Sarah Goodyear

Laura Laker exploring the infrastructure of the UK’s National Cycle Network. Photo courtesy of Laura Laker.

Laura Laker is a London-based freelance journalist who specializes in writing about cycling and urban transport. We talked with her about the year she spent riding around Britain on the United Kingdom’s 13,000-mile National Cycle Network—an enlightening and often hilarious odyssey that she documents in her first book, Potholes and Pavements: A Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network. We also got into her work in formulating and promoting the UK’s first Road Collision Reporting Guidelines, which detail best practices for the media and planning professionals to talk about road crashes and their prevention. 

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers! ***

This episode was produced with support from the Helen and William Mazer Foundation and Cleverhood. Listen to the episode for the latest discount on the best and most stylish rain gear for walking and cycling.

Save 15% on everything from Redshift Sports, including the amazing Arclight pedals, with code WARONCARS. Use this link for access.

LINKS:

• Find out more about Laura Laker’s work.
• Buy Laura’s book, Potholes and Pavements: A Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network, at our official Bookshop.org page.
• Check out the Road Collision Reporting Guidelines that Laura helped write.
• Learn more about the UK’s National Cycle Network and Sustrans, the nonprofit that promotes and maintains it.

Pick up official podcast tees and other merch in our official store. 

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. 

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Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy takes the oath of office from Vice President JD Vance. Credit: US Department of Transportation

The Trump administration has upended the entire United States government over the last several weeks, sending Elon Musk and his minions into the guts of pretty much every federal department in a crusade for what they’re calling “efficiency.” Funds that were legally appropriated by Congress have been frozen, and in some cases even clawed back. The battle to preserve all sorts of spending is now in the courts. 

What does this all mean for federal funding of public transit, bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and the transition to EVs? And what is DOT Secretary Sean Duffy’s “Woke Rescission Memo”? We talked with Beth Osborne, executive director of the advocacy organization Transportation for America, to help us understand what’s at stake and how we can help defend projects we care about in our own communities. (Spoiler alert: It won’t be easy!)

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers! ***

This episode was produced with support from the Helen and William Mazer Foundation and Cleverhood. Listen to the episode for the latest discount on the best and most stylish rain gear for walking and cycling.

*** If you’re in the New York area and are looking for a new e-bike, check out the Upway Sample Sale at their warehouse in Brooklyn on February 28th. You’ll score deep discounts on e-bikes from all the major brands. Tell ‘em The War on Cars sent you.***

LINKS:

Transportation for America has some great resources to help you understand the federal funding picture in more detail.

Some terms Beth mentions in the interview that might be unfamiliar: 

• ISTEA (pronounced ICE-T) is an acronym referring to the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, which fundamentally restructured the way federal transportation funds are disbursed. You can read more about it here. (Brookings)
• Justice40 refers to a Biden-era policy initiative aiming to direct 40 percent of federal investments in areas like climate, clean energy, and affordable housing to disadvantaged, disinvested communities that suffer disproportionately from pollution. 

Pick up official podcast tees and other merch in our official store. Purchase books from podcast guests and support independent booksellers at our official Bookshop.org page.

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. 

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This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, plus ad-free versions of regular episodes, merch discounts, pre-sale tickets to live shows, and more, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.

You’ve probably heard us talking about how we have written a book that will be coming out this fall. We are super excited to share more about that very soon. We’ve spent a lot of the last year in the research and writing process. And what became apparent very soon was that there were a lot of things that we weren’t going to be able to fit into the book, no matter how hard we tried.

So we put together a little bonus episode for you on one of the fascinating things we found that just didn’t make the final draft.  It’s a book called The Romance of the Automobile Industry: Being the Story of Its Development—Its Contribution to Health and Prosperity—Its Influence on Eugenics—Its Effect on Personal Efficiency—and Its Service and Mission to Humanity as the Latest and Greatest Phase of Transportation. 

Published in 1916, it’s essentially a 460-page ad, lavishly illustrated with pictures of bewhiskered white men and their inventions. And even after all the time we’ve spent thinking about cars, this book still had some surprises. (And yes, you read that right…he talks about eugenics. We’ll explain.)

Subscribe on Patreon for access to the whole bonus episode!

President Joe Biden in 2023 at the Falls Road Amtrak maintenance building in Baltimore. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

As the new Trump regime begins, we talked with Dani Simons—who until recently led the Office of Public Affairs for the federal Department of Transportation—about the Biden administration’s legacy on transportation. What are the stakes as we go from Amtrak Joe and DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg to an administration made up of oil barrels disguised as people? What are the last four years’ biggest achievements on the transportation front? How do we communicate better about federal investments in active transportation? And how do we hold onto the hard-fought policies aimed at pedestrian safety and mitigating the climate crisis?

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

This episode was recorded at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio by Justin Fernandez. It was edited by Ali Lemer. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to bonus content, ad-free versions of regular episodes, free stickers, merch discounts, early access to live shows, and more. *** 

Purchase tickets to our April 24th live show in Minneapolis, presented by Our Streets.

LINKS:

• The Wall Street Journal’s Dorothy Rabinowitz and the Citibike moral panic (original video here)
• Eliot Spitzer at the Mayflower Hotel
• New York City’s Open Streets program and Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC
• And if you were wondering what Dani meant when she said “NHTSA,” that’s the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

TheWarOnCars.org

Smooth traffic entering the toll zone at Fifth Avenue and 60th Street in Manhattan. Photo: Sarah Goodyear

At last, New York City started its congestion pricing program on January 5.

We knew that the local mainstream press would be out in force interviewing drivers and elevating the voices of those who were against the toll. We knew that because the New York press corps has a long history of putting the people who commute by car in New York above those who don’t.

So we went out on congestion pricing’s first weekday morning and talked to some people who weren’t driving. Some of the people we talked with were random New Yorkers, but mostly we heard from advocates who knew we would be there and showed up in the freezing cold to talk about why they were so excited about the launch of this historic program.

Thank you to all the people who spared some of their time on a cold morning to talk to us, especially Samir Lavingia, Charlie Todd, Chris Sanders, Alex Duncan, Rich Miller, Noel Hidalgo, Seth Solomonow, Kirby Kersels, Paul Krikler and Steve from Peekskill.

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to bonus content, ad-free versions of regular episodes, free stickers, merch discounts, early access to live shows, and more. *** 

LINKS:

• The MTA’s FAQ page answers all your questions about congestion pricing.
• Check out this congestion pricing traffic tracker for collected data showing the program’s impact.

TheWarOnCars.org

Why do people behave so badly behind the wheel of a car? Why do reporters and the police use passive language to describe automobile crashes and traffic violence? How do the words we use make a difference in street safety? Dr. Tara Goddard, one of the top scholars studying what cars do to our brains and the way we treat each other in the world, has some thoughts—and she’s done the research.

Tara is an associate professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University. Her work focuses on creating a just transportation system through safe roadway design and inclusive transportation planning.

We talked with her about “motonormativity,” how race influences how drivers treat pedestrians, and why language matters if we want to change the conversation about whom streets are for.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to bonus content, ad-free versions of regular episodes, free stickers, merch discounts, early access to live shows, and more. *** 

This episode was produced with support from Cleverhood and Sheyd Bags. Listen for the latest discount codes.

Buy tickets to our show with CityNerd on January 31, 2025, at Hunter College in New York City.

LINKS:

Follow Tara on Bluesky.

Read More

San Francisco’s Great Highway will be permanently open to people, not cars

We’re not going to sugarcoat it. That election was tough. But there are some points of hope that can help us make our way forward. We got together in the studio to look at victories around the country for transit and safe streets, and to discuss how we can all hang in there together and continue making positive change in our communities.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, special bonus content, stickers, merch discounts, and more ***

SHOW NOTES:

The good news from Nashville (Nashville Scene)

The good news from Seattle (The Urbanist)

Alexis Mercedes Rinck wins Seattle City Council seat

The good news from San Francisco (SF Standard)

New York legalizes jaywalking (The New York Times)

Alameda County election results

Pick up merch in our official store

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.

TheWarOnCars.org

In this bonus episode just for Patreon supporters of The War on Cars, we reveal how Aaron, Doug and Sarah get mobilized into the war on cars. What made them this way?

We dive deep into our own pasts and reveal how our personal experiences with cars drove us to activism, research, writing…and ultimately, The War on Cars podcast as you know it today. You’ll learn how Doug dealt with a soul-crushing commute in Atlanta and how Sarah drove recklessly on the California coast. You’ll also hear the words of wisdom Aaron’s father imparted during their first driving lesson.

With cameo appearances from the Chevy Nova (pictured above in malaise beige) and the Chrysler LeBaron.

***This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.***

Since he was selected mayor in 2021, John Bauters has gained an international reputation for his work to transform transportation and housing in the tiny city of Emeryville, which is wedged between Oakland and Berkeley on the shores of San Francisco Bay. Emeryville, population 13,000, is only one square mile in area. But it’s home to some big employers, including Pixar, and several big box stores. It also has I-80 blasting through it, and it is a major hub for Amtrak, regional rail, and freight rail. It’s a challenging environment in which to create a green city with a great active transportation network. But that’s exactly what Bauters has been working toward for his whole term. We visited with him, rode some of the great bike and park network that Emeryville has been building, and talked about the kind of political will that’s necessary to make real change.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

***Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, exclusive bonus content and stickers.***

This episode is produced with support from Cleverhood. Listen to the episode for the latest Cleverhood discount code. Read More

While working on Episode 110, Back to School with the Bike Bus, we spoke with Sam Balto, a phys ed teacher in Portland, Oregon, who goes by @CoachBalto and who’s become one of the most visible advocates in the global movement for active transportation for kids.

We used some of his comments in that episode, but our conversation was so juicy we knew we wanted to share it in full.

Sam does a great job of explaining why bike buses are so much fun and so good for kids, and why you might find yourself tearing up when you watch his videos: “We want our children to thrive. And the bike bus movement is sort of the first story of children thriving since the pandemic.”

Sam’s Portland bike bus is getting national attention. You can follow him on Instagram, TikTok, and that other platform.

Maybe you’ll be inspired to start a bike bus or walking school bus where you live!

***This is a preview of a Patreon bonus episode. To hear the full episode and for complete access to all our exclusive bonus content become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.***