Expertise
Leadership and management
Organizational strategy and development
Transportation and urban policy
Communications and keynote speaking
Innovation and risk management
City and regional planning
Street design and traffic operations
Parking and innovative curb management
Public space programming and activation
Economic development and finance
Qualifications
University of California, Berkeley. Masters of City and Regional Planning
University of Virginia, McIntire School of Commerce, Bachelors of Science, Concentration in Finance
Ryan Russo
Principal
Ryan Russo is Principal at Together Projects. Widely recognized as an urban innovator, Ryan most recently served as the first Director of the Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT), where he led the new agency through its inaugural five years of operation.
Under Ryan's leadership, OakDOT quickly became a national model for incorporating equity into transportation planning, policy, programs and operations. A start-up in government, OakDOT was formed to pursue a vision of a more equitable, safer Oakland with improved access to housing, jobs, schools and services. From paving plans to emerging mobility, OakDOT worked to center racial equity in every organizational aspect and long-neglected communities are now being more authentically engaged and collaborating with government. Ryan also led OakDOT to launch quickly-implemented programs to repurpose streets in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most notably, OakDOT’s “Slow Streets” initiative spurred cities around the country to designate neighborhood streets as shared spaces to serve critical community needs of the moment.
Since its launch, OakDOT’s responsibilities were expanded such that its budgeted size grew by 50% in five years. OakDOT has been recognized for both its humble and authentic community partnership and its creation of transparent, data and values-driven, evidence-based systems for allocating limited resources.
Previously, Ryan spent nearly 14 ground-breaking years at the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), ultimately rising to the position of Deputy Commissioner and serving as an instrumental leader in the transformation of NYCDOT from a focus on moving cars and trucks to meeting the needs of residents, businesses and visitors. Ryan played a lead role in NYC’s reshaping into a world-class cycling city, overseeing the design and implementation of more than 600 miles of bike network enhancements including 70 miles of protected bike lanes.
Overall during his tenure at NYCDOT, he led initiatives reclaiming hundreds of acres of former street space for walking, transit and bike riding, taming some of the city’s most dangerous roads and reducing traffic fatalities in NYC to the lowest numbers seen in more than 100 years of record-keeping. He led NYC to numerous firsts including North America's first on-street parking-protected bike lanes, the pedestrian plazas at Times & Herald Squares and the nation's first Vision Zero action plan.
Prior to serving in local government, he opened the New York office of the transportation consulting firm Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates.
Ryan resides and makes progress in Brooklyn with his two children, Ren and Fiona, and wife, Ellen.