Shows
The Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhere Does 'Motonormativity' Come From — And Which Country Has It Worst? (Marco te Brömmelstroet and Ian Walker)Are Americans really more "car-brained" than their peers in the UK or the Netherlands — and if they are, what can make us change? The Brake is back from its spring hiatus with the return of two of our all-time favorite guests: researchers Ian Walker and Marco te Brömmelstroet, who teamed up for a new paper about how "motonormativity" manifests across their respective nations and the US. And along the way, they learned some fascinating insights about where our autocentric attitudes come from in all those coutnries — and what it would really take to change them. Tune...2025-05-0629 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow Media and Culture Contribute to Traffic Violence (Myron Levin)How does our popular media normalize dangerous behavior on our roads — and does it even help create it? Today on The Brake, we're talking about the role of culture in driving our road violence crisis, including car ads that make reckless driving seem like it never has deadly consequences, action movies, video games, and even social media trends. And my guest today, documentarian and journalist Myron Levin, wrapped all of that into a really fascinating, full length documentary that you can watch for free right now.2025-03-2524 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow Highways Tear Our Social Fabric Apart — and the Challenge of Measuring It (Luca Maria Aiello)Decades of research prove that highways tear apart the physical fabric of our cities, segregating neighborhoods by race and income and making it harder for anyone outside a car to access the jobs, services and communities they rely on — at least if those things happen to be located on the other side of a dangerous road. But what impact do highways have on the invisible social fabric of our places — and does the internet provide a bridge between these disconnected communities, or only a digital mirror of the sharp divides that highways draw between our neighborhoods? ...2025-03-1123 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastDoes 'Vision Zero' Need a Reset? (David Harkey)Cities across America have been trying — and mostly failing — to achieve Vision Zero for more than a decade. But is it really time to trade the goal of ending road deaths and serious injuries for the aim of reducing them 30 percent by 2030? And would we be better positioned to eliminate the other 70 percent of fatalities if we made that strategic shift, or not? Today on the Brake, we sit down with the presdient of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, David Harkey, to talk about his organization's pivot to push for a five-year full-court press on traffic viole...2025-02-2538 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastThe Missing Ingredients In America's 'Minimobility' Revolution (Benjie De La Peña and Karina Ricks)What’s a little bigger than a bike, a lot smaller than a car, and might be the tool you didn’t know you needed to get a big haul home from the grocery store two miles away in the pouring rain? The answer is actually an entire category of vehicles that aren't common on U.S. roads — but with the right mix of policy, code, and infrastructure reform, we could see a lot more of them. Today on the Brake, we sit down with Karina Ricks of CityFi and Benjie De La Peña of the Shared U...2025-02-1130 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastEverything You Need to Know About Keeping VRUS Safe In Your State in One Document (Michael Kelley)What if there were a single document that told every U.S. resident exactly how safe their state is — or isn't— for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vulnerable road users, as well as what that state is doing to save lives ? Turns out there is: the Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment, or VRUSA. And since the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, every DOT in the U.S. has been legally required to write one – even if they don't always do it in ways that are particularly helpful to transportation reform advocates, Today on the Brake, we're si...2025-01-2924 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat's Missing From the 'Safe Systems' Approach (Roger Millar)If you’ve been following Streetsblog for a while, you might have heard of famed planner/engineer/all-around transportation superstar Roger Millar, not least for his recent leadership as the head of the Washington state DOT. But you might not have heard that, while at WashDOT, Millar and his team did something quietly radical: they challenged every decision maker in their state to confront the role of land use in saving lives in our roads, by changing the very framework on which the state’s Vision Zero program rests. On this episode of The Brake, we sit down...2025-01-1425 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhen You Can't Drive in America's Hottest City (Mayor Kate Gallego)More than a decade ago, Kate Gallego had a seizure that temporarily cost her the ability to drive – and opened her eyes to the difficulty of getting around her city of Phoenix, Arizona without a car. Now, in her third term as Phoenix's mayor, she's pushed for some of the most aggressive multimodal transportaiton investments in the city's history, including a new shade plan to tackle the impact of the community's notoriously sweltering heat on people who walk, roll, orwait for a ride. On this episode of The Brake, we dive deep into how Phoenix is using next...2024-12-1722 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow to Build a Car-Light Neighborhood From Scratch — Even in TexasAcross America, a new class of developers are building car-free neighborhoods from scratch — or at least, they're building places where residents don't need to drive quite as much as their suburban neighbors. But can these greenfield developments really serve as a model for communities across America, or will they always be a rare and coveted commodity for those who can afford the luxury of living at human scale? Today on the Brake, we sit down with Scott Snodgrass of Meristem Communities, whose new development, Indigo, is bringing slow streets, hyper-local agriculture, and "mews" to and suburban Houston. And...2024-12-1036 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow America's 'Soft Power' is Shaping Mobility Around the World — And How Cities Like Tirana Are Resisting itTirana, Albania has gained international recognition for putting kids first on the road — especially their award-winning "School Streets," where cars are either banned or significantly limited from driving near learning centers and play spaces for kids are built instead. As the Balkan city grows its bike network, though, its mayor says it's still reckoning with a post-communist culture that sees cars as an aspirational symbol of success. And he has some fascinating thoughts about what it takes to shift that paradigm before it takes root any further. Today on The Brake, we finish up our dispatches from Bloomb...2024-11-2628 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat the U.S. Can Learn From the 'Bike Mayor' of Africa, Manuel de AraújoQuelimane, Mozambique might not be the first city that comes to an American's mind when she thinks of an active transportation paradise. With 40 percent of trips taken on foot and 35 percent in the saddle, though, the east African city has already been ranked as the most walkable city on Earth — and now, it's setting its sights on becoming an international model for how to support people who walk and roll through visionary leadership and policy. This week on The Brake, we continue our dispatches from Bloomberg Citylab with an inteview with Quelimane's mayor Manuel de Araújo. In h...2024-11-1221 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow America's Mayors Are Fighting Back Against Harmful Highways (Andy Schor)Highways and other federal transportation investments have destroyed neighborhoods of color across America, even as the current presidential administration attempts to heal those wounds through grants like the Reconnecting Communities Program. But what is it like to actually be a local leader fighting to win that money — especially when the sheer volume of disconnected communities makes the competition dauntingly steep? On this episode of The Brake —and our first dispatch from Bloomberg Citylab 2024 — we sat down with Lansing, Mich. Mayor Andy Schor, who's going above and beyond to win his town the money it needs to address the harm...2024-10-2920 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhen Car Dependency Meets Climate Disaster (Sara McTarnaghan and Will Curran-Groome)Over the past few weeks, U.S. news has been flooded with images of hurricane disaster: endless traffic jams full of evacuees, communities destroyed by deadly winds, and residents struggling to access the resources they need to survive while multiple feet of water stand in the streets. But how has car dependency impacted the course of these unthinkable events — and how can addressing it make us more resilient to whatever climate change throws at us next? On today’s episode of the Brake, we’re sitting down with two experts from the Institute, Sara McTarnaghan and Will Curran-Gr...2024-10-1521 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastShould We Stop Calling Bike Lanes 'Bike Lanes'? (Nick Ferenchak and Wes Marshall)Cities that have done the work to attract a lot of cyclists aren't just safe for people on two wheels — they're safer for drivers, pedestrians, and everyone else on the road, too. But why, exactly, is that true, and how can we use that insight to sell bike-friendly infrastructure and policy to a public that barely rides at all? On this episode of The Brake, we're back with Nick Ferenchak and Wes Marshall, who co-authored a new study of seven mid-sized cities that have gotten a lot of their residents into the saddle, and found that they repor...2024-10-0124 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastFive Hundred Episodes In, Jeff Wood Isn't Done Exploring Everything Our Cities Can Be (Jeff Wood)Our sister podcast, Talking Headways is about to hit its 500th episode. But how did host Jeff Wood accomplish that massive milestone, and how does he keep finding all these powerful stories about how our cities work? On today's episode of The Brake, our host Kea Wilson sits down for a long conversation with Wood himself to talk about how he's grown this incredible audio archive of interviews, how Streetsblog got lucky enough to host it, and how he spends his time when he's not behind the mic. And along the way, we chat about his dream g...2024-09-1732 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow Cities Are Getting Creative to Reclaim Public Space for People (Vanessa Barrios)"Reclaiming public space" isnt just about turning vacant lots into parks — or bulldozing homes for highways. And in a recent report, the Regional Plan Association of the tri-state area argues that the planning profession needs a new approach towards repurposing our land and giving residents more "psychological ownership" over their communities. Check out RPA's recent case studies of how four U.S. cities are pushing the concept of "reclaiming public space" to new heights, then listen in to our conversation with Vanessa Barrios, the group's director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives to learn more. 2024-09-0320 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastIs America Ready for the Equity Impacts of the AV Revolution? (Dr. Andrew Dannenberg)A lot of ink has been spilled on what autonomous vehicles could mean for America, especially if the tech-industry fantasy of a 100% driverless future somehow comes true. But my guest today argues that policymakers need to dig a lot deeper if they want to anticipate the potential side effects of the AV revolution — especially when it comes to public health and equity. In his new paper, "Equity issues ssociated with the widespread implementation of autonomous vehicles," Dr. Andrew Dannenberg of the University of Washington runs down all the questions communities should be asking before they let robocars ru...2024-08-2025 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat If We Treated Car Crash Sites Like Disaster Zones? (Kevin Krizek and Tina Duhaime)When a fatal car crash happens, authorities act fast to stablize the victims, clear the road, and get traffic moving again like nothing ever happened. But what if, instead, they treated those streets as the site of a catastrophic transportation failure — and took immediate action to prevent the worst from happening again? On this episode of The Brake, we spoke to Kevin Krizek and Tila Duhaime, who are hoping U.S. cities will try a radical new approach to post-crash response they're calling "Emergency Streets." The idea, in essence, is that transportation officials will act fast to sl...2024-08-0622 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat Project 2025 Could Mean for Transportation in America (Beth Osborne) "Project 2025" purports to be a blueprint for an ultra-conservative federal government should Trump win a second term as president in November. But what does that document actually say about the issues that sustainable transportation advocates care about most — and does either party really understand our issues? On this episode of 'The Brake', we sat down with Transportation for America's Beth Osborne to chat through some of the standout passages of Project 2025 and break down what it would really mean if the next administration took the Heritage Foundation's advice to slash transit funding, let states raise more of their...2024-07-2327 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow Cities Can Put Equality First Through Sustainable Transportation (Enrique Peñalosa Londoño).mp3Enrique Peñalosa Londoño has an international reputation for using the humble bus, bikeway, sidewalk and park to make cities more equitable, starting with his game-changing two terms as the mayor of Bogotá, Colombia. And in his new book, Equality and the City: Urban Innovations for All Citizens, he unpacks how those tools can transform communities into advanced cities where the transportation is an equalizer rather than a divider. Tune into this guest episode from Scott Shepard of the #CitiesFirst podcast, and check out a transcribed excerpt from their converasation on Streetsblog USA 2024-07-0239 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastThe Real Reason Why Traffic Engineers Design So Many Deadly Roads (Wes Marshall)Who, exactly is designing America's notriously deadly road network — and how on earth do they keep getting away with it? On today's episode of The Brake, we’re talking to traffic engineer, academic and now author, Wes Marshall, whose new book — “Killed by a Traffic Engineer: Shattering the Delusion that Science Underlies Our Transportation System” — unpacks the mountain of wildly outdated, severely limited, and often downright non-existent research that underlies so much of our national road design manuals. More importantly, though, Marshall's book also unpacks the more fundamental reasons why engineers keep widening lanes and saying no to c...2024-06-1832 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhy 'Sustainable Transportaiton' Is Not Enough (Thalia Verkade and Marco te Brömmelstroet)The Dutch are known around the world as global leaders in sustainable transportation. But as excellent as they are at designing cities to optimize the mobility experience, what about all the other reasons residents might move through their communities — and what other questions should the Netherlands and America be asking about what public space is really for? Those questions are at the heart of the new Dutch book “Movement: How to Take Back Our Streets and Transform our Lives,” which is now out in English for the first time. And on this episode of the Brake, we sit do...2024-06-0426 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat All of Us Can Learn From the 30 Percent of Americans Who Can't Drive (Anna Zivarts)Most American communities don’t even bother to count what percentage of the population can't legally drive. In the handful of states that have tried, though, the answer has been around 30 percent – which is just enough to create a real movement for change, if we'd all just band together On today’s episode of The Brake, we're bringing you an extended audio version of our conversation with author Anna Zivarts, who has been quietly building that movement of non-drivers through her work with groups like Disability Rights Washington and America Walks. And in her new book, "When Driving...2024-05-2126 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow to Fight a Texas-Sized Freeway Battle (Megan Kimble)Across the country, grassroots advocates are fighting a David-and-Goliath-style battle against massive, powerful departments of transportation who are attempting to widen highways in their neighborhoods. And in her new book, City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways, author Megan Kimble introduces us to the many Davids who are taking on one of the biggest Goliaths of all: the Texas Department of Transportation. In this extended audio version of our recent interview, Megan unpacks not just why the Lone Star state is so uniquely emblematic of the larger movement to re-imagine our cities around pe...2024-05-0726 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhy We Can't End Violence on Transit With More Police (Lindiwe Rennert)Across the country right now, cities and transit agencies are taking steps to address violence on their systems — particularly against the people who work to keep our buses and trains running, clean, and safe for everyone to ride. But what are the root causes of that violence — and are strategies like deploying armed police actually addressing them? On today's episode of The Brake, we speak to Urban Institute Senior Research Associate Lindiwe Rennert about her research into how violence against transit workers correlates with larger problems like police brutality and income inequality – and what that means for transit...2024-04-2323 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastBike Advocates and EMS Workers Don't Have to Be Enemies (Shelley Bontje and Chris Bruntlett)Is it possible to build streets that are slow enough to keep vulnerable road users safe and lightning fast when an emergency service vehicle needs to reach a person in need? That's been a hot topic of debate among U.S. sustainable transportation advocates lately — and it's also the subject of a fascinating new research paper from the Dutch Cycling Embassy. In this episode of The Brake, we sit down with study co-authors Shelley Bontje and Chris Bruntlett to unpack how the Netherlands and other countries have navigated the challenge of building EMS-friendly streets that aren't hostile to pe...2024-04-0922 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow People on Bikes Can Come Together As Advocates — No Matter Why They Ride (Peter Flax)This week, we’re bringing you an interview with former Bicycling Magazine editor and cycling journalism veteran Peter Flax, to talk about Flax's new book, Live to Ride. Flax and guest host Gersh Kuntzman dig into the reasons why so many of us love to spend time on two wheels, and why people on bikes from all backgrounds come together around the simple joy of pedaling — as well as how they might come together as advocates to build coalitions that win real policy change. Listen in, and check out an edited transcription of this interview here. 2024-03-2620 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow Many People Does Car Culture Kill, Exactly?Sustainable transportation advocates know all the stats about how many people die in car crashes on global roads every year. But what about all the deaths and injuries that car culture causes — not to mention all the other ways it diminishes and destroys our communities? On this episode of The Brake, we're bringing you an extended interview with the lead author of a new literature review that took on the impossible task of answering that question, and offered an astonishing glimpse into the many "car harms" that researchers around the world have tried to quantify. And then, we ta...2024-03-1224 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastDoes Your City Need a Walkability Study? (Jeff Speck and Chris Dempsey)A 'walkability study' can be a powerful tool to help cities and towns identify transformative strategies to welcome and protect pedestrians on their streets — and craft a plan to put those approaches into action. But what would it take to do this critical analysis in every American community that needs it? On this episode of The Brake, we sit down with Jeff Speck and Chris Dempsey of the new firm Speck/Demspey, which is trying to do just that. And along the way, we talk about some of the low-cost ways that any community can get a litt...2024-02-2030 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat Are the Challenges — And Joys — Of 'Being Black in Public'? (Jay Pitter)Black North Americans face massive and disproportionate barriers to the safe and free enjoyment of public spaces — particularly on North American streets and roads. But despite mountains of research on racial disparities in jaywalking stops, police brutality, traffic violence, and so much more, we still don’t have a complete picture of what it’s really like to be Black in the public realm, especially as that identity intersects with everything else North Americans might be. Today, we sit down with placemaker and mobility justice icon Jay Pitter to talk about why she's launching the 'Being Black in Publ...2024-02-0621 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastCould a Single Law End Impaired Driving As We Know It? (Rana Abbas Taylor)For years, experts have been perfecting sophisticated technologies that could virtually end impaired driving on U.S. roads — and thanks to a new bill, regulators are already exploring making it a requirement on all new cars. But will Washington take that historic step in the next two years, as advocates hope, or will the legislation get tied up in the misinformation campaigns that have plagued these life-saving ideas so far? Today on The Brake, we’re talking to someone for whom passing the fight to stop drunk driving before it starts is uniquely personal: Rana Abbas Taylor, who...2024-01-2327 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastAre Boomers to Blame for America's Dirty Transportation System? (Lawrence MacDonald)Whether they were in political office, in the board room, or simply behind the wheel of an SUV, Baby Boomers have been behind some of the worst climate decisions in recent memory. But they may also a unique opportunity — and a unique responsibility — to repair the planet they helped wreck, especially when it comes to the transportation sector. At least that's the argument behind the new book "Am I Too Old to Save the Planet?: A Boomer's Guide to Climate Action" by Lawrence MacDonald, a card-carrying member of that generation and an activist with climate organization Third Act. I...2024-01-0922 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhy 'Bike-partisanship' Is Our Secret Weapon (Rep. Earl Blumenauer)As co-founder of the Congressional Bike Caucus Rep. Earl Blumaneuer (D - Ore.) has long been one of Washington's most staunch advocates for sustainable transportation — not least during the writing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which he fought to make better for vulnerable road users through the inclusion of programs like Safe Streets for All and Reconnecting Communities. Now, on the two-year anniversary of that law's passage, we sit down with Earl himself to reflect on the BIL's bright spots — as well as his own 27-year career in Congress, which he recently announced is about to come to a...2023-11-1428 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow Walking Can Help End the Climate Crisis (Bill McKibben)This Halloween, we're giving you a treat instead of a trick, in the form of an extended (but still bite-sized) interview with legendary author and climate activist Bill McKibben. On today's episode of The Brake, we're revisiting our conversation from earlier this month about why the 350.org founder thinks the Week Without Driving campaign was so critical to the movement to curb the worst effects of man made climate change. We also talk about why advocates need to promote the joys of active transportation as much as its challenges, as well as what American advocats can learn fro...2023-10-3116 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow AI Could Transform Transportation — And Not Just When It Comes to AVs (Renee Autumn Ray)Artificial intelligence is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the U.S. transportation landscape. Beyond headline-grabbing crashes with driverless cars, though, some advocates may not realize how else this rapidly-emerging technology is shaping their streets right now — and how it might be used in the future. On this episode of The Brake, we sit down with Renee Autumn Ray of Hayden AI to talk about her recent Eno Center report, "Understanding AI & Transportation," which unpacks the concept of machine learning and its many applications for cities, transit agencies, and more. And along the way, we explore some of...2023-10-1722 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat Do 'Livable' Streets Look Like in an Era of Driverless Cars? (Dr. Bruce Appleyard)Many sustainable transportation advocates fear that the era of autonomous vehicles will spur us to even further optimize our streets for the efficient operation of machines rather than the cultivation of experiences that make us fully human. By adopting a framework that radically centers 'livability' on our roads, though, could we make the robo-cars work for us — and maybe, undo the damage of the first wave of automobobility? On this episode of "The Brake," Kea Wilson sits down with author Dr. Bruce Appleyard to talk about his new paper, "Designing for street livability in the era of dri...2023-10-0316 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhy Sustainable Transportation Advocates Need to Talk about Long COVID (John Bolecek)A lot of ink has been spilled on the long-term impact of COVID-19 on American transportation. But less has been spilled on the impcact of long COVID on individual people who walk and bike — and what happens when the disease makes active transportation impossible. On today's episode of "The Brake," Kea Wilson sits down with John Bolecek, who built his career in bicycle and pedestrian planning for the state of Virginia before a COVID-19 infection picked up from his son's daycare changed his life, despite the fact that he was "fit, vaccinated, and boosted. That initial infection eve...2023-09-1919 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhich Car-Cutting Strategies Really Work — And Which Ones Will We Accept? (Dr. Kimberly Nicholas)Climate-conscious cities around the world are scrambling for ideas to cut how many miles their residents drive. But which strategies work the best — and which ones will residents actually accept? Today on The Brake, Kea Wilson sits down with researcher and best-selling author Dr. Kimberly Nicholas to talk about a recent study of the most effective ideas European cities have tried to transition away from car dependency — and what it might take to bring them to America. Listen in, and check out her Substack We Can Fix It here. 2023-09-0522 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow to Take a Freeway Fight to the Next Level (Alex Burns and José Antonio Zayas Cabán)Federal transportation leaders are doling out billions of dollars to reconnect communities torn apart by highways. How exactly they should do it, though, is a matter of fierce debate — and some advocates say that even the most radical solutions aren't radical at all when seen through the lens of the radical harm that racialized and low-income communities are still enduring. On today's epsiode of "The Brake," we sit down with Alex Burns and José Antonio Zayas Cabán of the nonprofit Our Street Minneapolis to talk about why they're fighting to turn two highways in their region into b...2023-08-1525 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat Does 'Inclusive' Transportation Really Mean? (Veronica O. Davis)With billions of federal dollars promised to reconnect communities torn apart by highways, America could be the brink of one of the largest mobility justice movements in decades. To really right the wrongs of our transportaiton past, though, author Veronica O. Davis agues we need a new playbook for how to engage and empower the Black, brown and low income communities we harmed — and her book, "Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities," could be a fantastic candidate. We sat down with Davis to talk about her deep and diverse experience as a planner, engineer, journalist, and...2023-08-0127 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastIs This the Best Statewide Transportation Bill Yet? (Sen. Scott Dibble and Rep. Frank Hornstein)State transportation bills may not get as much attention as their federal counterparts, but they have a colossal impact on how we get around. And the state of Minnesota may have just created one of the most exciting blueprints yet for progressive governments across the country to follow — even if it took them the better part of three decades to do it. On this episode of The Brake, we sit down with two Minnesota lawmakers and transportation committee chairmen — Senator Scott Dibble and Representative Frank Hornstein — to unpack what's in their massive new transportation finance and policy bill, as...2023-07-1824 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow To Train an Army of Sustainable Transportation Activists (Carter Lavin)On paper, a lot of people care about making their cities less car-dependent — but not all of us are taking action to actually do it. So why do so many people stay on the sidelines, and what will itake to get them into the fight? Today, we're sitting down with Carter Lavin, a Bay-area activist who's made it his mission to give people the skills, vision, and capacity to campaign for better sustainable transportation policies in their town, whether they're candidates for office, bike/walk nonprofits dealing with burnout, or just a couple of neighbors who just wan...2023-06-0631 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow Does Parking Help Explain the World? (Henry Grabar, feat. Gersh Kuntzman)late's cities reporter Henry Grabar's new book, Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World (Penguin Press), could have been a sleeper, aimed at livable cities nerds who already know how drivers' obsessive demand for free car storage has ruined our cities and enabled sprawl, all the while devastating our air quality and congesting our roads. Instead, it's quickly becoming a media sensation that's catching the attention of people far outside the movement — and getting them talking about the need for reform. On this episode of The Brake, guest host Gersh Kuntzman gabs with Grabar about some of th...2023-05-2318 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastIs the Electric Car A 'Wolf In Sheep's Clothing'? (Agnieszka Stefaniec)What is an electric car, really? Is it a godsend that could save the planet from climate catastrophe by slashing emissions in the sector that contributes the most greenhouse gases in virtually every developed country in the world Is it an important tool for climate harm reduction that we have to invest in big, even if it doesn’t solve all of the problems of car dependent transportation systems? Or is it just a heavier and more heavily subsidized car that makes nearly all of the core problems of car dependency worse, while using its climate benefits as a...2023-05-0921 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow Can Sustainable Transportation Advocates Help End Poverty? (Matthew Desmond)One in nine Americans live in poverty, and millions more live in a precarious place somewhere between precarity and true security. A new book argues, though, that it doesn't have to be this way — and that we can all play a role in challenging the systems and individual choices that "keep poor people poor" for benefit for everyone else. On this episode of The Brake, host Kea Wilson sits down with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matthew Desmond to talk about his new book Poverty by America, the poverty abolition movement, and how it intersects with the movement to end c...2023-04-2520 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow Does Toxic Masculinity Play Out On Our Roads — And How Do We Stop It? (Dr. Tara Goddard)Look up traffic fatality stats for almost any country in the world, and you'll find that men are almost always drastically over-represented among the dead, even in countries like the Netherlands and Sweden which have made the most progress towards Vision Zero. But if good road, vehicle and systems design isn't saving as many male-identified lives, what will — and why is it so hard to talk about cultural forces without denying the dangers of our built environment? On this episode of the Brake, host Kea Wilson sits down with researcher and urban planning professor Tara Goddard to tal...2023-04-1133 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat It Takes To Reframe the Narrative About Car Dependency (Grant Ennis)"Roadway safety is a shared responsibility, and people in cars and outside of cars play an equal role in keeping each other safe." "Sprawl is good, actually, because it means people can have big, beautiful houses and some quality alone time on their daily commutes." "We won’t need to worry about transportation emissions or the broader impacts of automobiles on the environment for that much longer, because haven’t you heard? electric cars are here!" Those phrases might spike make the average sustainable transportation advocate's blood pressure spike. But in the world of c...2023-03-2829 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat It Takes To Start Your Own Bikeshare CompanyMost bikeshare rides taken on U.S. soil happen in a handful of gigantic cities, on systems maintained by big corporations. At YoGo Bikeshare, though, Ronnell Elkins and his team are building a bespoke micromobility option specifically for his neighbors in Youngstown, Ohio — and hoping to create a model for other small cities to combat car dependency. On this episode of The Brake, host Kea Wilson sits down with Elkins to talk about what makes this Black-led, family-owned bikeshare stand out, why YoGo's investing only in e-bikes, and what it takes to get a town of 60,000 people on b...2023-03-1429 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastEverything You Ever Wanted to Know About Roadside Noise Cameras (Nick Ferenchak)Across America, a shocking number of drivers are illegally hacking their cars to be as loud as possible — and evidence is mounting that the phenomenon has a huge impact on public health. But what can cities do about it? Today on The Brake, we sat down with researcher Nick Ferenchak, whose work on traffic safety we've been following for years. Now, he's turning his attention to the link between vehicle noise pollution and dangerous driving — and launching a company to help cities put equitable and effective noise camera programs on their streets. Join us for a deep d...2023-02-2823 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastCan Athletes Help Solve Urbanism's 'PR Problem'? (Tesho Akindele)If the typical professional athlete talks about transportation at all, it's usually in the context of a mulit-million SUV commercial. Soccer star Tesho Akindele, though, isn't the typical athlete — and as he transitions out of his career onthe field, he's making building walkable, bikeable, equitable cities his full-time job. Today on The Brake, we talk to Tesho about how he fell in love with urbanism, why he uses his platform to talk about parking minimums, and the secret to getting non-wonks on board the movement to end car dependency and create people-centered places. Follow Tesho at Twitter @Tes...2023-02-1423 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow Mayors Can Lead The Way To A Sustainable Transportation Future (Mayor John Bauters)Not enough U.S. mayors make sustainable transportation a priority, and even the ones that do don't always get much done. On today's episode of The Brake, though, we spoke with one elected official who's making massive progress to make streets safer, greener and more equitable in his small town — and sharing lessons in leadership that can scale to even the biggest cities. In this extended conversation with Mayor John Bauters of Emeryville, Calif., we learn more about his successful effort to put a seat at every bus stop in his town, which Streetsblog covered last month, and w...2023-01-3131 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastThe (Too-Brief) History of Traffic Violence Memorials in America (Peter Norton)Mass memorials to the victims of traffic violence are a rarity on American roads. But it wasn't always that way — and there's a fascinating history behind why so many lost lives have become virtually invisible in the public realm today. On this episode of The Brake, Kea Wilson sits down with historian and author Peter Norton to talk about how America used to memorialize car crash deaths in the early days of the automobile, and why automakers invested so much into reshaping the way we grieve. And then they chat about what it might take to bring the n...2022-12-1324 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWho Gets Hurt When Cities Ban E-Scooters (Charles T. Brown)In communities across the U.S., city leaders have reacted to safety concerns about the shared e-scooter industry with fleet curfews, neighborhood restrictions, and even outright bans. Those blunt policies, though, might hurt more people than they help — especially when it comes to socially and racially marginalized communities without other ways to get around. On today's special edition of The Brake, we're re-broadcasting an episode of Charles T. Brown's Arrested Mobility podcast about what happened when the city of St. Louis forced e-scooters out of its downtown, featuring an interview with our own host Kea Wilson, who covered...2022-11-2930 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat the Last Decade Has Done for the Walkability Movement (Jeff Speck)In 2012, Jeff Speck’s Walkable City sparked a conversation about why pedestrianized places matter and became one of the best-selling books about the built environment in recent memory. Ten years later, though, so much about the world has changed — even as human-centered communities have become more important than ever. On this episode of The Brake, host Kea Wilson sits down with Speck to talk about an update to his classic book featuring 100 pages of new material, and how new technology, pandemics, and the movement to make cities anti-racist have reshaped his view of America’s transportation future. And alo...2022-11-1530 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat It's Really Like to Lose Someone to Traffic Violence (Dan Langenkamp)Hundreds of thousands of Americans lose a loved one in a car crash every single year. So why don't more of us talk about it — and why don't more of us take action to prevent other families from enduring those tragedies, too? On this special episode of The Brake, host Kea Wilson has an emotional conversation with advocate Dan Langenkamp about the people they've each recently lost to traffic violence, and what it means to mourn through advocacy. Dan's wife, Sarah, was a celebrated diplomat to Ukraine and a mother of two young sons before she...2022-11-0129 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow to Start Grassroots Safe Streets Movement (Elizabeth Creely of Safe Street Rebel)In communities across America, people are getting angry about traffic violence. But what does it take to turn that anger to a full-blown movement, with neighbors fighting alongside one another to change the status quo? Today, we tapped Elizabeth Creely of the San Francisco-based grassroots advocacy organization Safe Street Rebel, which has been making good trouble to change the transportation status quo since 2020. Along the way, they've done pop-up traffic calming on the sites of recent crash deaths, put up people-protected bike lanes where the city wouldn’t build ones out of concrete, and gained some critical wisd...2022-10-0426 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWould a Car-Light City Really be 'Quiet'? (Dr. Erica Walker)Epidemiologists around the world have sounded the alarm about the health risks of rising noise pollution, and called out cars as one of the largest sources of the crisis. In our quest to make cities quieter, though, noise researcher Dr. Erica Walker says we're missing a critical conversation about how unique communities experience their local soundscapes, both in the streets and beyond — and who we harm when we police decibel levels without listening to marginalized people first. In this episode of The Brake, we sit down with Dr. Walker to explore not just why ultra-quiet electric cars won...2022-09-2029 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastSix Arguments Against Speed Governors — And How to Quash Them (David Zipper)Europe is on the brink of putting "Intelligent Speed Assist" technology on all new cars to slow drivers down to local limits — and even some U.S. states are hoping to follow suit. But the minute "speed governors" get mentioned, tempers flare, and it could make the movement to throttle U.S. drivers a challenging fight to win. Today on The Brake, we asked mobility researcher David Zipper to give us a breakdown of the most common speed-limiting technologies available today, and to share how he responds to six of the most common concerns about them — from the vali...2022-09-0627 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhy Arguments Against Free Transit Are Missing the Point (Destiny Thomas)Free transit pilots are popping up around the world — and so are heated debates about whether they will stymie agencies' efforts to delivery the high-quality service that U.S. riders need. But what if that argument is missing something fundamental about why we commodify basic mobility in the first place, and the many ways marginalized people are impacted when they can't afford a fare? Today on The Brake, we sit down with Dr. Destiny Thomas to unpack some of the most common arguments against fare-free transit and talk about what our transportation system might look like if we tr...2022-08-2334 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhat Would a 'Post-Automobility' Future Look Like? (Robert Braun and Richard Randell, Pt. 2)Last time on the Brake, we chatted with authors Robert Braun and Richard Randell about why automobility isn't really about cars at all — and how it's beocme what they call a "totalitarian system" that touches virtually every part of our lives. Today, we bring you part two of that conversation, and dive into the difficult question of what a world beyond automobility might look like — and how on Earth we might get there. Would it be good enough to just make automobility less destructive by equipping cars with batteries and automated driving features? How different would our world l...2022-08-0925 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhy 'Car Culture' Is About So Much More Than Cars (Robert Braun and Richard Randell)Car culture is all around us. But is it really just about vehicles, roads, motorists and violent commercials on TV, or is it is a political system as deeply entrenched in cultures around the world as our governments, economic systems, and structures of oppression? On this episode of the The Brake, we sat down with authors Robert Braun and Richard Randell to talk about their book Post Automobility Futures, and how our collective obsession with speed, efficiency, and ruthless technological progress has transformed the way we define what public space is for and what forms of violence we fi...2022-07-2626 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhy Americans Don't Drive Less When Gas Prices Soar (Dr. Ian Walker)Even as gas prices hit historic highs, many Americans aren't driving any less — because so many of their communities are so car-dependent, they don't really have a choice. But what about people who could skip the pump but don't, simply because they're in the habit of driving everywhere they go? On this episode of The Brake, host Kea Wilson sits down with environmental psychology expert Dr. Ian Walker to talk about why conventional strategies to disincentivize driving don't always work, and why even incentivizing other modes can't always tempt people onto buses, trains, bikes and sidewalks. And then we...2022-07-1227 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastAre Planning and Engineering Students On Board with Sustainable Transportation? (Nick Klein and Kelcie RalphPlanning and engineering students are poised to play a major role in shaping America's transportation system for decades to come. But do either of them agree with sustainable transportation advocates about what that future should look like — or even with each other? Today on The Brake, host Kea Wilson spoke with researchers Kelcie Ralph and Nick Klein, who conducted a new survey on how well these two groups of future built environment professionals understand fundamental concepts like "induced demand," as well as their opinions on the fundamental importance of reducing driving. Then, we dug into what it will t...2022-06-2826 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhy Every City Needs A Car Master Plan (Cathy Tuttle)Countless communities across America say they're planning for a future where more residents walk, bike, and roll to get around. So why do transportation leaders spend so much time drafting "pedestrian master plans" and "bike master plans" without accompanying "car master plans" aimed at building a world where fewer people get behind the wheel? Today on The Brake, we're joined by urban planner, community organizer and all around rad person Cathy Tuttle, who actually sat down and wrote a car master plan for her own city of Portland, Oregon. And she hopes that advocates and transportation leaders in o...2022-06-0730 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastHow 'Community Mobility Rituals' Can Transform Your NeighborhoodNeighborhood walking tours, group bike rides, and organized strolls in the park aren't typically thought of as front-line strategies to break a city's dependence on automobiles. Some advocates argue that without events like them, though, U.S. neighborhoods will never transform into truly people-centered places — particularly in socially and racially marginalized communities. On this episode of The Brake, host Kea Wilson sits down with Olatunji Oboi Reed, president and CEO of Equiticity, to talk about what he and his colleagues calls "community mobility rituals," or regular, free, hyper-local events that dismantle barriers to sustainable transportation and build the soci...2022-05-2434 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastWhy Sustainable Transportation Advocates Need to Talk About ZoningThe humble zoning code may be the single most important tool that sustainable transportation advocates can wield in the fight to end car dependence ... if they can make heads or tails of their communities' hundreds of pages of local laws. But what if any American could tell at a glance how her unique local land use policies influence the way she and her neighbors get around, without having to dig through a mountain of arcane jargon to get there? Today on The Brake, we're talking to Sara Bronin, law professor at Cornell University and the mastermind behind the...2022-05-1020 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastEpisode 6: Should Cities Train Their Own Transportation Advocates? (Keith Barthlomew and Nathan McNeil)Anyone who's ever tried to get a new crosswalk in their neighborhood knows how hard it can be just to figure out who to call — never mind how to get whoever's on the other end of the line to listen. And any transportation professional knows how challenging it can be to get that call from a resident, and realize that they don't have the faintest idea of how decisions actually get made on our streets. But what if cities offered a crash course that got both groups speaking the same language — and in the process, transformed ordinary citize...2022-04-2631 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastEpisode 5: Where Do Great Bus Stops Come From? (Mary Buchanan)Streetsblog's America's Best Bus Stops Contest is down to its final two contenders. Nationwide, though, the United States have a lot more sorry stops than good ones — and to understand how our top two wonderful waiting areas bucked the trend, we brought in an expert for some game-time commentary. Today, we're talking with bus stop expert and Transit Center Senior Research Associate Mary Buchanan, author of the indispensable report From Sorry to Superb: Everything You Need to Know About Great Bus Stops. Host Kea Wilson chats with Buchanan about how cities can create — or fight for — the structur...2022-04-1222 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastEpisode 4: When Communities DIY Their Own Transit (Benjie de la Peña) Streetsblog USAOn this episode of The Brake, Kea talks to Benjie de la Peña, chair of the Global Partnership for Informal Transportation and author of the must-read Substack newsletter Makeshift Mobility, about all the ways that people navigate their cities on shared modes without the support of taxpayer-funded public institutions. And though they're easier to spot in the global south, these modes exist in U.S. cities, too — though not everyone thinks that's necessarily a good thing. Still, de la Peña points out that makeshift mobility may move more people than every traditional train, buses, and...2022-03-2933 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastEpisode 3: What It's Like to Be A Woman in Transportation (And Why It Matters) with Stephanie Lotshaw and Ashley PryceA new zine from a top transit nonprofit explores not just why the needs of women need to be at the center of U.S. transit planning, but what it's actually like for gender-marginalized people who are working to change the status quo — in their own words, images, and even songs. In their unconventional and inspiring new zine, Subtext, editors Stephanie Lotshaw and Ashley Pryce of the nonprofit Transit Center sought to provide a radical new platform for the women and nonbinary people who keep our transportation networks running by looking beyond the stats and white papers and let...2022-03-1428 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastEpisode 2: Who Should Get to Decide Whether a Road Goes on a Diet? (Beth Osborne)This week on Streetsblog, we looked at two communities who each planned to calm an ultra-wide, ultra-dangerous road with the support of the vast majority of the residents they asked, only to have those plans scuttled in the face of vocal opposition. In San Antonio, Texas, that opposition is coming from the top down, as state DOT leaders and the governor himself step in and insist that 7-lane Broadway Avenue must continue to prioritize motorist speed over local safety; in Philadelphia, Pa., it's coming from the bottom up, as a coalition of business owners and residents of color c...2022-03-0124 minThe Brake: A Streetsblog PodcastEpisode 1: Why There's No Such Thing As a Car Accident (Jessie Singer)The phrase "car accident" has become so ubiquitous in American life that most people don't blink when they hear it, at least if they're not a street safety advocate who understands just how much damage that term has done. But not even the most diehard Streetsblog readers may realize just how recent the concept of a traffic "accident" is — or how deeply it impacts our ability to prevent future crashes. In her new book, There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster — Who Profits and Who Pays the Price, veteran journalist and sustainable transportation advoc...2022-02-1449 min