In the world of urban planning and transportation advocacy, Noelani Fixler ('23) is already leaving their mark. A former Chair of the Transportation Infrastructure Commission in the City of Berkeley and winner of the WTS Molitoris Leadership Scholarship, Fixler is a passionate advocate for public transit, safe streets, and housing reform. Now working at UC Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC), Fixler continues to push for meaningful change at the intersection of transit and housing.
When you were a student at UC Berkeley, you were deeply involved in public transportation advocacy. What are you doing these days?
Currently, I work at UC Berkeley for SafeTREC, whose work focuses on the Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training (CPBST) and Complete Streets Safety Assessments (CSSA) programs. I essentially travel around the state to help folks fight for bike and pedestrian improvements in their own communities.
Outside of work, I serve on the Sierra Club Northern Alameda County Chapter Transportation Committee, advocating for sustainability transportation policies in our immediate area. The majority of my work relates to endorsements. I participate in interviews for local candidates running for public service positions, such as city council, and review their questionnaires to see how the candidates align with the values of the Sierra Club and environmentalism, with a special consideration to housing and transit.
I’m also a Board of Stewards member with East Bay for Everyone, a pro-housing organization based in the East Bay run entirely by volunteers. We advocate for state housing bonds, pushing to fund more affordable housing across the Bay Area, write letters to cities going through their housing element process, and organize events to raise funds and build our community.
I'm sensing a theme! Where does your interest in housing and transportation come from?
For me, it started when I moved to LA and attended community college. The stark difference in inequality was palpable. I could feel it in the thick air. I started grappling with this vague question: How does the way that we do transportation affect people's health and livelihood?
When I moved from Southern California to the Bay Area to attend UC Berkeley, I was able to walk and take public transit for the first time. I was part of a community of people, the majority of whom don't drive. I realized it was something that could and should be replicated elsewhere. I became involved with the group on campus called Telegraph for People. Seeing how my friends in that group worked was really inspiring and I learned a lot from them. At UC Berkeley, I was able to be part of a culture of politically active students who want other students to get involved and help inform decisions made in our city that affect us. That kind of energy is strong here.
I shifted my perspective on our built environment and the importance of accessibility. Strengthening non-car infrastructure is crucial—not just for the climate, but for people who can't afford or physically operate a car. Housing and transportation policy are interconnected. The housing crisis has pushed low-income and middle class folks out of their communities. We can change that through zoning, transportation policy, and funding. There’s a lot of nuance, but I love these topics, and they’re all deeply connected.
You are doing some really impactful work. Do you feel like you have inspired change?
That’s hard to answer. The work can be frustrating. A lot of us are fighting for wonderful changes in our communities—more housing, better bike infrastructure—but there’s resistance. I strongly believe that there's a benefit to having more people live around you. The benefit is sheltering more people. However, there are people who don't want more money to go to bike lanes. They don't want parking taken away. They don't want more housing in their communities. Sometimes the things I do have an impact in a broader picture, and sometimes it feels like I wasted an enormous amount of time and energy.
Even when progress is made, it can be hard to feel satisfied. I always feel like I’m not doing enough—that’s probably the Berkeley effect. But I do believe that one person can make a huge impact.
What are some of your proudest accomplishments?
I was involved with the campaign for BART candidate Bernali Ghosh. I had the opportunity to volunteer for her during Juneteenth, and I served with her on the transportation commission. She's just so lovely and wonderful and knowledgeable. I'm very privileged to have been involved in that campaign. Even just in a very small way, I helped Ghosh receive an endorsement from East Bay for Everyone and she ultimately won uncontested.
I also participated in a resilience fellowship with the Greenbelt Alliance, a pro-sustainability and climate resilience nonprofit where I advocated for a housing ballot measure. It felt very impactful, despite ultimately not making it onto the ballot.
Last question! What classes at UC Berkeley gave you the tools to approach these issues with depth and clarity?
In the Geography Department, Seth Lunine’s Urban Field Study course allowed me to have a large space in my schedule to engage with my environment—to simply appreciate walking in a city, which isn’t something we are raised to do. I took a class with Carolina Reid called The Origins and Practice of Community Development, a wonderful course on American housing policy that integrated different social and political movements to fix housing inequality. Marcel Moran’s Introduction to Transportation Planning class was also incredible.
Noelani was recently accepted into Berkeley’s top-tier Master of City Planning program, which starts in Fall 2025.