The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast

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.

The Dutch are known around the world as global leaders in sustainable transportation. But as excellent as they are at designing cities to optimize the mobility experience, what about all the other reasons residents might move through their communities — and what other questions should the Netherlands and America be asking about what public space is really for? Those questions are at the heart of the new Dutch book “Movement: How to Take Back Our Streets and Transform our Lives,” which is now out in English for the first time. And on this episode of the Brake, we sit down with authors Thalia Verkade and Marco te Brömmelstroet to talk about how much of their country treats bikes as “cars on two wheels,” the good and bad ways that e-bikes are reshaping their landscapes, and how American communities can continue to learn from the Dutch example, while also joining them in the fight for even better streets.  

Author Anna Zivarts discusses the movement of non-drivers in the US, focusing on inclusive transportation solutions and the challenges faced by those who can't drive. She explores the importance of addressing the needs of this significant population through alternative mobility options and collective action.

Author Megan Kimble discusses grassroots efforts in Texas to fight highway expansions, highlighting the campaign to remove I-345 in Dallas. They delve into the impact of highway projects on communities and the need to challenge auto-centric city planning, with a focus on envisioning cities without highways like Rochester, New York.

Lindiwe Rennert, Urban Institute Senior Research Associate, discusses the root causes of violence against transit workers, highlighting the correlation with police brutality and income inequality. The podcast explores community-driven solutions to address violence on transit and challenges the role of armed transit police and elected officials in tackling this issue.