The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast

Highways and other federal transportation investments have destroyed neighborhoods of color across America, even as the current presidential administration attempts to heal those wounds through grants like the Reconnecting Communities Program. But what is it like to actually be a local leader fighting to win that money  — especially when the sheer volume of disconnected communities makes the competition dauntingly steep?  On this episode of The Brake —and our first dispatch from Bloomberg Citylab 2024 — we sat down with Lansing, Mich. Mayor Andy Schor, who's going above and beyond to win his town the money it needs to address the harms caused by Interstate 496, whose construction claimed more than 800 homes and businessess and even the dirt on which they sat. And along the way, we talk about how local officials and advocates can play a bigger role in resisting bad highway projects, and how mayors are exchanging tools to help in the fight.  Listen in, and read interviews with three other small-city mayors who are getting into the federal grant game with the help of experts at the Local Infrastructure Hub. 

Over the past few weeks, U.S. news has been flooded with images of hurricane disaster: endless traffic jams full of evacuees, communities destroyed by deadly winds, and residents struggling to access the resources they need to survive while multiple feet of water stand in the streets. But how has car dependency impacted the course of these unthinkable events — and how can addressing it make us more resilient to whatever climate change throws at us next?  On today’s episode of the Brake, we’re sitting down with two experts from the Institute, Sara McTarnaghan and Will Curran-Groom, who are thinking deeply about the intersection between disaster planning and everyday urban planning, and how making our neighborhoods less centered on the automobile can help everyone when the big storm comes — which, as we’ve been reminded this week, can happen just about anywhere. And along the way, we get into hard questions about how to evacuate people who don’t have cars, how ending exclusionary zoning now can pay dividends when communities set up resource hubs after a disaster, and so much more. Note: this episode was recorded after Hurricane Helene, but before Hurricane Milton. We are sending all our thoughts to the people in the path of both of those storms, and all the storms to come. If you are looking for ways to support the victims, here are a few resources.

Cities that have done the work to attract a lot of cyclists aren't just safe for people on two wheels — they're safer for drivers, pedestrians, and everyone else on the road, too. But why, exactly, is that true, and how can we use that insight to sell bike-friendly infrastructure and policy to a public that barely rides at all?  On this episode of The Brake, we're back with Nick Ferenchak and Wes Marshall, who co-authored a new study of seven mid-sized cities that have gotten a lot of their residents into the saddle, and found that they reported 61 percent fewer traffic deaths than peer communities where everyone drives. And that finding may signal the need for a "new framework" for talking about what "bike" infrastructure is really for — and what kind of interventions can best protect people across all modes, if only by getting more residents out of their cars.  Listen in, and when you're done, check out our previous episodes with Wes and Nick. 

Our sister podcast, Talking Headways is about to hit its 500th episode. But how did host Jeff Wood accomplish that massive milestone, and how does he keep finding all these powerful stories about how our cities work?  On today's episode of The Brake, our host Kea Wilson sits down for a long conversation with Wood himself to talk about how he's grown this incredible audio archive of interviews, how Streetsblog got lucky enough to host it, and how he spends his time when he's not behind the mic. And along the way, we chat about his dream guests — living and dead — and the single topic both he and Kea are dying to explore, but haven't found the perfect guest yet.  Check it out, and listen to a few of Jeff's favorite past episodes below:  Episode 27: Walt Disney, City Planner Episode 85: You Can't Surf After the Storm  Episode 177: Peak Experience with Jarrett Walker Episode 325: Designing Fair Transport Systems with Karel Martens Episode 422: The Messiness of Family Travel with Jennifer Kent

Vanessa Barrios, an expert in innovative urban planning and the director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives at the Regional Plan Association, shares insights on reclaiming public spaces. She discusses how cities are creatively transforming vacant lots and underutilized areas into vibrant community hubs. The conversation covers the importance of psychological ownership, community engagement, and long-term planning for equitable urban environments. Barrios highlights successful initiatives, like Los Angeles' Metro Ambassador Program, and emphasizes the need for inclusive strategies that prioritize safety and accessibility.

A lot of ink has been spilled on what autonomous vehicles could mean for America, especially if the tech-industry fantasy of a 100% driverless future somehow comes true. But my guest today argues that policymakers need to dig a lot deeper if they want to anticipate the potential side effects of the AV revolution — especially when it comes to public health and equity. In his new paper, "Equity issues ssociated with the widespread implementation of autonomous vehicles," Dr. Andrew Dannenberg of the University of Washington runs down all the questions communities should be asking before they let robocars run wild. Questions like: How expensive will it be to retrofit our roads so AVs will be able to read them, and will the money come from other modes? How will people with disabilities really be impacted by the rise of "driverless" cars — and the loss of human paratransit drivers to help them get around? And maybe most importantly, what community problems will this technology actually solve that couldn’t be solved in other ways?  

When a fatal car crash happens, authorities act fast to stablize the victims, clear the road, and get traffic moving again like nothing ever happened. But what if, instead, they treated those streets as the site of a catastrophic transportation failure — and took immediate action to prevent the worst from happening again? On this episode of The Brake, we spoke to Kevin Krizek and Tila Duhaime, who are hoping U.S. cities will try a radical new approach to post-crash response they're calling "Emergency Streets." The idea, in essence, is that transportation officials will act fast to slash local speed limits and to install temporary, modular traffic-calming infrastructure within a half-mile radius of the spot where someone just lost their life, and keep those changes for at least two weeks — or until the community can have a serious conversation about how to make roads safer permanently. And in the process, Krizek and Duhaime hope that cities can not just save lives without more police enforcement, but also change collective attitudes about who's responsible for stopping traffic violence in the first place.  Listen in, and if you'd like to chat with the advocates about their idea more, reach out at kjkrizek@gmail.com and tilatila2@gmail.com.

 "Project 2025" purports to be a blueprint for an ultra-conservative federal government should Trump win a second term as president in November. But what does that document actually say about the issues that sustainable transportation advocates care about most — and does either party really understand our issues?  On this episode of 'The Brake', we sat down with Transportation for America's Beth Osborne to chat through some of the standout passages of Project 2025 and break down what it would really mean if the next administration took the Heritage Foundation's advice to slash transit funding, let states raise more of their own transportation dollars, and push communities towards building more single-family-only neighborhoods. And we also explore where liberals, conservatives, and other political ideologies tend to overlap, and what it will take to push all of them towards a better conversation. 

Enrique Peñalosa Londoño has an international reputation for using the humble bus, bikeway, sidewalk and park to make cities more equitable, starting with his game-changing two terms as the mayor of Bogotá, Colombia. And in his new book, Equality and the City: Urban Innovations for All Citizens, he unpacks how those tools can transform communities into advanced cities where the transportation is an equalizer rather than a divider.  Tune into this guest episode from Scott Shepard of the #CitiesFirst podcast, and check out a transcribed excerpt from their converasation on Streetsblog USA  

Who, exactly is designing America's notriously deadly road network — and how on earth do they keep getting away with it?  On today's episode of The Brake, we’re talking to traffic engineer, academic and now author, Wes Marshall, whose new book — “Killed by a Traffic Engineer: Shattering the Delusion that Science Underlies Our Transportation System” — unpacks the mountain of wildly outdated, severely limited, and often downright non-existent research that underlies so much of our national road design manuals.  More importantly, though, Marshall's book also unpacks the more fundamental reasons why engineers keep widening lanes and saying no to crosswalks, even when the manuals give them permission to do something better — which, more often than not, they do. Listen in, and read an excerpt from "Killed by a Traffic Engineer" here.