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

Nick and Taylor ride Joe Borfo’s Tandem in Griffith Park

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#2516 – Up With Slow Streets, Crossings, and Infrasisters, Down With Crosswalk Creepers

April 25, 2025

Amy, gravel rider (1:05).

News (3:04):

Street safety advocates call for protected bike lanes on California’s deadly Pacific Coast Highway.

The City of Sacramento will be the first in the Nation to use cameras on buses that detect cars parked in bike lanes.

Austin, Tx is going to spend 80,000 to remove a two way bike lane after some neighbors complained that they could not park immediately in front of their house and had difficulty driving to their mailboxes .

Transpo Maps creator and safe streets activist Stephen Bratisch discusses how SF was able to continue the Slow Street movement after the Pandemic ended and car dominance returned (6:38).

Crossings author Ben Goldfarb on LA’s massive wildlife crossing over the 101 freeway, and what will keep wildlife from being slaughtered on roads (24:35).

Corra Boushel of Edinburgh’s Infrasisters – a group of women campaigning for night-time cycling infrastructure that’s safe and comfortable for women and girls (40:17).

Bike Thought: “Crosswalk creepers” by Our Streets Minneapolis Board President Laura Groenjes Mitchell (54:23).

audiobooks, bikebuscams, gravel, pch, slowstreets, wildlifecrossings, womenride
#2515 – Different Strokes

April 18, 2025

News:

Healthy Streets LA, the ballot measure which requires Los Angeles to implement bike infrastructure every time city streets are repaved, is being ignored by the county’s transportation agency, LA Metro. Taylor talks with the founder of Streets For All, Michael Schneider, who led the HLA campaign, and the Editor of Streetsblog LA, Joe Linton, who’s now suing the city (1:33).

It’s been 100 years since the Los Angeles city council passed the ordinance which says that if you’re walking you have to give right of way to drivers everywhere, except for particular crossings.

New Mexico adopted the Stop as Yield Law for cyclists.

Paris reduced speed limits on the Boulevard Périphérique from 70 to 50 km/hr, resulting in reduced traffic congestion, smoother traffic flow, fewer crashes, lower air pollution, and lower noise levels.

London’s Tweed Run ride is April 29.

For National Autism Acceptance Month, Detroit’s Neila Johnson created the Cycling the Spectrum ride. Neila talks with Motown Trailblazers Bike Club President Reo Ramsey (24:35).

Cross country solo cyclist Chris Casey tells the story of his ride across the U.S. (34:05).

Bike Thought: The 85th Percent Rule, by Charles Marohn (54:36).

Thanks Ted Rogers of BikinginLA.com.

85thpercentile, autism, carsupremacy, crosscountrybike, healthystreets, idahostop, lametrolawsuit, parisrules
#2514 – Bike Vessels and Arbitrary Lines

April 11, 2025

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s “Put the Phone Away or Pay” campaign emphasizes education and enforcement but not engineering. Our Lawyer, Jim Pocrass, shares his practice of suing distracted drivers as a deterrent (0:26).

A driver was found guilty of Reckless Vehicular Homicide in the killing of 17 year old rising US cycling star Magnus White. She was asleep at the wheel (8:51).

What to do now that USDOT intends to kill all active transportation funding, according to the League of American Bicyclists’ Deputy Executive Director Caron Whitaker (11:17).

Bike Vessel director Eric D. Seals shares the story behind his new feature length documentary about his father’s recovery from three open heart surgeries. Their 350-mile ride from St. Louis to Chicago is a celebration of family and an exploration of healthcare in America (17:59).

Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Killed the American City, and what zoning means for bikeability. A discussion with M. Nolan Gray, author and former Teaching Assistant of parking reformer Professor Donald Shoup (36:08).

arbitrarylines, bikevessels, distracteddriving
#2513 – State of the Union, Rebuilding a bike-oriented LA, and Bike storage

April 4, 2025

Listener Email: John Gibilisco on the Sisyphean task of Omaha bike advocacy (1:40).

#Teslatakedown (2:45).

The MAGAS are cutting all federal funding for bike infrastructure but also reneging on grants to projects like Reconnecting Communities, which would remediate the harms of highways. With Yonah Freemark, a principal research associate in the Housing and Communities Division at the Urban Institute (4:05).

Boston’s bike friendly Mayor Wu is ripping out protected bike lanes to appease the right, according to advocates like Boston Cyclists’ Union Communications Manager Mandy Wilkins (15:59).

LA architect Neal Payton on how to rebuild Los Angeles to be more bike oriented after the fires (23:17).

Bike storage is essential to more biking in cities, and Shabazz Stuart, co-founder and CEO of Oonee bike parking, wants to scale it up (40:28).

bikedevelopment, bikeparking, boston, losangeles, omaha, reconnecting, tesla, unprotecting
Strong Towns and Fault Lines

March 28, 2025

Tesla’s polluting plants, Musk’s racist genealogy and the #Teslatakedown (1:53).

Since our new regime is anti-active transportation, we check in with Charles Marohn, Strong Towns founder and author of Strong Towns, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, and Escaping the Housing Trap, for a reminder of what we can do locally to make towns more bikeable and livable (7:17).

Op ed writers with the Rochester University Campus Times, Teddy Almond and Maya Brosnick, debate NYC’s congestion pricing (30:28).

Robert Zaichkowski’s Bike Thought (54:17).

congestionpricing, evpollution, strongtowns, teslatakedown, Toronto
Bike Talk #2511 No Autocracy, yes BRT & Bike Share

March 21, 2025

Ontario’s reactionary re-elected Premier, Doug Ford, aims to rip out Toronto’s bike lanes despite his own experts’ testimony that they work. Our correspondent Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher on the view from Toronto (2:31).

The US DOT halts all active transportation funding that might reduce emissions or improve accessibility. James Pocrass, Los Angeles Bike Lawyer, gives his view. (9:31).

News:
“Congestion Pricing is Dead…Long Live the King,” declared trump’s X post, referring to himself… But congestion pricing lives. Honolulu’s speed cams work-too well? (14:03)

Why Buying a Bike Helmet Online Could Be Dangerous, with Consumer Reports writer Kevin Loria (16:57).

Global Tesla Takedown and Trump’s Tesla commercial at the White House (23:28).

Our favorite study finds “shifting from a long commute to a short walk would make a single person as happy as if he or she had found a new love” (25:08).

Omaha’s bike share is accessible by library card, among other great features in this talk with Benny Foltz, Executive Director of the Roam Share bike share systems in Nebraska (26:20).

How We Can Build a Rapid Transit Network Overnight Everywhere-Taylor and Lindsay talk with “Transit Guy” Hayden Clarkin (40:07).
#2510 Bike as Sport or Culture War Flashpoint

March 14, 2025

Taylor’s day of service fixing bikes and teaching kids how to ride safely with Brett Atencio-Thomas, Active Costa Mesa, California’s Transportation Coordinator. Brett tells about the Three Pronged approach to making a 21st century city (0:38).

On February 25th, a group of cyclists in Boyle Heights were handing out “Know Your Rights” cards with information on what to do if approached by ICE. They were struck by a hit-and-run driver in a Kia sedan with the license plate 8GAN606, and the driver is still at large. Amari and Deity talk about what it was like (5:02)

More bike news, including studies that show being stuck in traffic makes drivers eat more fast food, and San Francisco slow streets reduce injuries 61%. Powered by bikinginla.com (10:31).

An Ecargobike library in Minneapolis is the brainchild of Our Streets Minneapolis Board President Laura Groenjes Mitchell (16:20).

Cyclocross explained by Mike Wissel of the B2C2 Massachusetts racing community (22:51).

The upcoming bike racing season previewed by Dane Cash of Escapecollective.com (33:47).

bikelibrary, bikenews, bikeracing, cyclocross, knowyourrights
Bike Talk #2509 – The Firecracker, a Vigil, an Icon, and Two Directors

March 7, 2025

LA Locals Taylor & Don saw the city like tourists on an Ebike Tour of Hollywood (0:22).

Bike Director Kevin Wong on Chinatown’s March 8-9 Firecracker Ride, the largest Lunar New Year Run, Walk, Cycling, and Dog Walk event in the US (4:59).

Bike Indianapolis Advocacy Committee Chair Jakob Morales on the recent vigil and ghost bike placement for Dillan Lee Rogers (10:41).

Jacquie Phelan, veteran mountain bike racer and way paver for women racers, on the early days of the sport. Jacquie also talks about her relationship with mountain bike pioneer and inventor Charlie Cunningham, who was in a serious mountain bike crash, and whose Gofundme is here. With original Bike Talk co-host Jim Cadenhead (19:44).

Founding Directors Brendt Barbur of the Bicycle Film Festival and Josh Paget of the Better Cities Film Festival talk bikes and movies with Taylor (28:40).

The free ‘Love to Ride’ app lets users give feedback on how safe and comfortable they feel when riding their bikes on different streets, and shares that data with cities to promote bike commuting. With CEO Thomas Stokell (47:15).

Stacey’s Bike Thought (53:44)

Part II of the interview with Jacquie Phelan (57:59).

ebiketours, firecracker, ghostbike, lovetoride, lunarnewyear, vigil
Bike Talk 2508 – Freedom to Bike

February 28, 2025

Taylor’s science-backed brush with car-induced unhappiness (0:22)

New York City congestion pricing will resist Trump’s attempts to kill it, predicts NYC Transportation Alternatives Communications Director, Alexa Sledge (3:25).

Maybe the NYC toll program would fare better if we labelled them “Congestion tariffs,” suggests Listener Rick Bosacker (10:35).

Congestion Pricing, climate change, and the dire situation in federal funding, a bike advocacy roundtable with Cynthia Rose, President of Santa Monica Spoke and Board Member of Calbike, Eli Kaufman, Executive Director of Bike LA, Kendra Ramsey, E.D. of CalBike, Galen Mook, E.D. of MassBike, Todd Scott, E.D. of Detroit Greenways Coalition, Justin Hu-Nguyen, Co-Executive Director of Mobility Justice at Bike East Bay, Dave Snyder, Senior Director for Infrastructure and Matt Moore, General and Policy Counsel for People For Bikes (14:47).

bikeorgs, carsaresad, congestionpricingprevails
#2507 – Cars make us unhappy

February 21, 2025

On vacation in Fraser, CO, “the ice box of America,” self-proclaimed “single track capital of the world,” Taylor talks track with Ben Quinn, owner of Ice Box Mountain Sports (2:08).

Our friend, Los Angeles bike advocate, cyclocross racer, and survivor of the Eaton fire, Dorothy Wong, on rebuilding Los Angeles (5:23).

A California court’s ruling that recreational cyclists can’t sue the city when injured on city streets makes no sense, according to bike lawyer James Pocrass, and be careful when you sign a waiver (17:19).

Car dependence makes people unsatisfied with life, according to a study in Travel Behaviour and Society. Taylor talks with study author Rababe Saadaoui (28:10).

Micromobility NYC, a Reddit group, organized protests which, with others, built pressure to “un-pause” NYC congestion pricing. Nicholas talks to the Reddit group’s moderator, Miser, in the weeks before Trump declared he’d undo the policy (45:18).

cardependency, congestion, micromobility, rebuilding, singletrack, waiver, winterbiking