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Why do Americans spend lots of money to visit walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly European cities, only to come back to the U.S. and oppose all those things where they live? Rick Steves has some thoughts.

Countless people know and love the popular travel writer for his guidebooks and long-running television programs, which encourage people to explore Europe’s “backdoor” destinations—those off-the-beaten-path locations that have just as much or more to offer than its more touristy cities and sights.

Rick takes a thoughtful and philosophical approach to travel and believes it offers people important lessons for becoming better global citizens. He is also an activist and philanthropist who believes in the power of local advocacy; he has funded affordable housing in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, and is pursuing a one-man effort to turn a downtown roundabout into an Italian-style piazza.

Please note: This episode was recorded before Rick announced his recent cancer diagnosis. We wish him all the best and many more years of inspiring people to explore the world.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

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***Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive ad-free versions of regular episodes and exclusive bonus content. Plus, we’ll send you stickers.***

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

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LINKS

• Learn more about all things Rick Steves.
• Pick up a copy of Rick’s book Travel as a Political Act and the 40th edition of his travel guide Europe Through the Back Door as well as books by other podcast guests at our official Bookshop.org page.
• “When he’s not traveling around Europe, writing about Europe or running his multimillion-dollar European tour company, the prolific TV host and author likes to squeeze in some local activism.” (Washington Post)
• Rick Steves Wants to Set You Free (New York Times)
• The Future in our Hands, the Norwegian movement Rick mentions in the episode.

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

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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, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars. 

In June, Doug attended Velo-city, an annual cycling summit hosted by the European Cyclists’ Federation that brings the bike world together. This year’s conference was held in the Belgian city of Ghent. While there, Doug wandered the exhibition floor talking with people from all over the world — including elected officials, city planners, advocates, industry representatives, academics and bike-curious regular citizens — about why it was important for them to attend Velo-city and what lessons and knowledge they hoped to take home. As you’ll hear in this bonus episode, the fight to make cities safer, more sustainable and more equitable truly is a global effort.

Thanks to the European Cyclists’ Federation for having The War on Cars at Velo-City and to Ali Lemer for editing this episode.

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Episode 133: Listener Origin Stories (Patreon bonus re-release)

We’re taking a short break to work on our forthcoming book and some of our upcoming fall shows. We’ll be back with new free episodes in early September. In the meantime, please enjoy this re-release of our Patreon bonus episode from December 26, 2023. You can get all of our Patreon bonus episodes and more subscriber-only content – plus stickers! – by signing up to support us at www.patreon.com/thewaroncarspod. (A new Patreon-exclusive bonus episode will be released in two weeks.)

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

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Last November we told you our origin stories. Everything from early driving lessons to our experience living in car-dependent places has informed our journey to becoming radicalized, so to speak, into The War on Cars.

Now it’s your turn! We put out the call to our Patreon supporters for their origin stories, and — wow! — did you deliver. We heard from people all over the world about how they began to see the problems with car dominance, with stories ranging from gradual realizations to sudden epiphanies. Plus, we heard from a few friends and former guests of the podcast.  (Not all heroes wear capes, but one you’ll hear from at the top of the show most certainly does.)

Honestly, we were so impressed and inspired by everyone’s stories. We often tell people that we have the smartest and most engaged audience in podcasting and this episode is undeniable proof of that. Thank you for all you do in your neck of the woods to fight for safety, sustainability, equity, and more.

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Thank you to Bull Moose Soft Goods and Cleverhood for their support. For the latest discount codes, listen to the episode.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and you’ll be tipped off to listener participation episodes like this one, and receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, special bonus content, stickers, and more! ***

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Pick up podcast tees and other merch in our official The War on Cars 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. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.

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Holden in Chattanooga in January, at the spot where two people were killed and one injured by a driver when they were walking on the sidewalk.

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.

This month’s exclusive Patreon bonus episode is an interview with Holden Ringer, who recently finished walking more than 4,000 miles across the country from the starting point of LaPush, Washington. Holden is a 26-year-old originally from Dallas, Texas, and he used his odyssey to fundraise for the organization America Walks, as well as to raise awareness about active transportation and meet with fellow-minded advocates along the way. As he says, “Advocacy is built into the activity.” Not long after he reached the Atlantic Ocean in May, we sat in New York’s Bryant Park and talked about what he saw and learned during his year-plus odyssey on America’s roads, pushing a stroller he named Smiley.

Check out this episode!

Photo by Peter Flax

NOTE: This is part two of a two-part episode. To hear both parts right now and without ads, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.

In part two of our deep dive on John Forester and his 1976 book Effective Cycling, we take a look at the paltry data and research underpinning the alleged safety benefits of vehicular cycling and the long-term impact Forester had on cycling for transportation in the United States. Even though cities such as New York started building protected bicycle lanes in earnest in the late 2000s and early 2010s — and even though quality bike infrastructure has existed in places such as Davis, California for decades — John Forester’s legacy continued well into the 21st century, with federal guides such as AASHTO’s “Green Book” discouraging or even prohibiting parking-protected bikeways until as recently as 2018. On top of that, many of Forester’s disciples held positions atop major advocacy organizations and city bike planning departments for years, and used their influence to prevent the construction of protected bike lanes. In a lot of ways, we’re still pedaling in the world John Forester created.

You can find the full transcript of Part 2 here.

This episode was sponsored by Bull Moose Softgoods and Cleverhood.  Listen to the episode for the latest discount codes.

LINKS/SOURCES

Read Peter Flax in conversation with John Forester, via Bicycling Magazine.

Northeastern University’s Peter Furth takes on John Forester.

STUDY: “Risk of injury for bicycling on cycle tracks versus in the street,” by Lusk, Furth, et. al.

PAPER: “A Historical Perspective on the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities and the Impact of the Vehicular Cycling Movement,” Schultheiss, Sanders, and Toole, 2018

AASHTO’s Draft Bikeway Guide Includes Protected Bike Lanes and More, Streetsblog 2016

Key Design Guide to Finally Include Protected Bike Lanes, Streetsblog 2018

‘Death Of A ‘Dinosaur:’ Anti-Cycleway Campaigner John Forester Dies, Aged 90, by Carlton Reid in Forbes

Read Bike Boom: The Unexpected Resurgence of Cycling, by Carlton Reid.

Read Bike Battles: A History of Sharing the American Road, by James Longhurst.

How the former Dallas bicycle coordinator held back cycling infrastructure for years, via the Texas Observer.

Dallas’ Former Bike Czar Tells Newbie Riders to Go Play in Traffic, via the Dallas Observer

Access John Forester’s website via the Wayback Machine.

If you’re a glutton for punishment, pick up a copy of John Forester’s Effective Cycling.

Grab some merch in our official store!

This episode was edited by Yessenia Moreno. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio.

https://thewaroncars.org/

Check out this episode!

NOTE: This is part one of a two-part episode. To hear both parts right now and without ads, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.

“Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles.“

That quote is the core philosophy of John Forester, the father of vehicular cycling. Forester, who died in 2020, was a major figure in the the world of cycling advocacy and transportation policy, and his influence shaped street design and bicycle safety in the United States for decades. We take a deep dive into Forester’s 1976 book, Effective Cycling. Part guidebook, part encyclopedia, part polemic, Effective Cycling explains why cyclists should not be afraid to ride not just in traffic, but as traffic. Throughout the book, Forester dismisses anyone who might be afraid of taking the lane with fast-moving cars and trucks as suffering from what he calls the “cyclist inferiority complex” and asserts that only a strict adherence to the principles of vehicular cycling can keep everyone safe.

Who was John Forester? What is vehicular cycling? Why are we talking about a book that was published almost fifty years ago? It’s all here in this mega episode.

You can find the full transcript of Part 1 here.

This episode was sponsored by Cleverhood and Pinhead Locks. Listen for the latest discount codes.

LINKS/SOURCES

Read Peter Flax in conversation with John Forester, via Bicycling Magazine.

Northeastern University’s Peter Furth takes on John Forester.

STUDY: “Risk of injury for bicycling on cycle tracks versus in the street,” by Lusk, Furth, et. al.

PAPER: “A Historical Perspective on the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities and the Impact of the Vehicular Cycling Movement,” Schultheiss, Sanders, and Toole, 2018

AASHTO’s Draft Bikeway Guide Includes Protected Bike Lanes and More, Streetsblog 2016

Key Design Guide to Finally Include Protected Bike Lanes, Streetsblog 2018

‘Death Of A ‘Dinosaur:’ Anti-Cycleway Campaigner John Forester Dies, Aged 90, by Carlton Reid in Forbes

Read Bike Boom: The Unexpected Resurgence of Cycling, by Carlton Reid.

Read Bike Battles: A History of Sharing the American Road, by James Longhurst.

How the former Dallas bicycle coordinator held back cycling infrastructure for years, via the Texas Observer.

Dallas’ Former Bike Czar Tells Newbie Riders to Go Play in Traffic, via the Dallas Observer

Access John Forester’s website via the Wayback Machine.

If you’re a glutton for punishment, pick up a copy of John Forester’s Effective Cycling.

Grab some merch in our official store!

This episode was edited by Yessenia Moreno. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio.

https://thewaroncars.org/

Check out this episode!

Cyprine Odada is the Executive Director of Critical Mass Nairobi and an urban planner specializing in active mobility. Ever since founding the Kenyan capital’s chapter of Critical Mass, the largest gathering of non-competitive cyclists in Africa, Cyprine has helped get more people on bikes from different neighborhoods, ages, and social and economic groups, changing the perception of who rides a bike in Nairobi and building more political support for bike infrastructure in a city where cars dominate. By focusing on the joy of cycling and the way in which the bicycle can connect people and create community, Cyprine is doing what she can to transform Nairobi into a cycling city, inspiring other African cities along the way.

This episode was recorded on the floor of the Velo-city Conference in Ghent in June 2024.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

***Support The War on Cars on Patreon.***

LINKS:

Watch Cyprine Odada’s presentation at TedX in 2020

Learn more about Critical Mass Nairobi

Follow Critical Mass Nairobi on Instagram

Learn more about the Velo-city conference

Grab some merch in our official podcast store.

This episode was produced and edited by Doug Gordon.

https://thewaroncars.org/

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Because it has the word “engineering” right in there, the field of traffic engineering is something most people assume is governed by science and rational rules. But a new book, written by a traffic engineer himself, argues that is not the case at all. In Killed by a Traffic Engineer: Shattering the Delusion That Science Underlies Our Transportation System, Wes Marshall — a professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Denver — says that the idea that the design of our transportation system is based on science couldn’t be further from the truth. By examining a century’s worth of history, studies, old professional journals and current standards, Marshall argues that his colleagues need to do some deep soul searching about the rules they follow so that they no longer design a system that kills tens of thousands of people per year.

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 was sponsored by Cleverhood and Bullmoose Softgoods. Listen for the latest discount codes.

Pick up a copy of Killed by a Traffic Engineer and books by all of our podcast guests at our official Bookshop.org page.

Grab some merch in our official store!

This episode was edited by Yessenia Moreno. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio.

https://thewaroncars.org/

Check out this episode!

Why don’t more women ride bicycles in London? The advocacy group London Cycling Campaign wanted to know, and so they asked. What they discovered was disturbing: Among more than a thousand women surveyed, nine out of ten said they experienced verbal abuse and aggression while biking. Ninety-three percent said drivers had used vehicles to intimidate them. One in five said they had given up riding permanently or temporarily after they had been harassed. And when women reported incidents of aggression to the police? The cops almost never followed up.

We spoke with the London Cycling Campaign’s Kate Bartlett about what women face on the road and what advocates are doing to make cycling safer and more accessible for all.

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 was sponsored by Pinhead Locks and Cleverhood. Listen to the episode for the latest discount codes.

LINKS:

Check out the London Cycling Campaign’s initiative to get more women out and riding freely.

Merch! Pick up The War on Cars t-shirts, stickers and more in our store.

Purchase books from podcast guests and support independent booksellers at our official Bookshop.org page.

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Congestion Kathy

In this emergency episode, we discuss New York State Governor Kathy Hochul’s 11th-hour decision to “indefinitely suspend” congestion pricing, the program that would have charged drivers to enter Manhattan below 60th Street. Her move, announced in a prerecorded video on Wednesday, June 5th, came mere weeks before congestion pricing was set to launch, jeopardizing what was set to be a major funding source for transit and a revolutionary plan to reduce traffic in a way never seen before in the United States.

Why did Hochul do this? Is it bad politics or atrociously bad politics? What does this mean for the future of the New York City subway system, commuter rail, accessibility, the environment, the economy and even democracy itself?

More importantly, we discuss what you can do if you live or work in the New York metropolitan area and want to see Hochul’s flip flop reversed. We also discuss what effect this could have on cities across the U.S. that might be considering a congestion pricing program of their own.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

WARNING: We swear a lot in this one.

To support everything we do at The War on Cars please become a Patreon subscriber. You’ll receive access to exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free versions of regular episodes, free stickers and more. We depend on listener support, so thanks!

HELP SAVE CONGESTION PRICING:

Contact Governor Kathy Hochul and tell her to implement congestion pricing as planned: 1-518-474-8390

Local advocacy organizations have their own calls to action and can help you contact elected officials:

Riders Alliance

Transportation Alternatives

Tri-State Transportation Campaign

SHOW NOTES:

House Democrats pressured Hochul to tank congestion pricing. (Politico)

Noto a whole lotta teachers drive into Manhattan. (Hellgate NYC)

Read Aaron’s take on Representative Hakeem Jeffries and congestion pricing from 2008. (Streetsblog)

Hear our original thoughts on congestion pricing back in episode 111 with Diana Lind.

This episode was recorded at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio by Josh Wilcox. It was edited by Doug Gordon.

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