Samantha Lara is the Senior Community Planner for the Oʻahu Metropolitan Planning Organization (OʻahuMPO). She is responsible for the outreach conducted by the OʻahuMPO for its required work products, planning studies, and transportation education initiatives. She has a background in political science and urban and regional planning and is currently pursuing a PhD in political science where her research focuses on child independent mobility. The Imagine This Series was created by Samantha with the explicit mission to invite the community into discussion about what transportation improvements could look like for Oʻahu.