Carter Lavin on Effective Transportation Advocacy
December 10, 2025
This event has passed. Watch the recording above.
Transportation advocate Carter Lavin joins Know Before You Grow to show how everyday citizens can turn passion into political power. Drawing from his new book, If You Want to Win, You’ve Got to Fight: A Guide to Effective Transportation Advocacy, Carter will walk us through real-world strategies for creating more people-centered streets and better mobility for all.
In his book, Carter draws on lessons from more than 100 campaigns to show how everyday people can make their communities safer and more sustainable—whether that means protected bike lanes, better bus service, or expanded rail options.
If the name sounds familiar, you might remember Carter from this summer’s Petaluma Bench Collective workshop, where volunteers built and installed a dozen new benches around town. That effort began with a simple question: How can we make waiting for the bus more comfortable for everyone—especially older adults and riders with limited mobility?
This forum will be an inspiring look at how small, grassroots actions can grow into larger movements for change—and how you can help shape Petaluma’s mobility future. If you care about how our city and all of us listen, collaborate, and grow, this is the forum for you.
More about Carter
Carter Lavin is a climate and transportation activist who helps organizations and individuals hone strategy and build political power. Carter has directly supported and trained non-profits, candidates, grassroots groups, businesses, and hundreds of individuals to win on the issues that matter to them at the local, regional, and state level.
He has written for Streetsblog and Convergence Magazine. He lives in Oakland, California and is a co-founder of the transportation advocacy group Transbay Coalition and the board game design company Serious Mischief.