Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

This week on the podcast we're joined by Joe DiStefano of Urban Footprint .  We talk about Joe's work with Calthorpe Associates doing regional planning as well as creating digital tools for big planning ideas.  Joe also talks about the importance of planners having information at their fingertips in order to make decisions as well as being the ones in the room to remind everyone plans are about pe...

This week we're joined by Shannon Mattern, Associate Professor of Media Studies at the New School in New York City. Shannon discusses her new book Code+Clay ... Data+Dirt: 5,000 Years of Urban Media. We talk about how she came up with the idea to teach a class on the intersection of media studies, architecture, and cities, her favorite research, and how the perfect future interface humans are look...

This week, we're joined by Somerville MA Mayor Joseph Curtatone. The mayor talks about Somerville's proximity to Boston, its amazing density and variable housing types, and how the community is working together on plans for future transit-oriented development around the Green Line Extension. Mayor Curtatone also talks about how that process is being monitored and can be recreated in the future. Fi...

This week we're joined again by Mariia Zimmerman of MZ Strategies . Mariia discusses how she got into transportation and urban planning after growing up in rural Minnesota and how livability policy has changed over time at the federal level. She also talks about the evolution of discussions about transit oriented development from initial proof of concept to a greater discussion on equity.

This week we're joined by Los Angeles DOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds.  We chat about how she got into transportation planning and how we can innovate for everyone.  There's also a discussion about the future of streets, air rights of way, and how cities can handle partnerships with mobility providers that benefit cities.  And finally we talk about pricing and what that means for cities as wel...

This week we're joined by Daniel Sperling to talk about his new book Three Revolutions . We talk about the possible sea changes happening in the transportation world with electrification, automation, and shared rides. I ask him about the importance of regulations, how he got his epiphany that shared rides are the future, and what this revolutions means for auto manufacturers.

This week Jarrett Walker of Jarrett Walker and Associates joins the podcast to talk about communicating difficult issues in transportation and planning. We talk about Jarrett's excitement about urban change in Portland Oregon where he grew up and the importance of humanities majors in the transportation profession. We also talk about why NIMBYs feel the way they do and how we can think differently...

This week we're at the National Shared Mobility Summit in Chicago.  Jeff Tumlin of Nelson Nygaard moderates a panel of experts on new mobility including Carla Bailo from the Center for Automotive Research, Krista Huhtala-Jenks from the Finland Ministry of Transport and Communications, Dick Alexander from Trandev, and Justin Erlich from Uber.  They talk about the new business model of shared mobili...

This week we chat with Brian Reilly, former Economic Development Director in Buffalo, NY and Cleveland, OH and the Principal of the planning consultancy Doing Good, about integrating transportation and land use in Albuquerque. As Reilly explains, the city's new bus rapid transit line ART is just one project but it forms a frequent and reliable backbone for Albuquerque's entire transportation syste...

This week we're joined by Jonathan Sage Martinson, former Director of the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative in the Twin Cities.  We talk about how the collaborative got started, how they supported planning in the Green Line light rail corridor between Minneapolis and St. Paul, and how one member even got the FTA to change a much discussed cost effectiveness rule.

This week we're joined by Robert Cervero, Erick Guerra, and Stefan Al to talk about their new book called Beyond Mobility . They talk about the idea of recalibrating cities and how we can put people first when we think about transportation and the built environment. We also talk about silly regulations such as one parking space per toilet seat and some of the examples of good transportation and pl...

This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by George Karayannis, Vice President of CityNow, a smart city arm of Panasonic Corporation. George talks about smart cities and how to think beyond shiny technology and what it means to think about the future. George also discusses what CityNow is setting up at Pena Station Next, a new smart city concept on Denver RTD's A Line commuter rail th...

This week we're joined by Christof Hellmis, Vice President of Strategic Program at Here Technologies in Berlin Germany.  I was invited to CES in Las Vegas by HERE to check out the next generation in data and maps and got to sit down with Christof to talk about data and transportation.  We chatted about how mapping and location will be important for new transportation technologies and old and I ask...

This week on the podcast we're joined by Kyle Shelton of the Kinder Institute to talk about his new book Power Moves: Transportation, Politics, and Development in Houston.  I ask Kyle why he wrote the book and his feelings about looking back at history knowing about potentially better transportation outcomes.  We also talk about the idea of "infrastructure citizenship" and how local advocacy group...

This week we're joined by Yonah Freemark of the Transport Politic for our annual prediction extravaganza!  Find out how last year's predictions held up and whether you agree with this year's thoughts on Montreal transit and Bus Rapid Transit in Boston. We also discuss the leaked infrastructure plan from the new administration and talk about our favorite writers focused on urban issues. 

This week's episode features Fehr and Peers Ron Milam and me discussing the differences between the Transportation Research Board conference in Washington DC and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, both of which took place on the second week in January. We discuss all the interesting topics that emerged from both conferences including delivery drones, curb management, massive data collecti...

This week we're back at NACTO 2017 in Chicago with a series of speakers that did quick presentations on how the work we do as advocates to change minds.  Skye Duncan hosts and starts off with a discussion of the NACTO Global Designing Cities Initiative. Chris Bruntlett talks about the work he and his family do at Modacity "marketing the lifestyle of cycling". Ed Solis of The City of San Jose descr...

This week we're back at the NACTO Designing Cities conference for the closing plenary.  Paris' Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Public Space Christophe Najdovski discusses all the improvements that are being made to the city's transportation network.  He chats about expanding the subway and tram networks, improving cycling infrastructure, creating more space for people in public squares and ped...

This week we're chatting again with Jonn Ellege of CityMetric.  This time it's my turn to interview and we cover a lot of ground.  We talk about housing in London and out including the basics of council housing.  We chat about major transportation projects including Crossrail and high speed rail while also discuss what's happening to the buses on Oxford street and how Transport for London is regul...

This week we're joined by Breen Masciotra, TOD Manager for the Port Authorty of Allegheny County and Karina Ricks, Director of the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure at The City of Pittsburgh.  We discuss transportation in Pittsburgh and the challenges they face including topography, new technologies, and hostile streets. We also talk about awesome improvements to the system including new b...

This week we're at the NACTO Designing Cities Conference in Chicago and hear keynotes from Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Department of Transportation's Director of Planning and Programming Erin Aleman.   The Mayor discusses Chicago's distinct advantages compared to other cities as well as improvements that have been made to the cities transportation system. He also talks about new funding source...

This week we're joined by James Corless, CEO of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, the Sacramento area's MPO and COG.  We chat with James about the Sacramento region and its connections to both urban and rural economies, his past working on federal transportation policy in Washington DC, why it's kind of ridiculous to do 30 year regional long range transportation plans, and why mid-sized...

This week we chat with Benjamin De La Pena, Deputy Director for Policy, Planning, Mobility, and Right of Way at Seattle DOT.  We talk about SDOT's New Mobility Playbook which offers strategies for future transportation that focuses on people first.  Benjamin also discusses his affinity for international transportation, how we help the unbanked with transportation solutions, and how organizations c...

This week we're sharing the last plenary session of the Rail~volution conference which was a panel discussion of three current mayors of major United States cities hosted by Maurice Jones of LISC.  Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland, Mayor Bill Peduto of Pittsburgh, and Mayor Michael Hancock of Denver discuss transportation and innovation in their cities including civic focused non-profits, public-priv...

This week we're back again at Rail~Volution and joined by Diana Mendes, Transit/Rail Practice Leader and Vice President at HNTB.  We talk about how Diana met the author of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and what needs to change about environmental planning.  She talks about the environmental planning process for the Lower Manhattan Recovery after 9-11 in addition to early use of GIS.