Bike Talk - A radio show dedicated to the idea that for public and planetary health we need to prioritize public transportation by bikes

Latest Episode

Costa Rica, Congestion Pricing NYC, and Biking with Disability

January 10, 2025

In honor of the New Year, Nick shares his mission statement for Bike Talk, and compares his acting career with Taylor’s (0:35).

Taylor interviews a Costa Rican mountain biker on his recent trip to Costa Rica (4:15)…

and shares his mission statement for Bike Talk (8:30).

News: On Day 1 of Congestion Pricing in NYC, Transportation Alternatives Communications Director Alexa Sledge shares her observations (9:38).

A new California law defines “e-bike” (17:26).

Studies: Listener “Big E” emails Bike Talk about his bike, or “errand machine,” and links to a study showing 52% of trips in the US are less than 3 miles (18:20).

Another study shows that relying on a car for more than 50% of the time out of the house results in a decrease in life satisfaction (20:01).

A United Kingdom charity, Wheels for Wellbeing, helps people who are disabled get on and enjoy riding bikes of all shapes and sizes. With Dr. Kay Inckle, Campaigns and Policy Manager (22:08).

Blind Tandem Bicycling With Frank Nemiroff and Sonya Chapnick (40:05).

Stacey’s Bike Thought (55:37).

cars, congestion, CostaRicaMTB, disability, ebike, lifesatisfaction, mobility, studies
Bike Grid Nation repost

January 3, 2025

Midnight Rida/Bike Oven volunteer Joe Borfo lends Bike Talk his tandem for a new logo(0:26).

News: Bill 212 passes, allowing Ontario Premier Doug Ford to proceed with removing Toronto’s popular bike lanes despite data that shows they’re successful. Congestion pricing starts in NYC (4:57).

A Winnipeg rider, Patty Wiens, responds to Taylor’s LA-centric comments about winter riding “on a trainer in the basement” back east (6:39).

Why Are American Drivers so Deadly? NY Times writer Matthew Shaer unpacks his article with Taylor (9:58).

How we move forward to create sustainable cities with networks of protected bike lanes, or bike grids. With Gil Peñalosa, founder of 8-80 Cities (29:40).

Stacey’s Bike Thought (56:11).

8to80, bikeablecities, bikelash, deadlydrivers, decongestion, tandem, winterbike
Bike Love (repost)

December 27, 2024

National Bike News: car related crime, new federal Transportation Alternatives funding, and the EXPLORE act passage.

Studies: E-bikes and scooters displace 4x as much demand for oil as all of the EVs in the world,
and vehicles with higher, more vertical front ends pose greater risk to pedestrians (6:23)

What to do in a bike crash, with LA Personal Injury Attorney Jim Pocrass (9:32).

Livable Communities: bikes, transit, and housing. Liveable Communities Initiative founder Lindsay Sturman and Taylor Nichols (15:48).

“Hating Bike Lanes is not a Winning Strategy,” writes Massachusetts Streetsblogger Christian MilNeil of fall elections in Massachusetts (41:23).

Stacey’s Bike Thought (55:45).

Originally posted December 5, 2023

bikelaw, bikepolitics, liveablecities, streetscience
Ebike Police State in NYC; The Road Widening Fallacy; Kids on Bikes Protest in Amsterdam

December 20, 2024

An email from avid listener Rick Bosacker, who gets the joke about “avid cyclists.” He’s on a 13 month world tour with his family, who are differently avid.

Taylor gets route help from Canadian cyclists Dan and Lynette Markham in bike-unfriendly Laguna Beach, California (2:12)

Bike Friendly States’ ranking highlights by the League of American Bicyclists’ Policy Director Ken Macleod (5:19)

Intro 606 bill would require the licensing of ebikes in NYC, and make every person on a bike a target- especially those who are already targeted. “There Are No Accidents” author Jessie Singer unspools a thread (8:58)

Even the Netherlands could do better for children’s active transportation, which is why kids had to protest for park space in Amsterdam, say Dr. Meredith Glaser and Michela Grasso of the Urban Cycling Institute (23:38)

Widening roads doesn’t decrease gridlock. Why don’t engineers know this? Steffen Berr, the Haarlem traffic engineer behind Build the Lanes, and Sully Israel, a traffic planner in Los Angeles, build their case (37:05)

Stacey’s Bike Thought (55:26)

bikefriendly, bottlenecks, ebikelicense, family, kidspace
Bike Fights, Loser Lanes, Organizing Advocates and “Avid Cyclists”

December 13, 2024

The Ebike Getaway of Luigi Mangioni (1:28)

An overview of the Washington Area Bicycle Coalition, WABA, by Elizabeth Kiker, Executive Director (5:29)

The Evanston, IL Bike Lane Debate as told by Streetsblog Chicago Editor John Greenfield (7:46)

People who bike were betrayed by the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure’s watering down of a protected bike lane, say Denver Bike Lobbyists Alejandra Castañeda and Rob Toftness (14:10)

The video game Loser Lane is impossibly dangerous, because it simulates the city of Toronto without bike lanes. Marie Leblanc Flanagan, the game designer, thanks anti-bike Ontario Premier Doug Ford for each virtual death (27:25)

The work of the Massachusetts Bike Coalition, MassBike, as told by Galen Mook, Executive Director, to Charlie Leightheiser (41:30)

bikefight, ebikeassassin, loserlane, massbike, waba
Fat Bikes in Winter, Spoke ‘n Art, Engineers for Bike Lanes, the Dutch, RAGBRAI, and Revolutionizing Mobility

December 6, 2024

Taylor talks with Hugh Fuller and Joe Borfo at Bike Oven’s iconic Highland Park “Spoke ’n Art Ride.” 0:20

Why fat bikes are “the quiver killer,” a pitch from Physical Education teacher and mountain bike club coach Salem Derby. 4:03

News: “Loser Lane,” a fatalistic web based game about riding without a protected lane in Toronto. With Bill 212, Toronto Premier Doug Ford seeks immunity for injuries and fatalities resulting from removing Toronto bike lanes. The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers completely opposes the bill. 8:43

Los Angeles bike advocate and personal injury attorney Jim Pocrass compares Toronto’s would-be municipal immunities with LA’s. 12:36

More news: Denver, Colorado waters down planned protected bike lanes after Denver DOT holds private, post-public comment meetings with individuals and businesses opposed to them. 18:15

Shoutout to Ted Rogers’ annual fund drive at BikinginLA.com; Thanks for the news, Ted!

Taylor talks with the host of a recent “Revolutionizing Mobility” conference in Culver City, Lindsay Sturman. Also, co-author of Curbing Traffic and Building the Cycling City/Dutch Cycling Embassy International Relations Manager Chris Bruntlett. 20:53

Annabelle Bitterman on riding RAGBRAI with her father and coming in 3rd overall in the East Texas Showdown. 39:40

artride, brt, Dutch, engineers, fatbikes, immunity, mobility, ragbrai
Cranksgiving

November 29, 2024

News: San Francisco’s controversial center-running bike lane to be replaced by curb protected lanes. Luke Bornheimer, SF advocate with StreetsForward.org, explains. 4:09

NYC gets congestion pricing, finally. It’s $9 instead of $15, but will increase. Dave Colon, StreetsblogNYC writer, fills in the details. 9:01

As Ontario Premier Doug Ford pushes to remove Toronto’s bike lanes, University of Toronto students Zev Godfrey and Eva Stanger-Ross Fight for Bikes. 18:28

Writer Nathan Deuel on his LA Times Opinion article, “I thought I had my L.A. cycling commute down. Turns out, I’d been missing the obvious.” 23:34

Long distance rider, world record holder for most states visited in 24 hours by bike, bike influencer Sam Westby. 39:57

Stacey’s Bike Thought: 56:44

bikefight, curbprotected, spacedividend
Us Versus Them

November 22, 2024

Voices from World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Victims in Los Angeles.
1:48

Transportation under Trump according to Yonah Freemark, Principal Research Associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute.
8:25

Los Angeles Bike Fest.
13:37

Strong Towns Northampton checks its tone over a bike lane closure. With Danielle McKhan, Jennifer Nery, and Alex Bowman.
19:10

Fighting for bikes means fighting back against the Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s attempt to rip out Toronto’s bike infrastructure- with Norm Di Pasquale, New Democratic Party Candidate for Spadina – Fort York in Toronto, Canada.
34:04

Studying the language of mobility with linguistics Professor Maria Caimotto.
40:41

Stacey’s Bike Thought
53:46

bikela, conflict, linguistics, mobility, S.A.F.E., tone, trafficviolence, transportation
Kids and Bikes

November 15, 2024

Bike News:
Cop29 cop-outs, solace in U.S. local elections for biking, China’s huge bikeshare rides, and in Oregon, a cyclist was charged for a ride to the hospital by the ambulance that hit him.
2:19

The Northampton Cycle-Smart Cyclocross race broke from the Union Cycliste Internationale for its exclusion of trans women riders in 2023, but the race goes on; the 33rd annual Northampton, Massachusetts Cyclocross race was November 8-10. Miles Abrams, 11, came in 4th in his category. He and his mom, Lisa, talk about cyclocross and what bike sport means to them.
7:34

BYCS Bicycle Mayor Network comprises civil society leaders representing 145 cities in 40 countries. Amanda Padilla, Bike Mayor of Quito, Ecuador, uses “cycling games” to focus on kids.
18:51

Atlanta’s Bike Buses are gaining riders. Andrew Francis tells the story of his popular weekly school rides.
30:18

The University of California at Santa Barbara has been declared a “platinum level” bike friendly university several times by the League of American Bicyclists. Stacey Randecker talks to students about how their experience compares to transportation back home, and how it will impact their life choices after graduation.
44:12

Stacey’s Bike Thought.
54:13

bikebus, bikecampus, BikeMayor, cyclocross, kids, networks, ucsb
Autocrats against bikes, bike lanes and safe streets in the USA and Canada

November 8, 2024

In the election bummer, some local winners for safe streets: new Congressmember Laura Friedman, Alameda Supervisor John Bauters, and West Hollywood Mayor John Erickson.

Listener Kevin Grishkot asks whether, if cars were no longer available, we would require people to license their bicycles. Bike Talk’s lawyer, Jim Pocrass, explains why it’s not a very good idea.
3:18

News:
Ontario Premier threatens Toronto’s popular and data proven bike lanes.

Paris closes 2 miles of its city center to through traffic.

Bike-friendly Minneapolis makes the top tier of the 2024 “Happy City Index.”

Denver activists form a people protected bike lane to respond when the city cancels 1/2 mile of protected bike lane.
10:56

Robin Richardson, Toronto mom, family/cargo biker, and organizer of the bike lane on “the world’s longest street” defends Toronto’s bike lanes from a right wing populist Premier.
17:11

Emily Lipstein, StreetsblogNYC journalist, bike commuter, and Queens native, tells the story of a recent DOT greenway workshop thrown into chaos by MAGA NYC Councilmember Vicky Paladino.
37:02

Stacey’s Bike Thought
55:30

bikelash, greenway, MAGA, Minneapolis, paris, queens, Toronto