At this year's Velo-city conference in Gdansk, the theme was "Energizing Solidarity," in honor of the city's history as the cradle of the Solidarity labor movement that helped bring down Communism in Poland. Velo-city is an incredibly good-mood event put on each year by the European Cyclists' Federation, where people come from all over the world to share best practices in urban cycling, and to connect with their fellow advocates, elected officials, and other members of the wider cycling community. Sarah talked with advocates, government officials, and researchers how bicycles build solidarity as people around the world fight for democracy and our planet's health.

Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, Discord access, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers!

***Our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, will be published on October 21, 2025 by Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Pre-order now.***

Purchase tickets for our Life After Cars publication party and live show at The Bell House in Brooklyn on October 28th. The Patreon presale for our November 5th show at Town Hall in Seattle with City Nerd begins on Wednesday, July 16th. More shows will be announced soon.

The War on Cars is produced with the generous support of the Helen & William Mazer Foundation.

This episode was sponsored by Cleverhood and Xtracycle.

SHOW NOTES

Check out all the great work that the European Cyclists' Federation does. Velo-city 2026 will be in Rimini, Italy.

Thanks to Anthony Lau of Cyclehoop for the audio from the Cave Rave.

Learn more about the Shawlands Bike Bus in Glasgow.

Check out Bike Ottawa.

E-Bike City Zurich imagines a city that deprioritizes cars.

Find out about the COP Bike Ride for climate awareness.

Read about Dr. Ian Walker's motonormativity research, along with fun facts about his other life as an ultradistance athlete.

Learn more about Melissa and Chris Bruntlett.