The Mechanics of Transportation

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of the Mechanics of Transportation, we talk with Dironna Moore Clarke, from the City of Richmond’s Office of Equitable Transit and Mobility, which is part of the Department of Public Works. She heads up projects that are dubbed Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper. But what is that? Over the past year or more, her office has been installing temporary infrastructure projects k...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of the Mechanics of Transportation, we listen to this informal meeting that featured staff from RVA Rapid Transit ,  the Greater Richmond Transit Company, (GRTC)  and the public about the impact that Zero Fare has made on residents, how it increased ridership and how if it goes away, could be detrimental to the city.  If you like the Mechanics of Transportation and...

Send us Fan Mail You can probably tell I’m a bike rider–a lover of the beauty of riding my bike anywhere I can. I’m such a nerd that I just created a YouTube channel showing my bike rides in suburbia (called Ian Stewart Cycles ).  I often fantasize of going to the Netherlands and to Amsterdam to ride the city streets. So when I heard that two members of the Dutch Cycling Embassy were visiting Rich...

Send us Fan Mail I first came across gravel rider Marley Blonksy via one of her many posts on Instagram in which she was slugging it out on a gravel race–not sure which one–but it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that her positive spirit of encouraging others to get out on bikes no matter what your size or ability is infectious. It’s one of the main reasons she eventually became the co-founder...

Send us Fan Mail A million trail users per year —that’s the number of visitors the Capital Trail in Virginia gets. It’s a paved, multi-use trail that runs just over 50 miles from the Richmond Capital to historic Jamestown. Along the way, you see beautiful farm lands, historic markers and some really cool businesses.  But contrary to what non-trail users may think, the path is not just for lycra cl...

Send us Fan Mail For this story, I met up with Chad Powers of Powers BMX in Richmond, Virginia. Not only does he have a BMX bike shop, but he is one of only a handful of people who run a BMX bike museum. He’s got over 300 bikes in his collection, plus jerseys, ramps, bike parts and a huge magazine library. Bikes in his collection have come as far away as the United Kingdom. He is a die hard fan of...

Send us Fan Mail On this first episode of season 2 I talk with Richmond bike advocate, bike race organizer, cyclocross enthusiast and all around bike nerd Sean Yeager.  I first met Sean when I was covering a local crit circuit race in Bryan Park in the city–a race that’s been going on for over 50 years. You can hear that story here .  Since then, Sean and I have been in contact off and on–he leant...

Send us Fan Mail For part two of the Mechanics of Transportation Year in Review, I’ve collected a few great bits from my past interviews around bikes and trails. In these chunks, we’ll hear from two members of Black Girls Do Bike club in the Richmond, Va region; John Murden, who is a cargo bike advocate and restaurant owner; and we revisit volunteers building bikes for kids for the holiday season....

Send us Fan Mail It’s a been a banner first season on the Mechanics of Transportation, from being a sparkle of an idea to keep my foot in the transportation world after getting let go from a job at a public radio station as a transportation reporter, to producing 17 episodes in which I got to nerd out with people about infrastructure, biking and gaining listeners in Europe, it’s been a fun ride.  ...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode I speak with Kea Wilson, Senior Editor for Streetsblog USA , which is a daily newsblog that covers the movement to end car dependence in the United States. Besides their national site, they also have dedicated sites for San Francisco, New York, LA and more cities.  Kea is also the host of the great podcast The Brake, who’s topics have included How Mayor’s are Fight...

Send us Fan Mail World Remembrance Day is Sunday November 17th. It’s the day to remember those lost to traffic violence. On this episode of the Mechanics of Transportation I’m sharing a recent feature story I did for the NPR Public Radio station WTVR / Radio IQ about the day. But, in this version, I’m letting three parents share their stories in more detail.  Plus, we hear bits from an earlier pod...

Send us Fan Mail I’m circling back to finish up my conversation with British broadcaster Jez Cox. For cycling and triathlon fans who follow those sports, chances are you regularly hear Jez’s voice.  If you haven’t heard him covering a bike race or a cyclocross event, then you may have heard him covering the Olympics for Eurosport, particularly in the events of surfing, swimming and break dancing....

Send us Fan Mail Ok, sure, I know you may be expecting part two of my conversation with British broadcaster Jez Cox, but I wanted to get out this quick episode about a group of volunteers who are building over 500 bikes for kids of all ages so they can get bikes during the holidays. The Richmond Area Bike Association or RABA has been doing this since the year 2000, with the help of many volunteers...

Send us Fan Mail I’m taking a left turn on this week’s episode of the Mechanics of Transportation. That’s because I got the opportunity to interview British broadcaster Jez Cox. For cycling and triathlon fans who follow those sports, chances are you regularly hear Jez’s voice.  If you haven’t heard him covering a bike race or a cyclocross event, then you may have heard him covering the Olympics fo...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of the Mechanics of Transportation, I speak with Families for Safe Streets co-founder Amy Cohen.  The non-profit was founded in 2014 in New York City by families who either lost loved ones who were killed in crashes or who were severely injured. Amy, who lost her son Sammy, is in this group. 120 people are killed everyday in America due to traffic-related accidents...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode number 12, Climate Scientist Jeremy Hoffman and I talk about climate change and transportation — going beyond just the exhaust that spews out cars.  The U.S. transportation sector is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector of our economy, and that’s according to the Department of Transportation .  Jeremy and I discuss some of the effects that...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode – number 11 — I speak with avid cargo bike rider, collector, enthusiast and cargo-bike meetup organizer John Murden.  He and his wife own Garnett's Cafe and Laura Lee’s in Richmond, Va and are partners in The Roosevelt. When he’s not delivering food from his restaurants on his cargo bike (never via car) or taking his son to school on his cargo bike, he’s holdi...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode (Number 10!) of the Mechanics of Transportation, I speak with transportation expert, guru, and muckraker Andy Boenau. When he’s not working his day job for the city of Richmond as a transportation and housing mentor, he’s writing for his substack site called Urbanism Speakeasy with Andy Boenau, in which has the tagline:  “Simple truths about city planning & tra...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of the Mechanics of Transportation I’m speaking with David Zipper. He’s a Senior Fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative, who also has a mass amount of knowledge about the transportation industry. He’s appeared on NBC Nightly News and CNN and written for Slate, Vox, the Atlantic and so much more. I recently was doing a story about this for Radio IQ and Zipper let me...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of the Mechanics of Transportation, I’m diving into my archives to flesh out and share a story I did for a public radio station in Richmond. It was about the history of Three Chopt / Three Notch’d road, which runs from Charlottesville down to Richmond.  But for this week’s podcast, we’re concentrating on just the Richmond portion because it’s so interesting. When I...

Send us Fan Mail What would you say to a roughly 3,000 mile trail that spans the entire East Coast, connecting 15 states plus Washington DC—as well as 450 cities and towns from Maine to Florida?  There is such a trail and it’s called the East Coast Greenway.  On Episode 7, I speak with Elliott Caldwell from the East Coast Greenway–he oversees the Virginia and Washington D.C. sections.  We talk abo...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode–number 6 if you’re using an abacus to keep track, I’m speaking w/ Allie Hill -- she’s a volunteer working to make the Three Notch’d Trail, or TNT a reality.  The TNT is a proposed, 25-mile shared use path will wind its way from the City of Charlottesville then move onto Ivy, Crozet, and the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Afton.  Additionally, the trail will connect users to...

Send us Fan Mail I’m so excited to have two members of Richmond’s local chapter of Black Girls Do Bike on the show because their group is a great place for all women to get out on the bike. BGDB is an organization with over 100 chapters nationwide and they believe that "the simple act of riding a bike can be a catalyst for wonderful, life-changing experiences for women of all ages."  On...

Send us Fan Mail Every wonder who pays for transportation infrastructure? Sure, we know the long view is that it comes from our taxes. But how does the money get distributed to localities? Is it through the federal or state governments? Of course it’s both depending on what grant money your region applies for and gets.  But in Central Virginia, there’s a regional, state-approved group called the C...

Send us Fan Mail Ever thought about commuting by bike? After hearing episode three, in which  I speak with committed bike commuter Phil Riggan, you may want to give it a go. He’s been bike commuting for decades and rides through all kinds of weather and on average, rides over 3500 miles per year!  We nerd out about those numbers, routes and also talk about tips for those who are thinking about giv...