Bruce Riordan created Elmwood Consulting in 1998, focusing initially on sustainable and equitable transportation strategies for the Bay Area. During Elmwood’s first years, Mr. Riordan was a key member of consultant teams addressing regional transportation planning, transit services for low-income communities, last-mile links to rail systems, improved access for seniors to healthy food shopping, and other important transportation/community issues.

In 2002, Mr. Riordan, moved by a New York Times report on global warming in Alaska, began studying the impacts of climate change and the strategies needed to address it. Gradually, Elmwood’s focus shifted, beginning in 2004 as a climate/transportation strategy advisor to MTC, and as a key consultant to BAAQMD on two major public events featuring noted Stanford climate scientist Stephen Schneider (2005) and Vice President Al Gore (2006).

In 2007, Mr. Riordan was trained in Nashville by Mr. Gore as part of The Climate Project and has now made more than 30 Bay Area presentations on climate impacts, issues and solutions. In the last two years, he has conducted climate-related projects for MTC, BAAQMD, BART, the California Attorney General, the Marin Community Foundation and Next 10.

In 2008, Mr. Riordan was hired as the new Climate Consultant (full-time) for the regional Joint Policy Committee. In this role, he works with staff from the four regional agencies and their public/private partners, focusing on six key strategies for 2009/10. For more on the JPC priority joint actions, click here.

Mr. Riordan was born in the Bay Area and has resided in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Marin County. After attending UC Davis and San Francisco State University, he graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in Liberal Studies from SFSU. He has recently been a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley and Cal State East Bay on transportation and climate strategies. Mr. Riordan currently lives with his wife Virginia in a 100-year old home in Berkeley’s Elmwood District. Their two sons are both proud Bay Area residents.