Bike Talk

Bike Lawyer James Pocrass on what it's like to bike in Los Angeles with the fires still burning, avoiding scams, and wearing masks (0:47). With fewer cars and fewer injuries, the congestion pricing zone in NYC is like Sunday all week, according to StreetsblogNYC Editor Gersh Kuntzman (6:39). News: bike crashes are reduced at intersections with Stop-as-yield laws, the National Highway Traffic Safet...

Cohosts Taylor, Nick, Lindsay and Stacey ponder possible effects of the new administration on bikes, cars, and infrastructure (0:57). Listener Email: Reese Bastion writes about motonormativity, the acceptance of public hazards from cars where similar hazards like smoking wouldn't be tolerated. This sparks a discussion about how the framework that led to smoking in public being banned could apply t...

Altadena Town Councilmember, Bike Educator/activist, cyclocross champion and race organizer Dorothy Wong lost her house in the fires, along with all her bikes. She reflects with Culver City Councilmember Bubba Fish-also a bike activist (1:39). The Bike Oven of Highland Park, long a community hub for DIY bike repair, has become an emergency aid distribution center. Volunteer Joe Borfo talks to us a...

In honor of the New Year, Nick shares his mission statement for Bike Talk, and compares his acting career with Taylor's (0:35). Taylor interviews a Costa Rican mountain biker on his recent trip to Costa Rica (4:15)... and shares his mission statement for Bike Talk (8:30). News: On Day 1 of Congestion Pricing in NYC, Transportation Alternatives Communications Director Alexa Sledge shares her observ...

Midnight Rida/Bike Oven volunteer Joe Borfo lends Bike Talk his tandem for a new logo(0:26). News: Bill 212 passes, allowing Ontario Premier Doug Ford to proceed with removing Toronto's popular bike lanes despite data that shows they're successful. Congestion pricing starts in NYC (4:57). A Winnipeg rider, Patty Wiens, responds to Taylor’s LA-centric comments about winter riding “on a trainer in t...

National Bike News: car related crime, TAP funding, and the EXPLORE act passage. Studies: E-bikes and scooters displace 4x as much demand for oil as all of the EVs in the world, and vehicles with higher, more vertical front ends pose greater risk to pedestrians (6:23). What to do in a bike crash, with LA Personal Injury Attorney Jim Pocrass (9:32). Livable Communities: bikes, transit, and housing....

An email from avid listener Rick Bosacker, who gets the joke about "avid cyclists." He's on a 13 month world tour with his family, who are differently avid. Taylor gets route help from Canadian cyclists Dan and Lynette Markham in bike-unfriendly Laguna Beach, California (2:12) Bike Friendly States' ranking highlights by the League of American Bicyclists' Policy Director Ken Macleod (5:19) Intro 60...

The Ebike Getaway of Luigi Mangioni (1:28) An overview of the Washington Area Bicycle Coalition, WABA, by Elizabeth Kiker, Executive Director (5:29) The Evanston, IL Bike Lane Debate as told by Streetsblog Chicago Editor John Greenfield (7:46) People who bike were betrayed by the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure’s watering down of a protected bike lane, say Denver Bike Lobbyi...

Taylor talks with Hugh Fuller and Joe Borfo at Bike Oven’s iconic Highland Park “Spoke ’n Art Ride.” 0:20 Why fat bikes are "the quiver killer," a pitch from Physical Education teacher and mountain bike club coach Salem Derby. 4:03 News: “Loser Lane,” a fatalistic web based game about riding without a protected lane in Toronto. With Bill 212, Toronto Premier Doug Ford seeks immunity for injuries a...

News: San Francisco's controversial center-running bike lane to be replaced by curb protected lanes. Luke Bornheimer, SF advocate for the curb protected lanes, explains. 4:09 NYC gets congestion pricing, finally. It's $9 instead of $15, but will increase. Dave Colon, StreetsblogNYC reporter, fills in the details. 9:01 As Ontario Premier Doug Ford pushes to remove Toronto's bike lanes, University o...

Voices from World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Victims in Los Angeles. 1:48 Transportation under Trump according to Yonah Freemark, principal research associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute. 8:25 Los Angeles Bike Fest with BikeLA Director Eli Kaufman. 13:37 Strong Towns Northampton checks its tone over a bike lane closure. With Danielle McKhan,...

Bike News: Cop29 cop-outs, solace in U.S. local elections for biking, China's huge bikeshare rides, and in Oregon, a cyclist was charged for a ride to the hospital by the ambulance that hit him. 2:19 The Northampton Cycle-Smart Cyclocross race broke from the Union Cycliste Internationale for its exclusion of trans women riders in 2023, but the race goes on; the 33rd annual Northampton, Massachuset...

In the election bummer, some local winners for safe streets: new Congressmember Laura Friedman, Alameda Supervisor John Bauters, and West Hollywood Mayor John Erickson. Listener Kevin Grishkot asks whether, if cars were no longer available, we would require people to license their bicycles. Bike Talk’s lawyer, Jim Pocrass, explains why it’s not a very good idea. 3:18 News: Ontario Premier threaten...

News from the front lanes: LA's Traffic Nightmare, a NHTSA requirement for DUI detectors in cars, a measure to keep San Francisco’s Great Highway car free, and the 125th anniversary of the first car killing. A Glendale candidate for Congress demonizes his Democratic opponent, Laura Friedman, as "The Bike Lane Lady." Alex Belekian says if we want bike lanes we should build new cities for them. 4:15...

Taylor finally finishes the epic tome on highway tycoon Robert Moses, The Power Broker, by Robert Caro, and talks to author/transportation activist Charles Komanoff about it. 1:14 A bill to require cars in California to alert drivers when they exceed speed limits by more than 10 mph was vetoed by the Governor. Jodie Medeiros, Executive Director of Walk SF, one of the bill's sponsors, speaks about...

A Glendale Congressional candidate makes bike lane support his big grievance against Chair of the California Assembly Transportation Committee Laura Friedman in her run for Congress. 1:15 The categories of ebike and why they matter, explained by our sponsor Jim Pocrass. 7:10 Ebikelash in NYC is taking off due to the prevalence of food delivery workers who ride fast. Bills would require all e-bike...

Week Without Driving was September 30th – October 6th, 2024. Here’s a view of how it went by its creator Anna Zivarts, Author of “When Driving is Not an Option” and Director of Disability Mobility Initiative at Disability Rights Washington, and Ruth Rosas, Program Manager at America Walks. 2:02 US businesses ranked by their Bicycle Friendliness, from The League of American Bicyclists. With Amelia...

The Better Cities Film Festival is all about bikes and dads, Director Josh Paget says. Also Transportation, Housing, Urban design, Environment, Community, and Technology. 5:12 It took a long time and a lot of community meetings to get the Dickens bike/ped greenway in Chicago, but a few NIMBYs were able to get it taken out without much process. We have Streetsblog Chicago Editor John Greenfield, Bi...

Freak Bikes the Movie, about LA Bike Kitchen founder Jimmy Lizama and his son on a bike tour of the European bike cities, screened in the Better Cities Film Festival in Detroit. Filmmaker Ryan Mekenian talks about his inspiration with Reo Ramsey, our Detroit correspondent and social ride leader who connects the movie to his bond over bikes with his own father. Bike Lawyer James Pocrass talks with...

Taylor recaps his ride to Dodger Stadium. Val Cyr, Local Motion's Communications Specialist, on Vermont's great biking. America's Bike Mayor John Bauters on his run and riding for Alameda County Supervisor. Listener Emails: Tim Riley on giving up his cars because of Bike Talk, and motornormativity. Annie Pruitt on www.playgroundequipment.com/all-about-cycling/. Consumer Reports writer Keith Barry...

In this repost from March of 2024 Eddie Vargas, Grub Hub bike delivery worker, loads up groceries in Los Angeles. Bike Traffic report with Don Ward. A new study in the Journal for Transport and Land Use shows blaming individuals for traffic violence prevents systemic changes to US roadways. “There Are No Accidents” author Jessie Singer on the evolution of the accident, and how the auto industry ha...

Last year's Tour de Vuelta coverage, featuring Sepp Kuss 2:45 Brake maintenance advice from fixie rider, activist, and Los Angeles Metro Bikeshare mechanic Anne Marie Drolet. 3:19 Jeff Speck, author of “Suburban Nation” and “Walkable Cities,” on making cities walkable and bikeable. With Taylor Nichols. 7:50 Getting the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to mandate Bicyclist Emer...

Taylor decides on a new gravel bike. Winnipeg cyclists stage an act of civil disobedience, stopping legally in single file at a stop sign, to bring awareness of the need for a stop-as-yield policy or "Idaho Stop Law" for cyclists. With Patty Wiens, "Bicycle Mayor" of Winnipeg, and Hillary Rosentretter. 4:02 We talk to our lawyer, Jim Pocrass of Pocrass de Los Reyes in Los Angeles, about whether it...

Taylor and Anne Marie saw their neighborhoods at human speed in Sunday's CicLAvia in Los Angeles. “Meet the Hollywoods” opened 7 miles to people, not cars, from East to West Hollywood. Anne Marie discovers Fan Girl, a women musicians themed café. 1:13 Taylor nervously rides Luke’s Penny Farthing far. 1:52 Vanessa, Ryan, and Victor share their favorite things about CicLAvia with Anne Marie. 5:38 Th...

Anne Marie's bike trip to Universal Studios, Taylor's mountain trip, and Bikelash news. An unhinged speaker's threat to harass cyclists at a Glendale, Ca. City Council meeting could be used against him in court, say attorney Jim Pocrass and Kirsten Bladh, Streets For All’s Associate Director of State Policy, who posted the tweet that named the hater. 16:02 A report by Circulate San Diego finds tha...