Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

This week we're joined by Doug Farr, President of Farr Associates and author of the new book Sustainable Nation. Doug chats about the arrangement of the book by different patterns of urbanism and how we can take a bottom up approach to change our cities. He also chats about the forced boredom of the Burning Man festival and why Alexis de Tocqueville's 1835 work Democracy in America is still relevant today. 

This week we're joined by Andrew Saltzberg, Head of Transportation Policy and Research at Uber. Andrew talks about growing up in Montreal and his previous transportation work at the World Bank. We also chat about the importance of transportation policy at the city level and Uber's support for congestion pricing as well as the issue of geometry in urban places. 

This week we’re chatting with Susan Henderson of PlaceMakers about the use and benefits of form-based codes. We talk about the focus of these codes, how they are used to support transit, and how a code can affect the streets around them. Susan also discusses why people might push back against form-based codes and how to frame conversations about them and their benefits.

This week Patrick Siegman joins us to chat on the topic of parking. We chat about the etymology of the word parking, the legend that is Donald Shoup, and why the topic of parking gets so personal.

This week we're joined by Mikael Colville-Andersen to talk about his book Copenhagenize. Mikael tells us about how his children influence his work and his feelings about bike culture. He also shares his dislike of e-bikes and scooters as well as the innovations that he believes help move bikes as transportation forward.   

This week we’re back at Michelin’s Movin On conference talking with Greg Rogers, Director of Government Affairs and Mobility Innovation of SAFE.  Greg talks about autonomous vehicle regulations around the country and some of the limits of techno optimism.  We also discuss a bit of what we liked and didn’t like at the Movin On conference and prospects for the future.

This week we're joined by Clayton Nall, a professor of political science at Stanford University, to discuss his new book about the interstate highway system and political partisanship called The Road to Inequality: How the Federal Highway Program Polarized America and Undermined Cities.  We chat about how partisanship affects the way people vote for transportation projects and the history of political change in the transportation world.

This week we're joined by Tom Madrecki, Director of Urban Innovation and Mobility at UPS. Tom talks to us about what urban mobility means to a logistics and delivery company like UPS. He talks about the costs of congestion to the company and how streets that make single occupant vehicles the first priority are not good for active transportation and deliveries.

This week we talk with Stan Wall of HR&A Advisors. We talk about his previous work as the Director of Real Estate and Station Planning for WMATA in Washington DC such as how planning, funding and redevelopment at the NoMa transit station happened. Stan also talks about his favorite projects and what value capture actually means.

This week we’re joined by Odetta MacLeish White of the Transformation Alliance in Atlanta. She talks about displacement pressures along the Beltline, history of segregation in planning, and big changes coming to advocacy and equity in the Atlanta region.

This week we're joined by blogger and transport journalist Alon Levy. We talk about how Alon got into transportation, subway costs and price comparisons, and the thinking behind a new Boston commuter rail electrification plan.

This week we're joined for a second time by Shared Use Mobility Center Executive Director Sharon Feigon. Sharon talks to us about the newest trends in shared mobility including scooters and e-bikes and we talk about whether the animosity towards ride hailing has waned. We also chat about the issues cities and transportation companies are coming across as they try to create mobility platforms and whether car share usage is going down due to more options in the market.

Recently we moderated a panel in Austin during South by Southwest hosted by moovel and the Rocky Mountain Institute. The panel featured a number of folks from all different backgrounds discussing the future of mobility platforms in cities. We had representatives from the private sector, public sector, and advocacy voices to balance out the discussion and I think it was a good one folks will enjoy.  Jason JonMichael - City of Austin Hilary Norton - FastLA Karina Ricks - City of Pittsburgh Nat Parker - Moovel Tim McHugh - Portland Tri-Met Jules Kortenhorst - CEO Rocky Mountain Institute Meg Merritt - Nelson Nygaard  

This week we’re joined by the Executive Director of the KC Streetcar Authority, Tom Gerend. Tom talks about some of the challenges in creating the streetcar and a broader regional transit network. He explains the value capture funding mechanism that’s funds 100 percent of the streetcar’s operations and maintenance—as well as some of the project design and construction). The KC Streetcar is unique in a lot of ways, including its lack of a fare. Tom explains the rationale behind the decision to make the streetcar free.

This week we're joined by LA Metro CEO Phil Washington to talk about the many interesting things the agency is working on. He discusses building affordable housing near transit, testing new ideas like microtransit, and the origins of Metro's Office of Extraordinary Innovation.

This week on the podcast we’re joined by Joe DiStefano of Urban Footprint.  We talk about Joe’s work with Calthorpe Associates doing regional planning as well as creating digital tools for big planning ideas.  Joe also talks about the importance of planners having information at their fingertips in order to make decisions as well as being the ones in the room to remind everyone plans are about people.

This week we're joined by Shannon Mattern, Associate Professor of Media Studies at the New School in New York City. Shannon discusses her new book Code+Clay ... Data+Dirt: 5,000 Years of Urban Media. We talk about how she came up with the idea to teach a class on the intersection of media studies, architecture, and cities, her favorite research, and how the perfect future interface humans are looking for does not exist. There's also a discussion about mapping and how digital mapping can leave out aspects of space that should be considered.

This week, we’re joined by Somerville MA Mayor Joseph Curtatone. The mayor talks about Somerville’s proximity to Boston, its amazing density and variable housing types, and how the community is working together on plans for future transit-oriented development around the Green Line Extension. Mayor Curtatone also talks about how that process is being monitored and can be recreated in the future. Finally, the mayor looks back at how the city has transformed yet maintained its unique character over his 14 years in office.

This week we're joined again by Mariia Zimmerman of MZ Strategies. Mariia discusses how she got into transportation and urban planning after growing up in rural Minnesota and how livability policy has changed over time at the federal level. She also talks about the evolution of discussions about transit oriented development from initial proof of concept to a greater discussion on equity.

This week we’re joined by Los Angeles DOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds.  We chat about how she got into transportation planning and how we can innovate for everyone.  There’s also a discussion about the future of streets, air rights of way, and how cities can handle partnerships with mobility providers that benefit cities.  And finally we talk about pricing and what that means for cities as well as how to address changing revenue sources as cities evolve.