StreetSmart

In StreetSmart 15, Damien Newton spoke with Yesenia Perez of the Greenlining Institute about the connection between freeway expansion and California's housing crisis. Perez discussed research behind  her recent story at Streetsblog , which found that more than 800 homes have been demolished in the past six years to make way for highway projects, highlighting how transportation investments can redu...

Following up on yesterday's podcast , today Damien Newton speaks with Adriana Rizzo of Californians for Electric Rail and Eli Lipmen of  Move California about two major statewide issues: the California governor's race and the future of high-speed rail. The conversation focuses on what transportation advocates should look for in gubernatorial candidates, including commitments to transit funding, af...

Episode 14.1 of the Streetsmart Podcast focuses on the active transportation and transit legislation moving—or stalling—in Sacramento.  Much of this year's legislative energy around safety for bicyclists and pedestrians  is centered on regulating e-bikes, including efforts to distinguish legal e-bikes from high-speed electric motorcycles. CalBike's Jared Sanchez, reviews three pieces of legislatio...

On this episode of StreetSmart , Streetsblog California editor Damien Newton talks with Marty Beard, CEO of Hayden. AI, about the rapid expansion of automated camera enforcement on buses and city vehicles across California and beyond. Hayden. AI's technology uses forward-facing cameras mounted on transit buses and parking enforcement vehicles to identify cars blocking bus lanes, bus stops, and bik...

In a special AMA episode of the Street Smart podcast, Streetsblog California editor Damien Newton reflects on his first year leading the site while answering reader-submitted questions on politics, transportation policy, and advocacy. Newton opens by thanking listeners for helping the nonprofit newsroom reach its annual fundraising goal, then explains why, as head of a 501(c)(3), he cannot endorse...

On this week's StreetSmart Podcast , host Damien Newton spoke with UC Berkeley professor Zach Lamb about his team's new report, A Safety Dilemma , which examines why some fire departments across the country have opposed street redesigns that add bike lanes, bulb-outs, and other safety features. The research was inspired by a stalled Berkeley project for a protected cycle track that failed to gain...

In this episode, host Damien Newton sits down with Zack Deutsch-Gross, the new executive director of Transform , for a wrap-up of California's 2025 legislative session. For a quick recap of all of the legislation we tracked this year, visit last week's legislative wrap-up. For this podcast, the interview covered three pieces of legislation that were central to Transform's agenda: Highway 37 (AB 69...

StreetSmart launched its fall session with guest Melanie Curry, former editor of Streetsblog California. Host Damien Newton welcomed Curry back for her first official appearance since retiring in January, noting her long history covering statewide transportation, housing, and climate policy. Curry discussed her recent article for the California Planning and Development Report on Sacramento's attem...

Episode 8 of StreetSmart features an interview with Hana Creger, the Associate Director of Climate Equity with the Greenlining Institute . The interview was conducted on June 3 before the budget deals and before the ICE raids sparked protest in Los Angeles. Our brief conversation about the state budget may seem a little dated for those that stay up on the news, but since it was surrounded by the r...

In StreetSmart Episode7, Streetsblog California editor Damien Newton and Sam Speroni from UCLA discussed the unequal distribution of car ownership costs in Los Angeles, using data from 2021 to 2023.    Speroni and his fellow researchers found that while wealthy neighborhoods had high debt per borrower, lower-income areas like South LA had higher debt burdens. Black and Latino neighborhoods faced h...

There's lots of legislation pending in California that will impact the way California grows and tries to address the global climate emergency. One of the most important decisions the legislature has to make is whether, when, and how to reauthorize the state's cap-and-trade program. In short, the program charges the state's largest polluters a fee and uses the money generated to pay for programs to...

Episode 4 of the StreetSmart podcast features Monica Mallon and a discussion of the VTA strike in Silicon Valley. If you're not familiar with Mallon, she is a one-person advocacy machine focused on transit in the Bay Area Peninsula, specifically the VTA. When bus drivers and rail operators were on strike Mallon documented the various ways she commuted to and from the office on foot, Caltrain and e...

The StreetSmart podcast returns with an episode where we discuss how transit agencies can best fight global warming by encouraging more people to ride transit and by eliminating freeway widenings. This episode's guest is Bryn Moncelsi , the Deputy Director of Climate Resolve. The interview is divided into two parts. First, we discuss how transit agencies often overlook one of the most basic ways t...

This week's StreetSmart brings in not one, but two experts on California High-Speed Rail Joining me are Adriana Rizzo and Roger Rudick. Adriana Rizzo is with Californians for Electric Rail , a non-profit advocacy group that is "dedicated to connecting transit advocates and railfans with environmentalists, unions, good government advocates, and other supporters of environmentally-friendly, union-ma...

Welcome to the second episde of the Streetsblog California podcast, StreetSmart. In this podcast, I'll be talking to experts about various topics, policies, programs, and people that I'll be covering as part of the beat at Streetsblog California. Our guest in this episode is Juan Matute, the Deputy Director of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies , a contributor to Streetsblog's sister pub...

Welcome to the first edition of the Streetsblog California podcast, StreetSmart. In this podcast, I'll be talking to experts about various topics, policies, programs, and people that I'll be covering as part of the beat at Streetsblog California. Our guest in the first episode is Jeanie Ward-Waller, who is currently the interim director with Climate Plan and the Director of Transportation Advocacy...