International Institute of Sustainable Transportation

Debbie Cook served eight years on the Huntington Beach, California City Council, serving as Mayor in 2002 and 2008. She held leadership positions on many regional boards and commissions including the Southern California Association of Governments, League of California Cities, and California Desalination Task Force. As the Democratic Party nominee for the 46th Congressional race in 2008, Debbie further expanded the region’s understanding of our energy vulnerabilities.

Debbie currently serves on the Board of Directors of Post Carbon Institute. Debbie continues to be active in her community educating the public, elected officials, and policy makers about the energy challenges facing the world.

Rod Diridon, Sr., the son of an immigrant Italian railroad brakeman, is the "father" of modern transit service in California's Silicon Valley (Santa Clara County). His political career began in 1972 as the youngest person ever elected to the Saratoga City Council. He recently retired because of term limits, after completing 20 years and six terms as chairperson of both the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and Transit Board. He is the only person to have chaired the San Francisco Bay Area's (nine counties and 104 cities) three regional governments: the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and the Association of Bay Area Governments.

Rod has chaired over 100 international, national, state and local community service programs and projects, most related to transit and the environment. He served, in 1993, as the chairperson of the American Public Transit Association in Washington, D.C., and more recently as the North American Vice President of the International Transit Association in Brussels. He has been an advisor to the Federal Transit Administration and in 1995 chaired the National Research Council's Transit Oversight and Project Selection Committee. Rod currently chairs the NRC's Transportation Research Board's study panel on "Combating Global Warming Through Sustainable Transportation Policy." He is frequently asked to provide testimony to Congressional Committees. He has served on the operating policy boards for CalTrain, the Capital Train (Sacramento to Silicon Valley), the Altamont Commuter Express Train (ACE, from Stockton to Silicon Valley), and others. In mid 2001, he was appointed by the Governor to the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) Board, which he was subsequently elected to chair.

Peter Muller has more than 30 years of experience in project design and planning. Project responsibilities have ranged from client liaison, to program development and funding, through detailed design and construction documentation. Over the last 30 years, he has been responsible for more than 250 different projects, including road, rail, airport and PRT projects for over 80 different clients. These have included transportation studies, feasibility studies, master plans, route and site selection studies, conceptual plans, detailed plans, specifications and contract documents, procurement documents, project and program management and construction inspection.

Within the engineering design community, Mr. Muller has gained a national reputation as an innovative thinker, particularly with regard to the application of emerging technologies to operation of airport terminals, passenger processing, and security. In 2000, he was invited by DOT to participate in developing their Transportation Vision 2050. In 2001, he assisted NASA in development of their Blueprint for Aeronautics. He has experience managing research projects for airport security, PRT safety and security, and PRT operations.

Marcus Svensson is CEO of ByggVesta Development & ByggVesta Management.

As CEO of Byggvesta Development & Management. Marcus Svensson focuses on the development processes of Byggvesta´s development and rental properties for sustainable and cost-efficient housing in attractive locations. Approach, methods, and solutions in the building process are characterized by constant development, while Byggvestas properties are characterized by lasting added value in terms of ownership, management, and housing.

Christer Lindstrom is the founder of the Institute of Sustainable Transportation (IST) and co-founder of INIST. Furthermore, he is a board member of Carasoft AB, and the co-founder of Encitra. Mr. Lindstrom is leading a global effort to research and develop an urban podcar transportation system. With the support of agencies and government organizations in Sweden, he has created and manages the Swedish-U.S. General Transportation Fund, and has established an international industrial consortium for sustainable transportation.

Ron Swenson is Co-founder and Executive Director of INIST. Also the President of Swenson Solar and cofounder of Encitra (Energy, City, Transport). Mr. Swenson has an extensive background in design, mechanical engineering, and education focused on the development of transportation systems powered by renewable energy. He was deeply immersed in solar car racing in the 1990's. He has conducted myriad solar education programs locally, nationally, and internationally. He is also a former Assistant Professor with the School of Engineering, San Jose State University.

Loren Kallevig is a co-founder and CFO of FeaturePics, Inc., also the co-founder and President of Bridgeover, Inc. and is a director of INIST. Mr. Kallevig obtaining his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from San Jose State University, joined Arthur Young & Company as a CPA, and continued there for the next eight years. The personal computer revolution drew him away from public practice and he has been working with small computer systems since the early nineteen eighties. He has substantial experience working with computer networks and has installed networks and energy monitoring systems in Galapagos, Ecuador and the western United States, as well as developing energy monitoring and systems maintenance software.