Streets Ahead

Adam's left his job, Ned's won an award, Laura's touring the country, oh, and there's a general election in the UK. It's been quite a hectic few weeks at Streets Ahead. By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to ( https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast ). We’ll even send you some stickers!  We’re also on Twitte...

Laura's got a book out and we're here to plug it, 1) because it's brilliant and 2) because it'd be awkward if we didn't. Potholes and Pavements: A Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network is the story of the UK's fitful, sometimes painful transformation from a car-dependent nation of villages, towns and cities into a connected, bikeable network of communities. It's out on 9th May at all good...

In a special emergency episode, Ned and Adam try to make sense of the Plan for Drivers announcement. What does it mean for active travel and public transport? Will it actually change anything? What are the politics behind the announcement? You can read the Low Traffic Neighbourhood review here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-traffic-neighbourhood-review In the episode, Adam mention...

From lost panniers, stolen bikes and a proposed HS2 cycleway - this is our podcast without portfolio (our favourite kind) where we chew the fat on active travel. By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to ( https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast ). We’ll even send you some stickers!  We’re also on Twitter and w...

Okay, it's not strictly active travel - but it is walking, sort of. In this short bonus episode, Laura and Adam go Mudlarking on the Thame's foreshore and find Medieval pottery, clay tobacco pipes, a Boris bike and a traffic cone. Thanks to Chris from the Thames Explorer Trust for being our guide. There’s also some extra bonus content on our new Patreon. That’s right - if you want ad-free listenin...

Cycling is booming in London, and in cities around the world, as are cargo bikes. With prices ranging upwards of £2,000, theft is a real and present concern for owners, and a major barrier to more people experiencing the joy and convenience of owning a larger bike, whether for work, carrying children, or as a mobility aid. In this episode Laura travels to north London for a celebration of possibly...

Welcome to this special episode, in which it’s just Laura, her suitcase and one amazing guest, sat on a bench in the middle of one of the city’s famous Superblocks. There’s also some extra bonus content on our new Patreon. That’s right - if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to ( https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast ). We’l...

And we have reached the end of 2023! What a year that was: we had highs, we had lows, we had some culture wars, we did a podcast in a pub. How was 2023 for you? Ned, Laura and Adam give their perspective. >> Oh, and we're on Patreon! If you'd like to support Streets Ahead, get ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes content AND receive wonderful stickers, please head to: https://www.patreon.com...

For this episode, Ned, Adam and Laura navigated east London's cycle lanes and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to speak in-person, in front of a live pub audience, to Councillor Clyde Loakes, at the Wanstead Tap in Waltham Forest. For the past decade Cllr Loakes has led his borough's transformation for walking and cycling. Waltham Forest is very much no longer a forest, in North-East London, but ha...

In the second of a two-part mini-series on online disinformation Laura, Ned and Adam talk to Shayoni Lynn, whose company specialises in the behavioural science of mis- and disinformation, and how to tackle it. After ministers admitted this autumn making decisions based on ‘online discussions’ that veered towards fringe conspiracy theories, around things like 15-minute cities, and as the climate co...

This time Ned, Laura and Adam meet Polly Herbert, a solicitor who represents the loved ones of those killed and seriously injured in road traffic collisions. Working for the law firm Hugh James, Polly represented the family of Frankie Jules-Hough, a pregnant mother-of-two who was killed by a speeding driver who filmed himself driving in excess of 100mph, in May. In 2022 judges were given the power...

Disinformation is seeping from social media into public debate, and even politicians are being sucked in - with real-world consequences for democracy. From 15-minute cities, to ULEZ, active travel has found itself on the frontline of the battle for truth - but what is actually happening, and how does it affect us? In the first of a two-part miniseries on the topic, Adam, Ned and Laura talk to Amil...

Safe Streets Now was born out of growing concerns over what campaigners have called an epidemic of speeding and red light jumping in Birmingham. Better Streets for Birmingham saw residents collect data on speeding and red light jumping in the city earlier this year, a citizen science project that attracted attention with the scale of the significant problem it revealed on the roads. Then, over the...

This time Ned, Adam and Laura are talking about roads. Are they good, are they bad, and do we really need to take sides? In a week where the Prime Minister claimed there’s a ‘side’ where driving is concerned, we look to Wales, where they're taking perhaps a more balanced approach to transport.  Lee Waters is Wales’ Deputy Minister for Climate Change. He works in a department that brings toget...

This time Laura and Adam are Ned-less because there is still a bicycle race happening over in France All cyclists start somewhere - whether it’s wobbling along with stabilisers, or without. In the UK, because we often end up sharing the roads with motor traffic, many of us will also have received training from a professional at some point - under the Bikeability standard, or Cycling Proficiency as...

Ned and Laura go exploring on foot with Alderman Alison Gowman around the City of London's mid-century raised walkways. Known as Pedways, when they were conceived and built in the 1960s, their architects believed they would be the future of the urban pedestrian experience... except they didn't quite work. More than half a century later, many of them are slightly bleak and under-used spaces, becaus...

For this special episode Laura Laker chairs a live podcast recording from the annual London Walking and Cycling Conference. The London Walking and cycling conference, for those of you who don’t know, is an annual get-together where London gets to be smug and show off a bit. It started life as the Hackney walking and cycling conference in 2017 and has gone from strength to strength, attracting spea...

A pre-budget announcement on HS2 last week revealed a £380m cut to cycling and walking funding. This represents a two-thirds reduction of funding in England, and leaves just £100m for active travel in the current financial year.  Cycling and walking contributed £36.5bn to the UK economy in 2021, according to Sustrans.  Ned, Laura and Adam convene to discuss what's happening and the impac...

In this episode, we have a special feature in which Ned travels to his spiritual home in Lewisham Shopping Centre to meet the folks at XO Bikes . Founder, Stef Jones, was mentoring in prison and noticed the same people kept coming back - not that they wanted to. These people were lacking opportunities; prison is 'full of entrepreneurs, shifting the wrong product,' he says. Stef left his ad agency...

We speak to Mums For Lungs founder Jemima Hartshorn to chat ULEZ, campaigning and the worrying and urgent need to clean up our dirty air. Almost exactly ten years ago, nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah died following an asthma attack, later becoming the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death. Ella lived near the South Circular Road in Lewisham.  In 2017 Jem...

What is it really like being a Councillor, especially one who has implemented LTNs? Ned, Laura and Adam speak with Ian Barnes, formerly of Enfield Low Traffic Neighbourhood fame. As Deputy Leader of Labour-run Enfield council until 2022, Ian was among those responsible for delivering Low Traffic Neighbourhoods both before and during the pandemic. We discuss: listening to resident concerns, Mini Ho...

In this special episode Laura goes to the seaside. It may be pouring with rain but Brighton and Shoreham-by-Sea offer a warm welcome, showing us the good stuff happening for cycling in Brighton, and the latest (largely bad stuff) on the short-lived cycle lane on Upper Shoreham road. This ill-fated cycle lane in West Sussex was removed after a few short weeks, despite huge support and a tripling of...

Ned, Laura and Adam discuss active travel and the economy. We know that cycling and walking are great for our health and the environment, but is the economic case sold strongly enough? This episode was recorded before the UK Government Autumn Statement on 17/11/22 but talks generally about active travel's impact on the economy and the importance of cheap transport during a cost of living crisis. W...

The cost of living crisis is forefront in many people's minds at the moment, but while the pressure has ramped up since the war in Ukraine, for some people transport poverty has plagued their lives for far longer. Our guest Professor Sarah Marie Hall is a geographer with a focus on geographical feminist political economy. She describes this as "understanding how socio-economic processes are s...

Ned, Laura and Adam hang out in a dilapidated old petrol station for an impromptu pod on World Car Free Day to discuss how we use public space, parklets, and how cycling is diversifying. You can check out the Possible Parklet Plotter here: https://wearepossible.github.io/parklet-plotter/ We’re on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode:  http://www.twitter.com/podstreetsahead If you'...