Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

This week we're joined by Steven Higashide, Director of Research at Transit Center, to talk about his new book Better Buses, Better Cities: How to Plan, Run, and Win the Fight for Effective Transit. Steven talks about how he got interested in transportation issues, his favorite bus ride, and what we can do to change the way buses operate in our cities.

This week we're joined by Laramie Bowron to talk about transit only lanes, parking levys, and housing oligopolies. News Gov Newsom vetoes complete streets bill - Cal Bike A new transit caucus - WBEZ Oligopolies hold back affordable housing - Washington Post Odds and Ends Cars banned from Market Street - Curbed SF The Glascow effect - Guardian Story of the Week Every bus needs a lane - Curbed Nottingham's parking levy - Forbes Bonus Reads - Auto Emissions Mapped Congestion Pricing Parking Puppies and Butterflies Ancient Khmer city found using lidar - Newsweek

This week we're joined by Steve Raney, Executive Director of the Palo Alto Transportation Management Agency. We talk about a book club he organized based on the Three Revolutions by Dan Sperling that discussed lowering transportation emissions in regions. We talk about the complexity of transportation policy, the organization of local advocacy networks, and potential mechanisms to lower emissions.

This week we're joined by Brooke Belman, Deputy Executive Director for Land Use Planning and Development and her colleagues Sloan Dawson, Land Use Planning Manager, and Thatcher Imboden, TOD Manager to talk about the ins and outs of transit oriented development at Sound Transit in Seattle. They talk about the 80-80-80 policy, urban design and coordination of TOD planning with light rail construction.

This week on the Mondays show I talk about the importance of thinking about access instead of mobility and floating farms. These things go together! News T4 says no new funding - T4America A freeway LID is feasible in Seattle - The Urbanist Story of the Week UPS gets FAA approval for delivery drones - The Hill 14th Street busway a go - Streetsblog NYC Floating farm creates local dairy - Mother Jones Thailand PM considers moving capital - Guardian

This week we're joined by Beth Osborne of T4 America and Chris McCahill of the State Smart Transportation Initiative. We talk about how states like Virginia and Hawaii are using data on access to score and prioritize transportation projects for funding. Beth and Chris also talk about how easy it can be to get the data and that connecting people to jobs seems to be a goal that is bipartisan.

This week we chat about public utilities a lot! Join us as we cover the gamut of transportation policy on the Mondays show. News Beijing's new airport - Fortune Baidu self driving buses - Asian Review Uber's CEO talks future - The Verge Odds and Ends Gas station for electric cars - CNBC Personal carbon trading - Eltis Story of the Week High Line at 10 - Architect Challenges for women riders - Metro Magazine Green new deal - Curbed

This week we're joined by Arielle Fleisher Transportation Policy Director at SPUR, Adina Levin, Executive Director of Friends of Caltrain, and Ian Griffiths Co-Founder and Director of Seamless Bay Area to talk about transit fare integration and policy. We chat about what fare policy is and isn't, best practices of fare integration from around the world, the difficulty of regional advocacy when there are sooo many meetings to go to, and what's next for the Bay Area. For more information about The Overhead Wire, visit http://theoverheadwire.com or follow us on twitter @theoverheadwire

This week Laramie Bowron joins the show to talk about climate change, transit ridership and potential transit related Halloween costumes. News Report shows how cities can cut emissions - National Geographic Indianapolis and Ottawa open transit lines - Streetsblog - OnSite Magazine CA Allows for Statewide ADUs - CAYimby Odds and Ends Flight shaming heats up - Reuters Governor orders transportation aligned with environment - Streetsblog CA Amazon's 100,000 electric van order - Wired Story of the Week Concerns from investor surge - Urban Institute 30 minute commuting principal - CityLab

This week we're joined by Eric Jaffe, Editorial Director at Sidewalk Labs. Eric chats with us about Sidewalk's Quayside project on Toronto's waterfront. We chat about the potential for innovative ideas, some of the push back they've been getting on data management, and some of the history as well. For more on The Overhead Wire, check us out at http://theoverheadwire.com or follow us on twitter @theoverheadwire

This week we're joined by Lily Bernheimer of Space Works Consulting. Lily, a Streetsblog/Open Plans Alum, talks to us about her book The Shaping of Us: How Every Day Spaces Structure our Lives, Behavior, and Well-Being. She talks about her research in Environmental Psychology and how humans have evolved to respond to the spaces where we live. Listen in to learn about ninja proof seats, mystery novel models of building, and more on biophilia and human connections to nature. For more information about The Overhead Wire, visit http://theoverheadwire.com

This week on the podcast we're joined by Adie Tomer a fellow at The Brookings Institution and Noah Siegel, Interim Deputy Director at the Portland Bureau of Transportation to talk about their new collaboration on a project called the Economic Value Atlas. The EVA is a new data and mapping tool developed to think about regional investments in a more coordinated way, pulling away from the race to the bottom of incentive based economic development. For more information about the podcast or The Overhead Wire, visit http://theoverheadwire.com

This week we're joined by Gordon Price, former Vancouver City Council member and former director of The City Program at Simon Fraser University. Gordon talks about Vancouver's historical importance as well as its future. We chat about transport, the great west coast melting pot, and what folks should check out if they go visit the city. For more information about The Overhead Wire or Talking Headways, visit http://theoverheadwire.com

Chrissy Mancini Nichols joins the show this week to talk about land value taxes, cities using fines as revenue, and waze's effects on LA. Two jobs! BART and Capital Corridor Transbay Tube 2 Project. News Addicted to fines - Governing Vancouver widening sidewalks - Globe and Mail Ride hailing data sought in England - CityLab Odds and Ends Architect must pay Venice - New York Times Cities and ransomware attacks - New York Times Bird shuts down infrastructure pay plan - Smart Cities Dive Story of the Week Case for the land value tax - Governing Is Waze ruining LA? - Los Angeles Magazine Puppies and Butterflies Hasan Minhaj talks transit - Phoenix New Times Pay your parking ticket with cat food or school supplies - Washington Post How about dockless everything? - Washington Post

This week we're joined by Dan Imhoff to talk about his book called The Farm Bill. Dan chats with us about how he became interested in the Farm Bill, how initially he was excited about protecting wild habitat but got pulled down a rabbit hole of subsidies and perverse incentives. Dan also talks about how the Farm Bill as it's currently put together is a reflection of our broken legislative system and how we incentivize farmers that get bigger and produce more while the smaller farmers suffer. But how does this relate to transportation and/or cities? Ultimately 70% of the bill's funding is aimed at the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) and food stamps, which is important for a lot of nutrition policy in cities. And to look into the future of what cities can do to help, we only have to look as far as what Seattle has done to think outside the usual policy silos. For more information about us check out http://theoverheadwire.com or follow us on twitter @theoverheadwire

This week Tracy McMillan joins to talk about safe streets, that pink emoji house, and public and institutional engagement. News Moody's credit ratings on climate and transit Denver Mayor calls for safer streets - Streetsblog Denver The hot pink emoji house - Guardian Odds and Ends Small businesses at core of growth - ICIC Salt Lake for free transit - SL Tribune Ignore livable city rankings - The Conversation News PA Secretary of Transportation changing conversation - Governing Rethinking public consultation - CityLab Puppies and Butterflies Woman steps into the bus lane to push cars out - Seattle Times For more about The Overhead Wire, visit our website.

This week we're joined by Camron Gorguinpour, Global Senior Manager for Electric Vehicles at WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. We talk about Shenzhen's 16,000 electric buses and what world cities can learn positive and negative from their implementation. We talk about infrastructure needs for electric bus operations at a fleet level, the impact of street maintenance, and procurement and implementation issues. This podcast is a project of The Overhead Wire, to find out more head to http://theoverheadwire.com

This week we are joined By Andrew Owen, Director of the Accessibility Observatory at the University of Minnesota. Andrew chats with us about how to measure accessibility and their work on mapping access to jobs by transit and bikes. Access is a way to measure how easy it is to get places – often jobs – in how much time. Taking into account both transportation and land use, access as a metric can be a powerful tool. On the podcast, Andrew describes the evolution of the metric and how it has been applied. For more about The Overhead Wire, visit our website; http://theoverheadwire.com

Tracy McMillan joins this week to talk about Burning Man, 3D sidewalks, telecommuting, and whether GPS affects our brains. News Mass telecommuting tax break - Curbed Boston Feds could help remove freeways - D Magazine Lessons from Burning Man - Governing Odds and Ends Wuppertal hanging rail is back - Guardian Cities need chief data officer - Dallas Morning News Homes fastest in flood prone industries - New York Times Story of the Week 3D crosswalks - Smart Cities Dive Is GPS ruining our brains? Vox Elephants and Butterflies Metro bus gif shows truth on dedicated lanes - Fast Company

This week we're joined by Fred Dock, the former Transportation Director for the City of Pasadena California. Fred talks about his work over the past 30 years, Pasadena's move to measuring VMT and other metrics over level of service, innovation in smaller cities and more!

This week Anna Muessig returns and we're joined by Laura Bliss of CityLab. Laura's CityLab News NIMBYs vs YIMBYs - CityLab Should EVs pay per mile? - CityLab News CA bypasses fuel standards - Route Fifty Madrid keeps central car ban - CityLab Neighborways built to connect slow transport - Indianapolis Star Odds and Ends Curb cuts for all of New York - 6sqft Facial recognition banned from HUD housing - CNet Story of the Week Digital Twins - CityLab Was the automobile a terrible mistake? New Yorker

This week we're joined by Monica Holmes, Placemaking Manager for the City of Charlotte and the project manager for the rewrite of the TOD zoning ordinance. Monica talks about why the transit oriented development part of the zoning ordinance was the first part of the code rewrite as well as all of the details about the new point system created to promote economic mobility, the environment, and new transportation. She also shares how TOD was built in the past and what will be happening along all the city's transit corridors in the future.

This week we are going solo. We talk about using cars for housing, childless cities, and federal transportation funding. News Where have all the children gone? - The Atlantic SF to open homeless navigation center for car dwellers - Hoodline Affordable housing in RVs - Yes! Magazine The Vanlord of Santa Monica - Santa Monica Daily Press Capital improvement grant hearings - Curbed Federal transit funding delays cause harm - T4 America Odds and Ends A vision for bike highways in Seoul - Korea BizWire Why no moon cities? CityLab Record temperatures from heatwave - Curbed Story of the Week Urban planners should look at restaurant data - MIT News Digital twins - Governing A new vision for I-45 - Houston Chronicle The symbolism of your daily commute - Quartz Federal reserve bank looks at gentrification - Philly Inquirer How gentrification benefits - City Observatory

This week we are joined By Bowinn Ma, Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for North Vancouver-Lonsdale BC. Bowinn talks about creating better transportation options for her constituents, new transportation technologies, and the importance of political engagement.

This week we're joined by Tracy McMillan and Avery Trufelman! Avery talks about her new podcast in association with Curbed called Nice Try! And the gang talks about utopian cities, new transportation bills, and Pokemon Go! For any of the stories we covered click on the links below. News GREEN Streets Act introduced in the Senate - T4 America Seattle's best in nation ADU reform - Urbanist ICE mining data from DMV photos - NY Times Odds and Ends Berlin could do euro a day transit pass - Guardian Social workers in Spain using Pokemon Go for depression - Quartz Why Amazon nixed New York - CNBC Story of the Week The law insists we drive - Atlantic Rewards programs for transit riders - Wired Magazine Behind the new cities epidemic - Guardian Puppies and Butterflies Friends around subway lines - Wired Magazine

This week on the podcast we are joined at the Michelin Movin On conference by Dr. Anita Sengupta, an aerospace engineer who has worked for Hyperloop and is the co-founder of Airspace Experience Technologies, a company looking to produce vehicles for passenger flight. Dr. Sengupta talks with us about her work on the Mars Curiosity Mission during her time at NASA, her hopes for her new company in the VTOL space (vertical take off and landing) and her hopes for the future of transportation.

This week we review some of the news from the previous few weeks. News Oregon votes to legalize duplexes: Sightline Institute California to sue cities that don't plan for housing: Curbed Considering a subway for Portland: Portland Oregonian Odds and Ends EVs in Europe required to make noise: Smart Cities Dive Volkswagen worries about traffic collapse: Forbes 100 years of planning trees could reduce emission: National Geographic Story of the Week Supreme Court could consider inclusionary zoning - Intercept Property rights claims gain momentum - Route Fifty Trump wants to deregulate zoning - Curbed Quayside plans released - New York Times | Wired Millennials can't buy a house - The Atlantic Puppies and Butterflies Crazy hail storms in Mexico - NPR

This week we're joined by Amy Silbermann, Director of Planning for Port Authority of Allegheny County, the transit agency in Pittsburgh, and Steven Higashide and Mary Buchanan of TransitCenter. They are here to talk about a report called Who's On Board 2019 which discusses transit ridership trends around the country. They talk about what we should understand about understanding riders, Pittsburgh's work to improve routes (downtown and to suburban communities) and the need for political and public support for changes to improve transit systems. This episode first appeared on the Rail~Volution podcast. Subscribe on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

This week we're joined by freelance urban issue writer Nate Berg. Nate talks to us about his love of writing about highways for good or bad, his piece for Curbed on the history of the Bauhaus, our collaborative piece on urban transportation data, writing about housing in Japan, and his process for writing articles.

This week on the podcast we're joined by Candace Brakewood a Civil Engineering Professor of the University of Tennessee and Jonny Simkin of Co-Founder and CEO of Swiftly. We talk about real time transit information including its history, benefits, shortcomings, and potential futures.

This week Chrissy joins the show and we have a blast chatting about the definition of suburbs, electric buses, and Ian McHarg's Design with Nature. News Portland considers bus lanes - Willamette Week Ian McHarg's Design with Nature turns 50 - CityLab Money laundering pilot surprising in its effect - Quartz Odds and Ends Transbay Terminal opening again? Curbed SF Riyahd opens transit system - Cision Sagrada Familia gets building permit - Fast Company Story of the Week How do we define suburbs? - CityLab Why aren't electric buses taking over the world? - Wired Listener Questions and Comments Children in Autonomous Vehicles - Blue Ribbon Panel Puppies and Butterflies Every NIMBY's speech at a public hearing - McSweeney's

This week we're joined by Shailen Bhatt, President and CEO of ITS America. He talks about how we can use technology to reduce collisions, how we should spend infrastructure money, and what policy should focus on and change from a transportation and technology standpoint. He also talks about the problems with the communications spectrum and how conflicts are arising as technology improves vehicle communications.

This week we're joined by Chrissy Mancini Nichols to talk about drones, zero passenger vehicles, CAFE standards and more! Enjoy the podcast? Support us on Patreon! Your help keeps us able to put out the podcasts we do each week. News New York's new payment systems - Wired Magazine 6/10 Californians want upzoning near transit - LA Times Seattle looks at pricing - Seattle Transit Blog Odds and Ends Plans to take federal USDA workers out of DC - McClatchy Auto companies send letter to Trump Admin - NY Times Paris accords can save lives - NY Times Story of the Week NASA tests drone traffic - NASA Planning for zero occupancy vehicles - Fast Company Puppies and Butterflies Vancouver's plastic bags - Vancouver is Awesome Sending lentil soup on the subway - Gothamist On demand pogo sticks - Curbed SF

This week on Talking Headways we're joined by Maritza Pechin, a planner with AECOM who works with city staff in Richmond on long-range planning. On the podcast, Maritza talks about the Pulse BRT and the broader bus network redesign that was rolled out at the same time. She also discusses how the new system is bringing people back to transit, how the city might tackle housing affordability, and what big ideas the city is considering for the future.

This week we chat with Kendra Freeman of the Chicago Metropolitan Planning Council, an independent non-profit focused on shaping the Chicago region. Kendra talks about her work with Elevated Chicago and how they are trying to bring equitable TOD to rail and bus corridors around the region as well as the original impact of the city's TOD ordinance. She also chats about next steps in pushing the city to consider equity in its update of the ordinance and how they can support entrepreneurs with strategic investments.

This week we're joined by Maurice Jones, President and CEO of LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation). Maurice talks about working with communities and existing businesses to develop talent in the workforce, breaking down barriers to entry in certain professions such as property development, and the history of policies and practices that intentionally excluded certain populations from opportunity.

Chrissy Mancini Nichols joins the show again and we chat a lot about SB50! We also talk about infrastructure and bike lanes. News SB 50 Tabled until January - Los Angeles Times SB50 Urban Footprint Analysis - UF Kim-Mai Cutler tweet thread - KMC Twitter Infrastructure Week PIRG releases report - Frontier Group Repair Priorities - T4America Odds and Ends CA HSR Funding Dropped by FRA- Reuters IM Pei passes away - NPR Facial recognition banned in SF - Vox Thanks to our Patreon supporters! Patreon.com/theoverheadwire Story of the Week Bike lanes need barriers not just paint - Curbed Puppies and Butterflies Tram Bowling - Wired Magazine

This week we're joined by Stephen Smyth, Co-Founder and CEO of Coord. He talks about the need for digital infrastructure to be a new layer on top of physical infrastructure in order to inventory our existing assets including curb space. We chat about the tools Coord has created to measure and document curbs, how they work, and how this seemingly innocuous space will change over time with regulation. We also have a little futurist discussion about street space and learn how regulations might change when fleets are operating on the street rather than mostly individual vehicles. "We talk about mobility as a service, we think of the service as a fleet. Going forward if we look at this as a regulation technology issue, cities and public agencies will be interacting with businesses for a given individuals trip or delivery versus the individual themselves. I think that's an important shift, and actually it may make it easier to change regulations because there is a layer in between the interaction between the city agency and individual which can create resistance to change potentially. I think that if more trips are delivered by businesses instead of individuals in private cars we can innovate more quickly."

This week we're joined by Tracy McMillan and we talk about alll kinds of stuff! Surveillance and city fortifications and aging in place! The show discussion links are below... News I-405 traffic gets worse after widening - Curbed LA Campo dedicates money for I-35 expansion - Austin Monitor Facial recognition data leak - TechCrunch Denver homeless camping initiative - Pew Trusts Visit our sponsor Moovel.com Odds and Ends Uber IPO - NY Magazine Germany testing an e-highway - DW Story of the Week Da Vinci's City - The Conversation Future of Housing nothing like today - Fast Company Puppies and Butterflies WePark in parking spaces - Curbed SF E-Bikes could transform how we age - Fast Company

This week we chat with Colin Parent, Executive Director of Circulate San Diego, an advocacy organization that promotes public and active transportation in tandem with sustainable growth. Colin is also a city council member for the City of La Mesa. As Colin notes, much of the renewed interest and support for transit and transit-oriented development is being driven by one thing: the housing crisis. We learn how the mayor of San Diego is pushing more housing and less parking, and the long term benefits of advocacy.

This week on the show we're joined by Tracy McMillan! The show notes are below... The News What to make of White House infrastructure meeting - Brookings Quadratic voting - Bloomberg LA pushes for a Green New Deal - Los Angeles Times A new way to calculate affordability - USC Odds and Ends Houston's data driven housing problem - Houston Chronicle 3 people make most of the complaints - Daily Bruin San Diego switches transport plans - Planetizen Story of the Week The importance of shade - Places Journal A geocode is not an address - Wired Puppies and Butterflies Medieval city generator - My Modern Met Cycling without age

This week we're at the Shared Mobility Summit from earlier this year in Chicago. Laura Bliss of CityLab moderates a panel of agency leaders including Stephanie Pollack, CEO of MassDOT, Randy Clarke, President and CEO of Capital Metro in Austin, and Sadhu Johnston, City Manager from Vancouver British Columbia. The panel talks about whether it's too late to address climate change through transportation, how the introduction of ride hailing will work with local regulations in Vancouver, how Austin has been watching the evolution of shared mobility from TNCs to scooters, how buses matter for the future of transportation and much much more. If you'd like to skip to the conversation portion past the presentations, fast forward to 41 minutes.

This week we're joined by Brian Ebersol and Eileen Everhart of Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania. They talk about how health care is about more than just patient care at hospitals and how transportation and wellbeing figures into planning for treating the whole person.

This week we're joined by Swedish urbanist Alexander Stahle. He talks about how cities in Europe have a lot of the same problems we do in the United States and what some places are doing to make streets safer and more active. He also chats about how his company Spacescape uses data to think about the value of urban form and where new metro lines should go. Alexander also talks about a new street design guide he's helping to create for Sweden.

This week we're at the 3 Revolutions conference in Davis California chatting with Warren Logan of SFCTA, Mollie Pelon McArdle of SharedStreets.io, and Regina Clewlow of Populus. We chat about all things data; how it's used, privacy issues, the correct geography to collect it, regulations and much much more.

This week I'm doing a solo show reviewing the news because I'll be gone the rest of the month and wanted to share a few things with listeners. Below are the articles we cover in the show. Hope you enjoy it! News Go Triangle Ends Durham Orange LRT - News and Observer New transit payment schemes - Engadget - Smart Cities Dive Facebook faces housing discrimination charges from HUD - NYT Lightfoot elected mayor - Chicago Streetsblog Idaho Stop Legalized - Streetsblog USA Denver announces new DOT - Denverite Story of the Week Experimental walking directions - Gizmodo Manhattan Congestion Pricing - NYT Tallest tower planned - Guardian Self driving cars considered unthinkable in 50 years - Vox Ciclovia 25 years - National Geographic Rockefeller bows out of 100 resilient cities program - Bloomberg Puppies and Butterflies 20 Minute Nature Pills - Fast Company

This week we are sharing an episode we recorded live for attendees at the Safe Streets Summit in Miami where we talked with Alice Bravo, Director of the Department of Transportation and Public Works for the City of Miami and Chris Sinclair, Founding Principal at Renaissance Planning. We cover a lot of topics including transit oriented development, multi-modal system productivity, new fare payment systems, using data in planning, frequent bus networks and much much more!

This week on the podcast we chat with Vanan Murugesan, Director of Design and Innovation at Pillsbury United Communities. Vanan talks about the role of community centered design in creating a nonprofit grocery store in North Minneapolis called North Market. We also chat about pros and cons of the farm bill, technology and convenience, and new initiatives in workforce development.

This week we're joined by Chrissy Mancini Nichols to talk about Gwinnett County's transit election, Level of Service, and transportation data privacy. News Gwinnett County rejects MARTA tax - Governing Amsterdam new homes can't be rented - CityLab More US cities end recycling - New York Times Seattle passes zoning changes - Curbed Visit our Sponsor too - moovel Story of the Week Getting rid of level of service - Brookings Privacy issues come to the forefront - LA Times Puppies and Butterflies Seiichi Miyake's tactile blocks - Curbed

This week we're joined by Susan Crawford, the John A. Reilly Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard School of Law. Susan talks about her new book Fiber which focuses on how cities in the United States are trying to build communications networks with this seemingly limitless technology but get push back from regulators and incumbent companies alike.