Streets Ahead

Ned, Laura and Adam head to Oxford to ask: Why is the city so popular for cycling? Is it something to do with the university, or is it an ingrained cycling culture? Is it because for decades they’ve filtered through traffic on minor roads? Is it because it costs £35 to park a car for 24 hours?  In this episode, we'll be exploring Oxford’s new Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and how they have struc...

This episode Adam, Ned and Laura meet in person in the grass beside Herne Hill Velodrome. Adam also takes us on an audio journey through South London using a Beeline routing widget to avoid the main roads and discover some quiet gems - and some strange cycleway nomenclature - along the way. As well as pondering the many uses of bollards, not least in creating quiet routes, the Streets Ahead trio d...

A special edition of Streets Ahead, in which Laura travels to the Isle of Wight to meet Detective Superintendent Andy Cox for day one of his nationwide challenge to cycle and run 30 miles a day for a week, raising awareness of road danger, and money for charity RoadPeace. Andy is on a mission to drive a culture change around roads policing and road danger, having this week revealed, via the Times,...

For Streets Ahead's second birthday, Adam, Ned and Laura go rogue - or at least go outdoors - sitting together on the banks of the River Thames to shoot the breeze. We are, for this episode, a pod without portfolio - drifting beside the Thames like an empty crisp packet and seeing where the current takes us. The Streets Ahead trio reveals the topic, if not the title, of Laura's forthcoming book, a...

Cities around the world used quick, cheap materials to transform streets for people during the pandemic, but tactical urbanism can, in theory, be initiated by communities and individuals to transform a bare patch of their neighbourhoods at any time. Laura, Ned and Adam talk about their greening efforts, and Laura shares recordings from her giant planters project, during two weeks of construction a...

Ned and Laura chat with Dame Sarah Storey, not only Britain's most successful Paralympian, but the new Cycling & Walking Commissioner for Greater Manchester, having previously held the role for three years in South Yorkshire. We hope you enjoy this episode of Streets Ahead, a podcast dedicated to the world of active travel, liveable streets and people-focused urban design. We’re on Twitter and...

This time we’re talking all about mapping walking routes. Back in the Autumn, Emma Griffin from the Footways project joined Laura for a stroll around Bow in East London. Footways is a network of quiet and interesting streets for walking in London, with the aim of getting people out on the pavements and walking for transport. Their aim is to make the pedestrian network the top priority when it’s of...

There's a new Highway Code! Rules for all types of road users have been updated in The Highway Code to improve the safety of people walking and cycling. Naturally, some people have taken the news very badly with strange headlines and talk radio stations going into overdrive. What do the changes mean and what difference will they make? We hope you enjoy this episode of Streets Ahead, a podcast dedi...

2021: it happened, that we can say for sure. Ned, Laura and Adam go through their highlights and lowlights of the year - and look back at some of the big stories in active travel. Plus: Adam has a new job. Ned and Laura quiz him on being the new West Midlands Cycling & Walking Commissioner. Thank you for your support this year and we look forward to bringing you new episodes in 2022! We hope y...

In this episode, sponsored by Superpedestrian , Ned, Laura and Adam visit Nottingham, a city bustling with integrated transport. We try the city's new Link e-scooters, by Superpedestrian, visit the tram, ride bikes and hire cars. It's a true smorgasbord of sensible and sustainable transport options - delivered in part by the city's Workplace Parking Levy. We also follow in the footsteps of the Pri...

We’re talking about the power of behaviour change - why, perhaps, soft measures deserve hard cash. While much of the focus in active travel is around the need for dedicated infrastructure, quietly, around the country - organisations are implementing softer measures that can have a significant impact. A few weeks ago Laura visited the Chrisp Street Community Cycles, a ‘cycle hub’ in an empty high s...

In this special episode, Adam chats with Matthew Baldwin , Deputy Director General at DG MOVE , part of the European Commission. Baldwin works on sustainable mobility, including how to protect vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists in the coming era of connected, automated and autonomous mobility. Ahead of COP26, it’s an interesting look to active travel’s importance on the world s...

A year ago we explored e-scooters as the UK began its official trials of rental scooters. How's it gone since? How are other countries dealing with e-scooters in cities? Are we just scared of new stuff? In this episode, sponsored by Superpedestrian , Adam heads to Lisbon to try out their Link scooters and we put some tricky questions to the company's Policy Director for the UK & Ireland, Jean...

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are (probably) coming. In this episode, Laura is taken for a spin on public roads in one - going on a journey through Greenwich, London, with nothing other than a robot car for company (if you ignore the two safety drivers ready to step in at any moment). Are Driverless Cars, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, or AVs, a solution to a problem, or are they just tech for tec...

July saw the publishing of the UK Government's Transport Decarbonisation plan, followed by the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report, which didn't make for pretty reading. In the UK surface transport is the single largest contributor of greenhouse gases, producing 23% of our emissions, and we’ve made no significant in-roads to cutting that contribution, in a decade. So what needs to change, and are...

Ned rode a cargo bike and he liked it. Streets Ahead have a partial real-life reunion which culminates in Ned riding a cargo bike. Thanks to Raleigh for having us at the launch of their new Stride cargo bike range at the Olympic Park in London. Are we on the cusp of a cargo bike boom in the UK? What do we need to consider to take cargo bikes to the masses? For the record, Amazon are trialling carg...

We're talking with Dr Gemma Briggs, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the Open University, about distracted driving. Dr Gemma Briggs’ research found mobile phone conversations, as opposed to conversations with a passenger, encourage a driver to create mental images - using the same cognitive resources we need for accurate visual perception of the driving environment. This means competition in drive...

Alexei Sayle is an English stand-up comedian, actor, television presenter, author and former recording artist. He is also a cyclist with a surprising interest in active travel. Ned pops for a coffee with Alexei to talk about his cycling history, his return to bike riding in the capital and - of course - Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. You can listen to Alexei Sayle's new podcast here: https://audioboo...

There are elections up and down the country this Thursday 6th May 2021, but how do you vote for better active travel provision? There are a plethora of political positions up for grabs - from Metro Mayors to Police & Crime Commissioners, but who does what when it comes to cycling and walking? We're not going to review the candidates' ambitions - you can get that elsewhere and should read the M...

Advertising is everywhere and while most people think it doesn’t affect them, research shows it undoubtedly impacts the decisions we make. Tobacco advertising has been banned - will car advertising be the new smoking? This week we have Leo Murray from climate action charity Possible. Leo is one of the people behind Badvertising , a campaign to put a stop to the promotion of highly polluting Sports...

The rapid changes in our towns and cities are providing new access to active travel for some people, but are they excluding some disabled people in the process? That's the topic we're discussing with Katie Pennick, Campaigns Lead at Transport For All . Why are disabled people seemingly ignored when it comes to some consultations? What needs to change? Is that status quo a better option? These are...

For episode 23, Ned, Adam and Laura chew the fat with London's Walking & Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman, on the capital's active travel revolution. Four years ago, Laura wrote In The Guardian: " Is London's new cycling tsar too nice to face down the bike-haters? " It turns out being nice can be effective. London has built nearly 100 miles of protected cycle lanes in the last year alone with...

The pace of change in some of our towns and cities has been designed to prevent a car-based recovery from COVID-19, but it hasn't all been positive. As Councils moved quickly to make changes under national government guidance, many of them neglected the basics of engagement and impact assessments. On this subject, we talk to Isabelle Clement, director of Wheels for Wellbeing , a charity that helps...

It's our 21st episode! How did that happen? Ned, Laura & Adam are discussing the government's £27 billion road building plan and its recent legal challenge. What are the merits of road building? How does active travel fit in? Is it compatible with the necessities of protecting our climate (Spoiler: probably not)? We'll discuss all this and more (including a new feature, er, LTN News). We hope...

For Episode 20, we team up with Doug Gordon, co-host of The War on Cars podcast and one of the USA's foremost cycling advocates. Our very special virtual guest speaks to us all the way from New York City, a city adapting in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. We compare how our two nations are faring in terms of active travel. Who is better at failing, or succeeding, when it comes to cycling and walki...