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

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  • 2519 – Judicial Defense of Bike Rights in Canada and California, Commuting in Minneapolis, and Bike Share in Los Angeles

    Ontario Premier Doug Ford tried to remove Toronto’s bike lanes, but Toronto bike advocacy organization Cycle Toronto and allies won a court injunction pausing the removal. Executive Director Michael Longfield discusses what it means (2:42). 

    The City of Oakland denied liability for a cyclist’s serious injuries due to bad pavement, arguing that the liability waiver the cyclist had signed with AIDS Lifecycle applied to the City. Last week, in Whitehead v. the City of Oakland, the California Supreme Court upheld the responsibility of cities to maintain safe street conditions for bike riders. Calbike filed an amicus brief in the case supporting cyclist Ty Whitehead’s lawsuit against Oakland. Calbike Executive Director Kendra Ramsey joins us to reflect on our win (14:35). 

    Our lawyer, James Pocrass, unpacks the loud and clear Whitehead v. the City of Oakland decision (18:52). 

    Minneapolis bike commuter Tracy Stewart shares her joy, from the second happiest city in America (26:59).

    Bicycle Transit Systems, which runs bike share in 15 cities, merged with B-cycle and is fighting Lyft for its LA contract. Shane Quentin, Director of Operations, and Annemarie Drolet, LA Bikeshare mechanic and BTS Shop Steward, share their thoughts and hopes (36:05).


    Detroit Bike Month rides with Reo Ramsey (50:50).

  • #2518 NIMBYs, YIMBYs, QUIMBYs and Bike Comics

    News: It’s Bike Month! Also- an Ontario, Canada court may save Toronto bike lanes, Waymo says its AVs are 25x safer than human drivers for cyclists and pedestrians on the road, Trump’s tariffs will devastate the bike industry, and Americans are losing interest in buying cars (1:47).

    The QUIMBY movement = Quality In My Back Yard, and it means high quality codes/laws/permitting/planning high quality buildings, streets, bike lanes and buses, say Norm Van Eeden Petersman, Strong Towns’ Director of Membership and Development and Lindsay Sturman, Bike Talk co-host and co-founder of Livable Communities Initiative (4:53).

    Artist Eleanor Davis on her comic, You and a Bike and a Road, a two-wheeled journey across the landscape of the American South (23:14).

    Moving From Cars to People is a comic about how the built environment in the United States came to be designed for cars, and what we can do about it. With authors and Transportation and Communities researchers Kelly Clifton and Kristina Currans (40:45).

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  • #2517 Are You From Jersey?

    Our Lawyer, Jim Pocrass, assesses the lawsuit brought by Streetsblog Los Angeles editor Joe Linton. LA Metro has argued that because it’s not the city, it doesn’t have to make bike infrastructure when repaving city streets, as called for in ballot measure HLA. The agency claims it would have to destroy homes and buildings to both preserve parking and make space for bikes (3:40).

    The standoff between New York and the Federal government over congestion pricing, as told by Streetsblog NYC Editor Gersh Kuntzman (10:22).

    Bike JC‘s Vice President Tony Borelli, Trustees Emmanuelle Morgan and Deidre Newman, and bike maker Anke Irmscher on Jersey City’s bike ecosystem and their place in it. (23:50).

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

    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).

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  • #2515 – Different Strokes

    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.

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  • #2514 – Bike Vessels and Arbitrary Lines

    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).

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

    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).

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  • Strong Towns and Fault Lines

    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).

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  • Bike Talk #2511 No Autocracy, yes BRT & Bike Share

    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

    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).

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A radio show dedicated to the idea that we need to prioritize transportation by bikes.


Broadcasting on FM and streaming since 2008 from our home station in Los Angeles, KPFK, our sister station Valley Free Radio in Florence, Massachusetts and Pacifica affiliates:

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