*Awardees: Birgit Werner, City of Cupertino; Brandon Whyte, City of Mountain View; Ria Hutabarat Lo, City of Palo Alto; and Alan Uy, Daly City & C/CAG BPAC.*

After a competitive process where dozens of you nominated your favorite professional, program/project, and elected leader, SVBC staff selected four winners. Notably, Brandon Whyte and Ria Hutabarat Lo tied for Professionals of the Year.

Awardees were honored at SVBC’s Bike Summit on Thursday, August 28th, at the South San Francisco Library | Parks & Recreation Center in South San Francisco, CA.

Please join us in celebrating our 2025 Bike Summit Award winners and all they do to spread the joy of biking!

Program/Project of the Year: Lawson Middle School Bikeway, City of Cupertino

The Lawson Middle School Bikeway is Cupertino's new two-way, on-street bikeway that improves safety for students wanting to access the school's primary bike cage.

Before this project, students biking to school had to either share the street with cars or ride on the crowded sidewalk with students and parents. These conflicts led to many near-misses and collisions. The new Bikeway creates a dedicated space for biking, separating cyclists from both vehicle traffic and pedestrians.

Walk Bike Cupertino and Safe Routes students present the award to City of Cupertino’s Safe Routes to Schools Coordinator, Birgit Werner. Pictured from left to right: Anushree Misra, Seema Lindskog, Birgit Werner, and Chloe Dahl.

This project is the result of years of planning and community engagement. From its early concept, conceived during the 2016 citywide school walk audit to final construction, the project reflects Cupertino's commitment to creating safe routes to school. Completed in time for the 2025-2026 school year, the Lawson Middle School Bikeway is now being used not only by students, but also by employees from nearby businesses and residents traveling around the City.

Cupertino residents and school representatives also contributed to the project by maintaining community interest in the bikeway. This effort was led by Walk Bike Cupertino, the Cupertino Union School District facilities team, Lawson's Principal and Vice Principal, the Lawson PTO President, parent champions, and the Cupertino Bicycle Pedestrian Commission. These groups hope that this project will serve as a model for similar projects at other Cupertino schools.

Awarded to: Birgit Werner, Safe Routes to School Coordinator, City of Cupertino

Presented by: Chloe Dahl and Anushree Misra, student representatives in Cupertino Safe Routes to School working group; and Seema Lindskog, Board President, Walk Bike Cupertino

Professional of the Year: Brandon Whyte, City of Mountain View

*Brandon Whyte receives his Professional of the Year Award!*

Brandon is a dedicated transportation planner whose career centers on building better communities by putting people first. Currently serving as a Transportation Planner for the City of Mountain View, he ensures the development of bicycle and pedestrian networks designed to make movement safer, healthier, and more enjoyable.

Brandon guides the City’s Active Transportation Plan and also collaborates closely with community members and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee to ensure that every project reflects local priorities and best practices. His planning journey began in Eugene, Oregon, where he developed a love for a first-rate bicycle network. It continued in graduate school at the University of Illinois Chicago, where he prepared bicycle and pedestrian plans as an Assistant Transportation Planner with the Active Transportation Alliance. From there, he advanced multimodal transportation as a Metropolitan Planning Organization planner in Iowa, where he launched Iowa’s first electric scooter and bikeshare network, Iowa’s first protected bike lane, and over 40 miles of trail expansion.

A passionate advocate for active living, Brandon believes that resilient cities start with infrastructure that supports cycling, walking, and equity. For Brandon, meaningful progress is achieved by listening to communities and by always centering people in the streetscape transformation.

As a bonus, he was the very first to register for this year’s Bike Summit—just minutes after we released early bird tickets. Kudos to you for your enthusiasm for our work, Brandon!

Professional of the Year: Ria Hutabarat Lo, City of Palo Alto

Ria is a visionary leader and tireless champion for bicycling, safety and active transportation. For years she served as a Transportation Manager for the City of Mountain View.

In June 2025, she joined the City of Palo Alto as Chief Transportation Official.

*Ria Hutabarat Lo receiving her award from SVBC’s Matt Jones.*

There she achieved what many cities struggle to do: successfully coordinating with Caltrans to have the state deliver protected bike lanes as part of their repaving project on El Camino Real. This landmark, hard-won achievement overcame years of design, funding, and political hurdles, proving that transformation was possible even on a high-speed, car-dominated state highway.

When the Bike Coalition assembled a panel for Housing Leadership Council’s Housing Leadership Day last year, we knew she needed to be part of our team.

Ria’s leadership improved safety and comfort locally and sparked momentum across the region, inspiring other cities along the corridor to pursue similar upgrades. The project advanced the City’s El Camino Real Streetscape Plan and the wider vision of a continuous, connected bikeway through Silicon Valley, turning El Camino Real from a dangerous thoroughfare into a viable spine for safe, sustainable, multimodal travel.

In addition to this project, she also:

Led the planning work for a Complete Streets pilot on California Street featuring a road diet, protected bike lanes, high-visibility crossings, and green infrastructure;
Initiated Mountain View’s work on the Castro StrEATS program, which transformed three downtown blocks into pedestrian- and dining-focused spaces during COVID;
Led an 18-month outreach and research process to modernize the City’s bicycle, e-bike, and micromobility ordinance; and
Authored successful grant applications that brought in tens of millions in federal, state, and regional funding to expand the City’s active transportation network.

Ria has demonstrated what’s possible when expertise, persistence, and collaboration meet. Her leadership has improved lives, inspired other cities, and built momentum for a more connected and people-focused region.

Appointed of the Year: Alan Uy, Daly City

Alan Uy, Chair of the Daly City Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) and Vice Chair of the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County (C/CAG) BPAC, is a champion of bicycling in Daly City. Not only does he lead thoughtfully on every project brought before the committee, asking important and insightful questions, but he was also a driving force behind the expansion of bike share to Daly City.

He uses his background as a traffic engineer at the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to help bring positive changes, using his knowledge and technical expertise in his roles at the Daly City and C/CAG BPACs.

*Alan Uy leading the Bike to Wherever Days energizer station at Daly City BART.*

Alan’s commitment to promoting cycling goes beyond advisory roles. Following SVBC’s presentation of Bike to Wherever Days at the C/CAG BPAC meeting, he led Daly City’s first-ever Energizer Station at the BART station—organizing an all-day event, securing a corporate partner, coordinating city staff, and mobilizing his BPAC colleagues. Thanks to his leadership, over 200 people committed to riding more during Bike Month, and the station ranked as the second-highest in San Mateo County—while spreading awareness about the city’s upcoming bike share program.

Thank you to our Appointee of the Year, Alan Uy, for your unwavering dedication and impact on the community!