because she could finally walk and bike to work! Since then, she has dedicated most of her spare time to cycling and pedestrian advocacy to make that wonderful commute even better.

Stephanie Tencer
Stephanie loves cities. She loves walking city streets, exploring city neighbourhoods. She loves the sounds, the smells, the sights and the people. To Stephanie, the city is a hub for creativity, and that continually inspires her. Stephanie is currently chair of the urban design working group of the City of Toronto Pedestrian Committee and an active member of the pedestrian advocacy group, Feet on the Street. She holds a Masters in City Planning from the University of California at Berkeley, where she focused her studies on the planning and design of public spaces.