The War on Cars

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has declared it’s time to end what he calls “the war on motorists.” First, the Conservative Party leader announced he was delaying the UK’s commitment to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars. He followed that with what he called his “plan for motorists,” which would severely restrict local efforts to implement low-traffic neighborhoods, 20 mph speed limits, bus-only lanes, and other policies intended to benefit people walking, cycling, and taking transit. Finally, he scrapped a major portion of HS2, a high-speed rail line linking some of the UK’s biggest cities. So… what the hell is happening in the UK? With similar setbacks in Berlin, Madrid, New York and elsewhere, is this part of a broader global backsliding? Are we losing the The War on Cars or is the prime minister just grasping at culture-war straws? The Guardian’s Peter Walker returns to the podcast to help us figure it all out. ***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. SHOW NOTES: “Sunak ‘backs drivers,’ announces scaling back of HS2, and delays the UK’s ban on gas-powered vehicles by five years. (Peter Walker & colleagues, The Guardian) Rishi Sunak says he’s “slamming the brakes on the war on motorists.” (The Sun) King Charles III makes his first “King’s Speech.” (YouTube) British Transport Secretary Mark Harper on “sinister” 15-minute-city plans. (The Independent) Hear Peter Walker discuss his book, The Miracle Pill, on this Patreon bonus episode of The War on Cars. Pick up Peter Walker’s How Cycling Can Save the World at our official Bookshop.org page. See The War on Cars LIVE at Caveat on NYC on Wednesday, January 31st. Tickets are going fast! Register for the Winter Cycling Congress, February 22-24 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. We will be there! Buy official War on Cars merch at our store.  Find us on Bluesky, Mastodon, Instagram, Facebook and Threads. Follow and review us on Apple Podcasts.  TheWarOnCars.org

Have you ever found yourself wondering, how did Aaron, Doug and Sarah get mobilized into the war on cars? What made them this way? If so, you’re in luck. In this bonus episode, exclusively for Patreon supporters, 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. ***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 elected mayor in 2020, 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. ***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. LINKS: Follow John Bauters on X, if you’re still there. Really. It’s worth it. Ride along with Mayor Bauters and Streetfilms through the streets of Emeryville. (YouTube) ‘Why the mayor of tiny Emeryville matters’ (The Real Deal) Register for the Winter Cycling Congress, February 22-24 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. We will be there! Buy official War on Cars merch at our store.  Find us on Mastodon, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and whatever godforsaken new social media platform pops up next.  Follow and review us on Apple Podcasts.  TheWarOnCars.org  

In his new book, Dark PR: How Corporate Disinformation Harms Our Health and the Environment, Grant Ennis — a lecturer at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia — identifies the "nine devious frames" that corporations such as automobile manufacturers and road builders use to advance their interests, manipulate the public and maintain a status quo that harms human health and the environment. Dark PR is a thought-provoking book that shines a light on the tactics used by major industries to lock in an unhealthy, unsafe and unsustainable status quo. Ennis offers some food for thought for safe streets advocates as we try to improve our world and fight back against these powerful interests.   Special thanks to Cleverhood for their support. For the latest discount code on the best rain gear for cycling and walking, listen to the episode.   ***Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free episodes, exclusive bonus content, stickers, and more.***   LINKS:   Buy Dark PR as well as titles by other podcast guests at our Bookshop.org page.   Watch "Human Traffic Signals," a PSA from Buick of Shanghai.   Here's GM's vision of driving in 1976... as imagined in 1956.   The European Automobile Manufacturers Association thinks the solutions to traffic safety are pretty complex. Buy official War on Cars merch at our store.  Find us on Mastodon, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. Follow and review The War on Cars on Apple Podcasts. It helps people find us!  TheWarOnCars.org

This year, 2023, marks the hundredth anniversary since chemical engineer Thomas Midgley, Jr. made the discoveries that led to the invention of leaded gasoline. Of all the many harms that the automobile has caused the environment and humanity over the last century, the effects of leaded gasoline have to be pretty close to the top of the list. Science and industry were well aware of the dangers of lead in the 1920s. But adding small amounts of it to motor fuel made internal combustion engines work better, and that made it possible to turn the automobile into a viable mass market product. As a result, pretty much every American born between 1960 and 1980 was, to some extent, poisoned by lead. In this episode, bestselling author Steven Johnson joins Aaron Naparstek to talk about Midgley, his legacy, and what his story can teach us about our technological inventions and their future consequences.   ***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. LINKS: “The Man Who Broke the World” by Steven Johnson for the New York Times Magazine, March 15, 2023.  Find more of Steven Johnson’s work on his website. Subscribe to Steven’s newsletter, Adjacent Possible. Find all thirteen of Steven’s books here. War on Cars fans will enjoy The Ghost Map -- it’s a page-turner of a mystery/thriller about urban planning and epidemiology. You can buy Steven’s books at our Bookshop.org store.  Interested in digging deeper into the history of leaded gasoline? Check out Toxic Truth by Lydia Denworth.  Buy official War on Cars merch at our store.  Find us on Mastodon, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and whatever godforsaken new social media platform pops up next.  Follow and review us on Apple Podcasts.  TheWarOnCars.org

In this bonus episode just for Patreon supporters of The War on Cars, we do a quick news roundup before getting to the thing that matters most: WINNING. Last month we reached out to our liteners and asked them to send us their wins, from policy and infrastructure victories to cultural changes they helped usher in, even at just the individual level. Let's face it: it's a tough world out there so celebrating victories big and small is really important. Thanks to all of you, we are making progress in The War on Cars one parking space at a time. ***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.***

After 16 years of slogging its way through municipal, state and federal government and every imaginable form of public process, congestion pricing is finally on its way to New York City. If all goes as planned, then anyone who wants to cram a car or truck into Lower Manhattan south of 60th Street is going to have to pay somewhere between $9 and $23 per day starting next spring. And all of that money will go toward supporting and improving New York’s transit system. There are still lots of details to iron out and we should never underestimate New York’s ability to blow it when it comes to transportation policy. But Diana Lind of the Penn Institute for Urban Research thinks congestion pricing is a big deal that will fundamentally reshape the relationship between the car and the city, not just in New York but all across North America. “The next 20 years,” Lind writes, “will be the beginning of the end of the private car in cities.” ***Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free episodes, exclusive bonus content, stickers, and more.*** This episode was produced with support from Cleverhood. Listen to the episode for the latest Cleverhood discount code. LINKS: Read Diana Lind’s essay, “Why New York's Congestion Pricing Plan Matters” and subscribe to her newsletter, The New Urban Order.   How Might Congestion Pricing Actually Work in New York? (New York Times) We’re Another Step Closer to Congestion Pricing (Alissa Walker in Curbed) New York City Is About to Screw Up Congestion Pricing (Aaron Gordon in Vice) N.J. Gov. Candidate Steve Fulop: Stop Fighting Congestion Pricing — Expand It Instead! (Streetsblog) Revenge of the Free Riders (Aaron Naparstek for Streetsblog way back in 2008) Buy official War on Cars merch at our store. Find us on Mastodon, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, or whatever godforsaken new social media platform pops up next. Follow and review us on  Apple Podcasts.  TheWarOnCars.org

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." 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.***

If you’ve never heard of a bike bus—or a bicibús, as it’s known in the Catalonian capital of Barcelona—it’s a beautifully simple idea. Kids and parents ride their bikes to school along a pre-planned route, picking up classmates along the way, just the way a school bus would. Except because it’s bikes, it’s way, way more fun. Sarah and Doug rode along with bike buses in Barcelona and suburban Montclair, New Jersey, to see how it works, and we talked with organizer Sam Balto in Portland, Oregon, to find out why kids who ride with bike buses get to school feeling happy and energized.   ***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 Radpower Bikes and Cleverhood. Listen to the episode for the latest Cleverhood discount code.  

In her new book, Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities, Veronica O. Davis — the Director of Transportation and Drainage Operations for the city of Houston, Texas — takes a hard look at the ways in which planning a world for cars has harmed communities and how that affects anyone working to change things today. How do you repair a system that continues to divide communities? In a world where "equity" can sometimes just be a buzzword, what does equity truly look like if we can achieve it? Davis tells her own "transportation story," asks readers to think about their own, and urges transportation professionals to consider past injustices and do the hard work that results in more than an idea and a catchphrase. She also has a lot of advice for how to approach community engagement and the different types of "stakeholders" who can make or break a street improvement project. ***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 Radpower Bikes and Cleverhood. Listen to the episode for the latest Cleverhood discount code. LINKS: Buy Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities, and books by other guests of The War on Cars at our official page on Bookshop.org. Learn more about Veronica O. Davis. Pick up some official podcast merch at our store. Find us on Mastodon, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Threads, and whatever godforsaken new social media platform pops up next.  Follow and review The War on Cars on Apple Podcasts. It helps people find us! TheWarOnCars.org