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

Empathy for the Driver

March 15, 2024

Winter Riding in Utah
0:23
the Healthy Streets LA ballot measure was approved by voters last week. If it does what is intended, LA will finally be forced to implement its own mobility plan, bike lanes and all. Michael Schneider, founder of Streets For All, reports on the success of his organization’s measure.
2:31
Listener email from Børge A. Roum in Norway.
9:11
Charles Marohn, author of “Confessions of a Recovering Engineer” and founder of Strong Towns, reflects on why we shouldn’t ridicule people in oversized cars, but rather “draw a larger circle of empathy” to include drivers in a tweet and here.
13:30
Transportation Alternatives NYC and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created Spatial Equity NYC, a tool for comparing the distribution of resources across districts in New York City. With TransAlt Communications Director Alexa Sledge.
44:45
Bike Thought by Stacey
53:30

drivers, empathy, hla, nyc, oversizedcars, photogallery, spatialequity, steetsforall, strongtowns, transalt, winterbike
Stop Victim Blaming

March 8, 2024

Eddie Vargas, Grub Hub bike delivery worker, loads up groceries in Los Angeles.
1:51
Bike Traffic report with Don Ward.
4:57
A new study in the Journal for Transport and Land Use shows blaming individuals for traffic violence prevents systemic changes to US roadways.
5:50
“There Are No Accidents” author Jessie Singer on the evolution of the accident, and how the auto industry has convinced the public that car crashes are due to “jaywalkers,” “nutty drivers,” and human error- when they are built into our roads and cars.
10:45
Author Caroline Paul on her article “My Mother got on a bike. It changed her life” and the book from which it sprung, New York Times bestseller “The Gutsy Girl, Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure.”
32:26
One girl’s first time getting hit by a car.
51:22
Bike Thought by Stacey.
53:43

accidents, bikelanes, bikelash, bikes, crash, deliveristas, grubhub, hla, humanerror, pedestrians, photogallery
Priorities

March 1, 2024

Voices of CicLAvia.
1:54
The law of riding in inclement weather, with Jim Pocrass.
4:32
Heads of Active Transportation Organizations on their legislative Priorities: Kendra Ramsey, Executive Director of CalBike.
11:42
José Antonio Zayas Cabán, Executive Director of Our Streets Minneapolis.
21:30
Todd Scott, Executive Director of the Detroit Greenways Coalition.
29:00
LA Times Letter Editor Paul Thornton on Biking in Los Angeles.
www.latimes.com/opinion/newslette…et-safety-opinion
37:30
Bike Thought.
55:30

calbike, cars, ciclavia, Detroit, greenways, legislation, Ourstreetsmpls, photogallery, priorities, safety
The Art of Advocacy

February 22, 2024

Guest host: Caro Vilain @mobilityforwhom

Listener Email: Robert Prinz, Advocacy Director, Bike East Bay
0:54

Bike Lane myths
2:15

Healthy Streets Los Angeles, on the ballot March 5, could transform car-centric streets. Michael Schneider, founder of the measure, on why it’s needed.
3:57

California Professional Firefighters Union President Brian Rice is mad about a lot of things, all embodied by Healthy Streets Los Angeles and symbolized by the bicycle.
14:28

Biking While Black documentary maker Yolanda Davis-Overstreet with Damon Turner, founder of Los Angeles Biking Academy and a subject of the film, on bike advocacy in their community.
18:23

“V” on Chicagoans who Bike, a photo project about the wide variety of Chicagoans who bike.
40:25

Bike Thought
56:08

animalsattack, bikingwhileblack, carcrazy, carviolence, chicago, labikeacademy, photogallery, photography
In Vulnerability

February 16, 2024

Chain maintenance with Anne Marie Drolet.
1:54
Bike Law, with Jim Pocrass.
3:51
New studies on increasing bike modeshare in the UK .
12:51
The Vulnerable Road User Safety Act of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, with Michael Kelley, Policy Director, Bike Walk Kansas City.
18:25
Community forms on the way to school in a walkable and bikeable Minneapolis neighborhood, according to Laura Mitchell, Board President of Our Streets Minneapolis.
34:05
Bike Thought with Stacey Randecker.
53:02

bikeable, bikechains, bikelaws, community, families, KC, kids, Minneapolis, modeshare, photogallery, VRUSA, walkable, winterbiking
Bike Grid Nation

February 11, 2024

Taylor reviews SF’s controversial Valencia St. bike lane.
0:20
A Winnipeg rider, Patty Wiens, responds to Taylor’s LA-centric comments about winter riding “on a trainer in the basement” back east.
1:29
News on Metro Bike Share in LA and best romantic riding.
4:21
Why Are American Drivers so Deadly? NY Times writer Matthew Shaer unpacks his article with Taylor.
6:05
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.
26:02
Stacey’s Bike Thought
54:26

bikegrid, fatalities, photogallery, protectedlanes, romance, traffic, unitedstates
Sharing is Caring

February 2, 2024

A listener, Reese, speaks for connected, protected bike lanes in Utah.
2:00
News: With pedestrian and cyclist deaths in Los Angeles at an 8-year high, the departing Los Angeles Police Chief blames reckless biking and walking habits. In California, SB 961 calls for all new cars to have speed governors. A Die-in against traffic violence at LA City Hall.
7:12
When a 14 year old on his bike was hit by an uninsured motorist in Chicago, personal injury lawyer Jonel Metaj took the case all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court. Now, people in Illinois with uninsured motorist coverage will be protected when biking and walking, too.
18:57
Alison Cohen is the founder of Bicycle Transit Systems, which operates bikeshare in cities throughout the US. She explains how BTS came to be threatened with replacement by Lyft in Los Angeles.
33:00
A Bike Thought by Stacey.
52:23

bikeshare, lyft, metro, participation, photogallery, sb691, Speed, trafficviolence
If You Build It, They Will Ride

January 25, 2024

Personal injury attorney Jim Pocrass on the laws regarding Cycling Under the Influence. 2:04

News: A Los Angeles Die-in, more studies on the benefits of biking, and mandated Intelligent Speed Assistance in all new European cars. 8:45
Jack Ketcham on Election Cycles- Tempe Bicycle Action Group’s rides and forums for candidates for political office in Tempe, Arizona. 12:02
Listener email: what’s best for bikeshare. 18:35
The story of Paris’ bike transformation by Secrets of Paris writer Heather Stimmler. 21:55
secretsofparis.com/

The limitations of community participation in planning for bike lanes with Miriam Pinski, PhD, Transportation Researcher with Shared-Use Mobility Center of UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. 38:07

Bike Thought. 56:20

bikelash, biking, community, drinking, infrastructure, laws, paris, participation, photogallery
To the Barricades!

January 20, 2024

Why American Drivers are so deadly, according to the NY Times. 5:20

How LA’s Transportation Agency, LA Metro, wants to give its successful bikeshare program to the rideshare company Lyft. 11:19

StreetsblogLA editor Joe Linton and Alexa Sledge, Communications Director for Transportation Alternatives in NYC, talk about last year in bikes in NYC and LA. 16:45

Progressive traffic engineer Vignesh Swaminathan, known as “Mr. Barricade,” explains proper road design.
40:48

2023, beer, bikeshare, biking, donuts, driving, dui, engineer, infrastructure, la, lametro, lyft, mayor, nyc, photogallery, traffic
Our Fair Share

January 12, 2024

Listener email with Travis of Milwaukee

News:
A proposed safe streets forum with the Mayor of Los Angeles, and the growing number of U.S. cities eliminating parking mandates.
2:43

Taylor talks with author Valerie Bolling on her books for children: Ride, Roll, Run and Together We Ride.
7:44
Available at-
bookshop.org/a/99134/9781419756290
bookshop.org/a/99134/9781797212487

Author/rider Sara Dykman talks about her bike tour on the migration route of monarch butterflies and her book about it, Bicycling With Butterflies, with Julie Richert.
24:12
Available at-
bookshop.org/a/99134/9781643262185

Bike Whisperer Bjartmar Leósson talks with Taylor Nichols about making friends with bike thieves in Reykjavík.
40:32

photogallery