Bike Talk

Bay Wheels bikeshare in the East Bay lends ebikes for $20/month to qualified residents and $120 for everyone else, reports Bike East Bay co-Executive Director Justin Hu-Nguyen (1:05). Former San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio on being recalled by drive-happy voters over his support for converting a portion of the Great Highway into the new Sunset Dunes Park (7:08). Biking, BARTing, and e-scooting at 14 in the Bay Area: Quin Binzak (24:50). The Federal Government has taken away approved funding for bike and safe streets infrastructure, or, as it says, anything "hostile to cars." Caron Whitaker, E.D. of League of American Bicyclists, on its work with lawmakers. Also, League Certified Instructor training (29:56). Avoid stoking fear in our messaging, writes Dave Snyder in his bike advocacy newsletter (39:39). Charlie's News (42:15) It's getting darker, dynamo lights are awesome, and other light stuff from Battle Road Bikes mechanic Jim Cadenhead (45:03)

A JAMA study finds biking is associated with lower dementia incidence: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2835115 (23:00) Should we tell people they ought to bike to COSTCO? A Bluesky user responds to episode #2535 (2:49). Bike East Bay Advocacy Director Robert Printz explains why federal bike infrastructure doesn’t have to be “stupid,” in response to Charles Marohn’s comments in episode #2537 (4:49). A West Hollywood resident defends the famous Fountain Ave bike lane pilot project from the perspective of both “entitled driver” AND “entitled cyclist” (7:13). Black Girls Do Bike founder Monica Garrison on the Kitty Knox Academy, a program to prepare “Sheroes” to become nationally certified League Cycling Instructors (LCIs) through the League of American Bicyclists https://www.blackgirlsdobike.org/lead (9:06). Dutch Cycling Embassy International Relations Manager Chris Bruntlett on how China is leapfrogging the Netherlands in bike infrastructure and bikeshare, the popularity of

Listener emails in response to last episode's bike lane hater from Eric Brightwell, host of the Nobody Drives in LA podcast https://ericbrightwell.com/nobody-drives-in-la/ and Ross, a West Hollywood vehicular cyclist who uses the street on which Bike Lane Hater does not want a lane (0:21). What are the legal implications for organizing a community bike ride, bike bus, or other non-sponsored event? asks listener Dr. Rick Bosacker. Our lawyer/sponsor Jim Pocrass lays down the law on liability for taco ride organizers (4:43). Strong Towns founder and Confessions of a Recovering Engineer author Chuck Marohn and the author of A Love Letter to Suburbia Diane Alisa on why we don't have better bike infrastructure, the right/left divide, and how we'll get things done (9:40). Boston's Bikeway Block Party is an inclusive, community-focused festival designed to showcase arts, activities, and culture and celebrate shared space. Jim Cadenhead, original Bike Talk host and BBP organizer, recaps the Party (34:06). Bay

Bike tours of Portland, Oregon by Cycle Portland, an interview of Charlotte by listener contributor Jonathan Weiss (1:26). A Love Letter to Suburbia is a new book on how car dependency, corporate control, and disintegrating community values have eroded the sense of connection and purpose that once defined American neighborhoods, and how to fix that with pedestrian first "villages." Author/Instagram influencer Diane Alisa talks (6:06). A longtime listener that happens to be a professional planner responds to some of the arguments raised by the West Hollywood bike hater from our last episode, in script form (28:45). Northampton, Massachusetts documentary maker Thomas Draudt uses his art to battle the bike haters and support the multimodal complete streets project "Picture Main Street" (48:00).

Why, being flat and on Manhattan's "doorstep," is Long Island so resistant to all bike infrastructure? asks listener Sean Cirillo (0:53). West Hollywood bike lane opponent Kyle Brazil debates Taylor about installing a bike lane on Fountain Avenue (6:13). The author of A Love Letter to Suburbia, Diane Alisa, has empathy for conservatives and suburban people who might want to ease away from car dependency, but are triggered by the word 'city' (30:47).

Zohran Mamdami’s New York City transit scavenger hunt with participant Wilson Nichols, Taylor's nephew (2:38). San Francisco bike share user Kalise shares with Taylor what drives her to ride in SF (but not Los Angeles) (7:19). The high price of bike share, and what could be a better model: free, at first. With Dave Snyder, author of the Substack article, "Bike Share Booms Despite a Broken Business Model" https://themovementnewsletter.substack.com/p/bike-share-booms-despite-a-broken (9:16) The Crosswalk Collective paints crosswalks where they legally ought to be, but aren't. When Collective member Jonathan Hale painted crosswalks at a West Los Angeles park, the LA Department of Transportation made them real https://la.streetsblog.org/2025/08/12/stoner-park-crosswalk-saga-draws-attention-to-l-a-s-transportation-safety-dysfunction (26:07). The California Bicycle Coalition sponsors AB891, the Quick Build Bill, which would allow Caltrans to make fast and cheap safety improvements to streets https://www.calbi

Vancouver bike activist Lucy Maloney won a seat on the anti- bike city council she fought for years. She gave Taylor a tour of the city and talks about her journey https://vancouver.ca/your-government/lucy-maloney.aspx (2:24). Speed cameras will go up this year in Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale, Long Beach, and the City and County of San Francisco, courtesy of California’s AB 645. California bike lawyer (and Bike Talk sponsor) Jim Pocrass says slower speeds will make cyclists safer, but enforcement may be in question because the cams won’t recognize faces due to privacy concerns https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB645 (16:57). Paint and political will are all you need, says Micromobilitynyc Reddit moderator Miser of Queens, NY. Miser talks on Ave 31, the protected bike lane he fought for and won https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/05/30/eyes-on-the-street-astorias-big-beautiful-31st-avenue-bike-boulevard (25:25). Queens bike lane opponents are suing

Listener feedback: Rebecca Reilly wants Nick to pronounce "Ontario" correctly, and Rick Bosacker says we should talk more about biking's mental and physical health benefits (0:50). Paris' bike revolution from the POV of Bike Talk intern Charlie Leightheiser - bike lanes, bike share, and bikelash (4:27). It's never too early to start planning for the week without driving, 9/29 - 10/5 https://weekwithoutdriving.org/ (10:30). Penny, seven, interviews Zahavah, six, on techniques to relearn riding a bike (12:33). SF bike culture from the POV of bike mechanics Tai and Bruno at Columbus Cyclery https://columbuscyclery.com/ (14:47). Bikes and trains go together, and there's a map for that in Southern California put together by Jonah Kanner and the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition https://www.pasadenacsc.org/blog/train-to-bike (17:34). The Los Angeles DOT is planning a potential bike corridor downtown at Spring and Alameda. There's a survey to give some feedback to ensure this happens. https://ladotlivables

Bike Lawyer Andrew Lewis on defending Cycle Toronto and saving Toronto's most popular bike lanes from the populist, tricky, anti-bike lane administration of Ontario Premier Doug Ford (0:29). Cities like Los Angeles lose hundreds of millions in lawsuits due to traffic injuries and fatalities on their streets. They could save lives and money by using their streets budgets to build protected bike networks, our bike lawyer James Pocrass argues (11:15). As cities like NYC make war on ebikes, Upway, an online and physical marketplace for refurbished e-bikes, aims to make ebikes more affordable and accessible. With Marta Anadón, Upway Head of US (17:05). Taylor talks to the Parking Reform Network CEO Tony Jordan on how to organize people against parking mandates. With Los Angeles mid city west Neighborhood Council transportation committee member David Sobel (33:00). Bike History takes a literary spin in The Case of the Missing Maid by Rob Osler, about a woman who rides her bike as a professional detective in t

Taylor’s ride through the burned-down Pacific Palisades neighborhood, and architect Neale Payton's insight into rebuilding the area as a Transit Oriented Development in the April 2025 Bike Talk episode https://biketalk.org/2025/04/2513-state-of-the-union-rebuilding-a-bike-oriented-la-and-bike-storage/ (0:28). Two vigils, four car victims, one day for NYC: Transportation Alternatives Communications Director Alexa Sledge shares audio of speakers at the vigil for the double car killing of Kevin Cruickshank and May Kwok on July 23 in NYC https://transalt.org/press-releases/mayor-adams-fix-canal-street-reduce-manhattan-bridge-speed-limit-after-speeding-driver-hits-and-kills-ta-member-riding-bike-and-woman-sitting-on-bench-at-canal-street-and-bowery-in-manhattan (3:09). The NY Times article “Drivers vs. Cyclists” both-sides-ism makes it seem that whether or not Toronto’s bike lanes increase traffic congestion is a matter of opinion https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/world/canada/bike-lanes-toronto.html (7:03).

A West Hollywood memorial and ghost bike placing for cyclist Blake Ackerman, killed by hit-and-run. Streets Are For Everyone Director of LA County Advocacy, Brett Slaughenhaupt https://www.gofundme.com/f/remembering-blake-ackerman (3:00). Hit and runs from a Legal POV: James Pocrass (6:01). A simple four point plan to stop hit and runs. BikinginLA.com blogger Ted Rogers https://bikinginla.com/2025/07/16/lets-end-hit-and-runs-once-and-for-all-mid-city-neighborhood-greenways-break-ground-and-tell-ladot-we-can-do-better/ (13:06). The Los Angeles department of transportation “redesigning our streets to prioritize human life” on high injury arterial Pico Blvd https://ladotlivablestreets.org/projects/pico. Survey for Pico users: https://ladot.lacity.gov/pico (15:00). CicLAvia’s Historic South Los Angeles Meets Watts, September 14th https://www.ciclavia.org/ciclavia_historic_south_central_meets_watts25 (16:15). The Nova Scotia Premier uses threats and debunked tropes to get already bike-unfriendly Halifax May

Taylor made it to Michigan, and having ridden to LAX in 56 minutes, he's never going back...to driving (1:13). Taylor talked to Tal Babcock, employee of a cafe in a former railroad depot where his grandfather was the Station Master, on the Michigan North Central bike route (2:41). A NY judge rules NYC Mayor Adams can remove protections on the Bedford Ave bike lane, undoing years of advocacy, because it's not a "major" modification. StreetsblogNYC writer Sophia Lebowitz reports that some see the judge's ruling as meaning that all NYC bike lanes could as easily be made fully protected by a new Mayor https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/07/09/brooklyn-judge-lets-eric-adams-rip-up-bedford-avenue-protected-bike-lane (6:32). Vista, California's Mayor John Franklin says a fully installed protected bike lane is evidence of an "anti-vehicle agenda https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/vista-removing-bike-lane-barriers/3864149/." San Diego Bicycle Coalition Advocacy & Community Manager Ian Hembree sheds light (13:44).

Taylor's riding his bike to LAX, then biking to car-free Mackinac island, MI (0:56). Bike activist and Cascade Bike Club volunteer Merlin Rainwater was brushed by a bus after being let out in a dangerous place by a Seattle bike lane. After a hit and run on a cyclist in the same spot, Merlin and others formed a people protected bike lane. Seattle DOT put in real barriers for protection THE SAME DAY https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2025/04/30/after-hit-and-run-at-4th-pine-safety-advocates-plan-people-protected-bike-lane-at-1pm/ (2:28). Our lawyer, Jim Pocrass, advises on the risks of tactical urbanism (14:32). Winnipeg bike activists including guests Patty Wiens, Bicycle Mayor of Winnipeg, and Michael (just Michael), made their own protected lane where cyclist Rob Jenner was killed by a car. The DOT took it down right away, citing safety https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-wellington-crescent-diy-bike-lane-1.7558922. Patty also talks about her book, It Can't Happen Here, and the exploitation of

Magnus White’s not-accidental car killing and the language of car "accidents," with No More Ghost Rides and Trash Panda Cycling’s LA bike calendar organizer Raphael Hernandez. (2:31) Fight Back: Talking Back To Bikelash with CalBike’s Kevin Claxton. www.calbike.org/talking-back-to-bikelash/ (13:20) RAGBRAI: The Great Iowa Fall Ride with “Shift” documentarians/Des Moines Register journalists Courtney Crowder and Kelsey Kremer, and RAGBRAIder Shem Bitterman, with Taylor. ragbrai.com/documentary/ (35:56)

At the virtual Bicycle Film Festival, Taylor sees a woman set a new record of riding a bike at 183 mph (0:22). Nick visits Los Angeles, runs into a Hollywood ride out, and meets bike dancer Denis (4:42). Taylor will use any pretext for a bike errand, reveals his wife Marga (7:05). Money for protected bike lanes in Denver was about to be spent on removing them, until the Mayor's Bike Advisory Council caught on. With Loren Hansen, Chair of the Denver MBAC (8:49). NYC Mayor Eric Adams' war on bikes is sending people who deliver food by bike into the jaws of criminal courts while food delivery app giants support anti-bike candidates. With Executive Director of the Workers' Justice Project, Ligia Guallpa (13:59). Good news in New York: a judge stopped Mayor Adams' attempt to remove the Bedford Ave bike lane, and Zohran, NYC's top Mayoral candidate, is super bike friendly (and just won the primary). Also, bike lane opponents at public meetings don't seem to care about anything (besides parking spaces).

Taylor bikes to a No Kings protest, and meets a friend of the show (3:30). Our lawyer, James Pocrass, on what to do if the authorities take your bike at a protest-and how to avoid it (6:04). Original cohost and bike mechanic Jim Cadenhead on the plusses and minuses of tubeless tires (12:30). Sammy's Law was meant to allow New York City to reduce car speeds to 20mph. NYC Mayor Adams cynically used the law to justify limiting the speed not of cars, but ebikes. This outraged many, but none more than Amy Cohen, the mother of the traffic violence victim Sammy Cohen Eckstein. Amy talks about her StreetsblogNYC article on the subject (20:48). Alexa Sledge, Transportation Alternatives' Communications Director, on NYC Mayor Adams' moves to regulate ebike speed and rip out bike and safe street infrastructure (26:58). HFX By Bike YouTuber Kevin Wilson on Halifax, Nova Scotia Mayor Andy Fillmore’s effort to "pause" construction of the city's protected bike lane network, claiming it caused traffic (36:13).

LA Bike Advocate and Altadena Town Councilmember Dorothy Wong on rebuilding her home and her town after the LA fires destroyed both (2:17). The "Born To Be Wild" bikepackers of Northampton High School reflect on their annual 4-day tour of Western Massachusetts (13:29). New York City is dragging cyclists to criminal court for minor and sometimes made up traffic infractions under a new anti-bike policy. Kevin Duggan, StreetsblogNYC journalist, has been doing in-depth reporting, and shares his insights with us (24:23). Streets For All, the Los Angeles advocates that brought us Healthy Streets LA, has merged with the San Francisco organization KidSafe SF, which fought for a car-free JFK Promenade and Golden Gate Park, transformed the Great Highway into Sunset Dunes Park, and made slow streets permanent. Robin Pam, Parent Organizer of KidSafe SF, tells us about becoming a chapter of Streets For All (40:17). Audio from the May 30 Critical Mass ride in Chicago, by Rick Rosales (50:32). Nebraska's Vulnerable Ro

Listener email: the difference between bike packing and bike touring, and what handlebar bags and panniers to get (1:11). New York City has begun a policy of criminalizing minor traffic violations for cyclists. We talk to Carl Mahaney of Streetopia Upper West side and Open Plans, and Josh Wood of the New York City Bicycle Messenger Association (7:08). The legality of criminalizing cyclists, with James Pocrass (28:09). In other news, a NYC Critical Mass to protest overpolicing cyclists, a study showing protected bike lanes work, an Idaho Stop bill in NY, the national spread of Waymo, and a Consumer Reports petition to fix front-end blind spots in SUVs (34:25). The author of Bicycling in Paradise and Radical Cadence in the End Times, Florida Atlantic Association Professor Stacey Balkan, talks about petroculture, Cycle Punk, and teaching these days in Florida (41:38).

Janice Walrafen loves Bike Talk on WGDR in Vermont - a listener email (1:09). Summer bikepacking! Nick's Berkshires tour and Taylor's cross country plans (3:05). Are Waymo robotaxis safer than humans? And when AVs hit cyclists or pedestrians, who's liable? Our lawyer, Jim Pocrass, advises (6:49). The Consumer Protection Safety Commission regulates bikes and bike parts, and was working to standardize e-bike battery standards - until the Trump administration began trying to take away its status as an independent agency and transfer its functions to the Department of Health and Human Services (15:21). A Survey on sustainability and ebike commuting by Christophe Roncato Tounsi (21:05). Executive Summaries of Bike Advocacy Organizations: Trilby Cox of Bike Utah, Zoe Scott of Bike Walk Tennessee, Christina Erikson of Local Motion in Vermont, and Dave Simmons of Ride Illinois (36:11). A rundown of the California quick build and bike highway bills supported by CalBike with Policy Director Jared Sanchez (4

Nick's daughter Penny learned to ride on two wheels using the towel technique (1:50). Bike To Work Week with Mayor Chelsea Lee Byers in West Hollywood, Ca (7:33). Bike To Work Week in Northampton, Ma with Mayor Gina Louise Sciarra, Representative Lindsay Sabadosa, and All Bodies on Bikes organizer Jacob Sheppard-Saidel (11:44). The debate over Autonomous Vehicles' safety record versus cyclists and pedestrians continues, with data showing AVs "generally demonstrate better safety in most scenarios," but are "not foolproof," according to a study from Nature Communications profiled in The Week.com (19:50). Data from Congestion Pricing in NYC is all positive, according to NY Times Journalist Emily Badger and her article, Here Is Everything That Has Changed Since Congestion Pricing Started in New York (24:25).