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

Latest Episode

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
Connecting the DOTs

January 6, 2024

LADOT’s Senior Traffic Engineer Tim Fremaux on LA’s famous traffic and how he’d love to see a network of interconnected facilities on a grid that would let you make trips comfortably by bike (it’s the LA Mobility Plan). With Lindsay Sturman and Taylor Nichols.
1:52

StreetsblogSF Editor Roger Rudick in conversation with Stacey Randecker on his commentary about how San Francisco “Fakes” its Vision Zero.
sf.streetsblog.org/2023/12/22/comm…-to-vision-zero
15:46

Cycling Embassy of Japan ambassadors James Szypula and Chad Feyen on how Tokyo’s bike friendliness depends on citizens rather than government.
39:55

photogallery
Bike Ironies

December 30, 2023

News: How the NYC Deliverista minimum wage may reduce bicyclist fatalities.
2:13
The irony of drivers waiting patiently at Christmas Light Displays, with Associate Director of Data Core at Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences, Bella Chu.
8:40
The irony of drivers waiting patiently at In-n-Out, with Peter Flax, journalist and former Editor in Chief of Bicycling Magazine. Image by Roscoe Flax.
19:59
The irony of the High Cost of Free Parking with its author, Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Urban Planning at UCLA, Donald Shoup. With Don Ward (rebroadcast portion).
38:17

photogallery
Ubiquitous Bike

December 22, 2023

Holiday Rides: The Los Angeles All City Toy Ride and the Arlington, Massachusetts Jingle Ride, with Joe Borfo and Lauren Hefferon.
6:10

Brooklyn’s Berry Street is a template for low traffic streets, despite an often hostile Mayor’s office. With Kevin Duggan, StreetsblogNYC journalist.
15:19
nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/11/21/eyes…traffic-streets

Cambridge Massachusetts’ Cycling Safety Ordinance requires the construction of separated bike lanes when streets are being reworked. It wasn’t easy, but a city report shows it’s been a success. MassBike Executive Director/Bike Talk host Galen Mook talks with Chris Cassa, a volunteer with the Cambridge Bike Safety Organization.
28:45
www.cambridgema.gov/-/media/Files/C…eport_final.pdf

RE:CYCLE The Ubiquitous Bike is an exhibit which includes historical bikes, photos, and videos in Sag Harbor, NY. Taylor talks to Sara Cochran, Chief Curator.
42:32
www.thechurchsagharbor.org/re-cycle-th…d%20artists.

bikeart, holidayrides, photogallery, protectedlanes
Santa Comes By Bike

December 15, 2023

Colin Jost on his outrageous bike habit, with Seth Meyers.
6:11

Santa Monica Mayor Gleam Davis leaves office with a wish for Santa Monica to be the bike capital of the world. 8:25

momentummag.com/santa-monica-want…ning-new-project/

Sarah Risser’s online poll showed most respondents don’t feel Portland needs to apologize for installing bike lanes without community input. The lane was removed anyway. 21:37

bikeportland.org/2023/12/12/portl…e-removal-382441

Milwaukee’s Santa Cycle Rampage reportback with Wisconsin Bike Federation Assistant Director Jake Newborn.
29:49

Maryland’s “Come By Bike Farm” is so named because of how its farmer, Vincent Hedger, gets there.
41:58

bikecapital, bikefarm, bikesanta, photogallery
Safe Passage Zealots

December 9, 2023

Fox News supports speeding.
3:50

The legality of riding on the sidewalk with Jim Pocrass, personal injury attorney.
6:01

A bike lane ripped out for unproven EV charging technology on a Michigan street, no community input required. With Detroit Greenways Coalition Todd Scott and Stacey Randecker.
11:25

Cycling fallacies debunked with Tim Lennon, Secretary for the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain. cyclingfallacies.com/en/
19:00

A repost of an interview with the author of “Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle,” Jody Rosen.
32:13

bikefallacies, bikehistory, bikelanes
Wheels Up

December 7, 2023

Los Angeles Bikeshare mechanic AnneMarie Drolet on biking in the winter and the Gender Expansive ride.
2:35 on.soundcloud.com/fzidN

The author of the OC Register article, “Sorry, urbanists, but bicycles will never save the planet,” Steven Greenhut, explains his perspective to Streetsblog LA Editor Joe Linton and Bike Talk cohost Taylor Nichols. www.ocregister.com/2023/11/10/sorr…ave-the-planet/
7:19 on.soundcloud.com/o42Av

Minneapolis’ Midtown Greenway is an alternative transportation corridor that features a 5.5 mile biking and walking trail. It is the busiest bikeway in Minnesota. Executive Director of the Midtown Greenway Coalition Soren Jensen talks about the Greenway and the propensity of people in Minneapolis to ride it in winter, with Taylor Nichols.
35:30 on.soundcloud.com/cdah2

bikelash, winterbike