Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

This week on Talking Headways we’re joined by Maritza Pechin, a planner with AECOM who works with city staff in Richmond on long-range planning. On the podcast, Maritza talks about the Pulse BRT and the broader bus network redesign that was rolled out at the same time. She also discusses how the new system is bringing people back to transit, how the city might tackle housing affordability, and what big ideas the city is considering for the future.  

This week we chat with Kendra Freeman of the Chicago Metropolitan Planning Council, an independent non-profit focused on shaping the Chicago region. Kendra talks about her work with Elevated Chicago and how they are trying to bring equitable TOD to rail and bus corridors around the region as well as the original impact of the city's TOD ordinance. She also chats about next steps in pushing the city to consider equity in its update of the ordinance and how they can support entrepreneurs with strategic investments.  

This week we're joined by Maurice Jones, President and CEO of LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation). Maurice talks about working with communities and existing businesses to develop talent in the workforce, breaking down barriers to entry in certain professions such as property development, and the history of policies and practices that intentionally excluded certain populations from opportunity.  

Chrissy Mancini Nichols joins the show again and we chat a lot about SB50! We also talk about infrastructure and bike lanes. News SB 50 Tabled until January - Los Angeles Times SB50 Urban Footprint Analysis - UF Kim-Mai Cutler tweet thread - KMC Twitter Infrastructure Week PIRG releases report - Frontier Group Repair Priorities - T4America Odds and Ends CA HSR Funding Dropped by FRA- Reuters IM Pei passes away - NPR Facial recognition banned in SF - Vox Thanks to our Patreon supporters! Patreon.com/theoverheadwire Story of the Week Bike lanes need barriers not just paint - Curbed Puppies and Butterflies Tram Bowling - Wired Magazine  

This week we're joined by Stephen Smyth, Co-Founder and CEO of Coord. He talks about the need for digital infrastructure to be a new layer on top of physical infrastructure in order to inventory our existing assets including curb space. We chat about the tools Coord has created to measure and document curbs, how they work, and how this seemingly innocuous space will change over time with regulation. We also have a little futurist discussion about street space and learn how regulations might change when fleets are operating on the street rather than mostly individual vehicles.    “We talk about mobility as a service, we think of the service as a fleet. Going forward if we look at this as a regulation technology issue, cities and public agencies will be interacting with businesses for a given individuals trip or delivery versus the individual themselves. I think that’s an important shift, and actually it may make it easier to change regulations because there is a layer in between the interaction between the cit

This week we're joined by Tracy McMillan and we talk about alll kinds of stuff! Surveillance and city fortifications and aging in place! The show discussion links are below... News I-405 traffic gets worse after widening - Curbed LA Campo dedicates money for I-35 expansion - Austin Monitor Facial recognition data leak - TechCrunch Denver homeless camping initiative - Pew Trusts Visit our sponsor Moovel.com Odds and Ends Uber IPO - NY Magazine Germany testing an e-highway - DW Story of the Week Da Vinci's City - The Conversation Future of Housing nothing like today - Fast Company Puppies and Butterflies WePark in parking spaces - Curbed SF E-Bikes could transform how we age - Fast Company

This week we chat with Colin Parent, Executive Director of Circulate San Diego, an advocacy organization that promotes public and active transportation in tandem with sustainable growth. Colin is also a city council member for the City of La Mesa. As Colin notes, much of the renewed interest and support for transit and transit-oriented development is being driven by one thing: the housing crisis. We learn how the mayor of San Diego is pushing more housing and less parking, and the long term benefits of advocacy.

This week on the show we're joined by Tracy McMillan! The show notes are below... The News What to make of White House infrastructure meeting - Brookings Quadratic voting - Bloomberg LA pushes for a Green New Deal - Los Angeles Times A new way to calculate affordability - USC Odds and Ends Houston's data driven housing problem - Houston Chronicle 3 people make most of the complaints - Daily Bruin San Diego switches transport plans - Planetizen Story of the Week The importance of shade - Places Journal A geocode is not an address - Wired Puppies and Butterflies Medieval city generator - My Modern Met Cycling without age

This week we're at the Shared Mobility Summit from earlier this year in Chicago. Laura Bliss of CityLab moderates a panel of agency leaders including Stephanie Pollack, CEO of MassDOT, Randy Clarke, President and CEO of Capital Metro in Austin, and Sadhu Johnston, City Manager from Vancouver British Columbia. The panel talks about whether it's too late to address climate change through transportation, how the introduction of ride hailing will work with local regulations in Vancouver, how Austin has been watching the evolution of shared mobility from TNCs to scooters, how buses matter for the future of transportation and much much more. If you'd like to skip to the conversation portion past the presentations, fast forward to 41 minutes.    

This week we’re joined by Brian Ebersol and Eileen Everhart of Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania. They talk about how health care is about more than just patient care at hospitals and how transportation and wellbeing figures into planning for treating the whole person.

This week we're joined by Swedish urbanist Alexander Stahle. He talks about how cities in Europe have a lot of the same problems we do in the United States and what some places are doing to make streets safer and more active. He also chats about how his company Spacescape uses data to think about the value of urban form and where new metro lines should go. Alexander also talks about a new street design guide he's helping to create for Sweden.

This week we're at the 3 Revolutions conference in Davis California chatting with Warren Logan of SFCTA, Mollie Pelon McArdle of SharedStreets.io, and Regina Clewlow of Populus. We chat about all things data; how it's used, privacy issues, the correct geography to collect it, regulations and much much more.

This week I'm doing a solo show reviewing the news because I'll be gone the rest of the month and wanted to share a few things with listeners. Below are the articles we cover in the show. Hope you enjoy it! News Go Triangle Ends Durham Orange LRT - News and Observer New transit payment schemes - Engadget - Smart Cities Dive Facebook faces housing discrimination charges from HUD - NYT Lightfoot elected mayor - Chicago Streetsblog Idaho Stop Legalized - Streetsblog USA Denver announces new DOT - Denverite Story of the Week Experimental walking directions - Gizmodo Manhattan Congestion Pricing - NYT Tallest tower planned - Guardian Self driving cars considered unthinkable in 50 years - Vox Ciclovia 25 years - National Geographic Rockefeller bows out of 100 resilient cities program - Bloomberg Puppies and Butterflies 20 Minute Nature Pills - Fast Company

This week we are sharing an episode we recorded live for attendees at the Safe Streets Summit in Miami where we talked with Alice Bravo, Director of the Department of Transportation and Public Works for the City of Miami and Chris Sinclair, Founding Principal at Renaissance Planning.  We cover a lot of topics including transit oriented development, multi-modal system productivity, new fare payment systems, using data in planning, frequent bus networks and much much more!   

This week on the podcast we chat with Vanan Murugesan, Director of Design and Innovation at Pillsbury United Communities.  Vanan talks about the role of community centered design in creating a nonprofit grocery store in North Minneapolis called North Market. We also chat about pros and cons of the farm bill, technology and convenience, and new initiatives in workforce development.    

This week we're joined by Chrissy Mancini Nichols to talk about Gwinnett County's transit election, Level of Service, and transportation data privacy. News Gwinnett County rejects MARTA tax - Governing Amsterdam new homes can't be rented - CityLab More US cities end recycling - New York Times Seattle passes zoning changes - Curbed Visit our Sponsor too - moovel Story of the Week Getting rid of level of service - Brookings Privacy issues come to the forefront - LA Times Puppies and Butterflies Seiichi Miyake’s tactile blocks - Curbed

This week we're joined by Susan Crawford, the John A. Reilly Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard School of Law. Susan talks about her new book Fiber which focuses on how cities in the United States are trying to build communications networks with this seemingly limitless technology but get push back from regulators and incumbent companies alike.

Urbanist Ed Parillon joins the show to talk about autonomous technology, Scott Weiner's SB50 bill, pied a terre taxes in NY, and Gavin Newsom's housing plans that could take away transportation funds. Visit our sponsor - moovel News Boeing Crashes Are a Warning to Drivers, Too - Slate Twitter Thread on Boeing Technology Issue - Sumner Pied-à-terre Tax Could Help Pay for MTA - Curbed NY Gavin Newsom’s Ideas to Spur More Housing - Streetsblog CA Story of the Week How Three Cities Ended Chronic Homelessness - Fast Company How Santa Monica Is Luring People Back to the 3rd Street Promenade - LA Magazine Spotlight Mobility Scott Weiner updates SB50 - Curbed SF Puppies and Butterflies A mysterious global hum - Guardian

This week we chat with Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender. Lisa, a planner by profession and now a two-term city councilor, chats about public participation in the Minneapolis 2040 planning process locally and the discussions that led to the passing of the city’s comprehensive plan last December. She also talks about streets as public spaces and how Minneapolis 2040 plays into the city’s vision for transportation. Finally, we ask Lisa about the public discourse overall at public meetings and in planning.

The week friend of the show Tracy McMillan from SafeTREC joins to talk about making money off of mobility, autonomous buses, the Lyft IPO, outdated city equipment and much more! The News Autonomous bus testing in Singapore - Bloomberg Cashless retail could be outlawed - CityLab Uber not criminally liable in crash - Smart Cities Dive Visit our sponsor, moovel. Story of the Week Automakers struggle to make money on mobility - Bloomberg Cities running on software from the 80s - Bloomberg Kings of Dallas Sprawl - D Magazine Spotlight Mobility Information available now on Lyft IPO - Reuters Puppies and Butterflies Risk, Fear, and Freedom As always you can reach us on twitter @theoverheadwire or at theoverheadwire@gmail.com