In Huntsville, Alabama, it’s illegal to play ball on any street, alley, or sidewalk. In Lewiston, Maine, pedestrians must keep to the right half of the crosswalk while crossing the street. And in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, bicyclists are strictly prohibited from any kind of “fancy riding.” If these laws sound vague, arbitrary, and difficult to enforce, well, that might just be the point. In a groundbreaking new report, urban planner Charles Brown painstakingly identifies the vast array of transportation-related laws that are used almost exclusively to limit the mobility and freedom of Black Americans while providing no real benefit to public safety. Brown gives this repressive policy regime a name. He calls it: Arrested Mobility.

This episode is produced with support from Harvard University Graduate School of Design Executive Education and Cleverhood.

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LINKS: Follow Charles Brown on Twitter. Read the report: Arrested Mobility: Barriers to Walking, Biking, and E-Scooter Use in Black Communities in the United States. Subscribe and listen to the Arrested Mobility podcast

Equitable Cities is an urban planning, public policy, and research firm working at the intersection of transportation, health, and equity.

How Bike/Walk Laws ‘Arrest’ the Mobility of Black Americans (Streetsblog) * * * * *

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

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