Streets Ahead

For Episode 8, we did our first live Q&A. It was all in aid of the fantastic Herne Hill velodrome as part of their Virtual Velofete event; the velodrome is a venue very close to all of our hearts. It was lots of fun, so thanks for all of your great questions. If you're able to, please donate to the Herne Hill Velodrome Trust and keep this amazing London home of cycling funded for future generations: https://www.hernehillvelodrome.com/velofete/

We hope you enjoy this episode of Streets Ahead, a podcast dedicated to the world of active travel, liveable streets and people-focused urban design.

We’re on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: http://www.twitter.com/podstreetsahead 

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Thanks for listening!

From Adam, Laura and Ned

Legal disclaimer: Do not use an angle grinder or other power tools to adapt or adjust cycling infrastructure that does not meet the requirements for use by riders of non-standard bicycles.

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In Episode 7, we're discussing school streets and play streets; two types of temporary road closures that make our communities, well, a bit more pleasant. We find out what's involved with school and play streets and the wider benefits to the community, which spurs Adam to have a moan about bollard removal and Ned to have a moan about local authorities. Laura interviews two experts on the subject: Alice Swift, Project Coordinator for School Streets at Sustrans and Alice Ferguson, co-founder of charity Playing Out.

We hope you enjoy this episode of Streets Ahead, a podcast dedicated to the world of active travel, liveable streets and people-focused urban design.

We’re on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: http://www.twitter.com/podstreetsahead 

If you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a 5-star rating and a review? It helps us hugely.

Thanks for listening!

From Adam, Laura and Ned

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode six and the Streets Ahead team have managed to infiltrate a significant part of the all-powerful motor lobby. It helped that Edmund King, President of The Automobile Association (now known as The AA), quite likes to ride a bike too.

King has recently called for the government to reconsider its £28.8bn road building programme, backed temporary walking and cycling infrastructure and called for "park and cycle" hubs outside cities to encourage active travel for longer journeys. It's not exactly what you'd expect from a motoring lobbyist. That said, in the interest of balance, we did go down a "cyclists could do themselves a favour by not always alienating drivers" rabbit hole, to even things out a bit.

We hope you enjoy this episode of Streets Ahead, a podcast dedicated to the world of active travel, liveable streets and people-focused urban design.

We’re on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: http://www.twitter.com/podstreetsahead 

Please rate and review us too!

Thanks for listening!

From Adam, Laura and Ned

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode five and things are moving fast, or so it seems. But is active travel in the UK in a chicken and egg situation? The current government advice is "cycle or walk if you can" meaning more people than ever are interested; but two weeks later, apart from a few select councils, there's barely any infrastructure for the potentially huge increase of people on bikes, and traffic is returning. Councils claim they still don't even know how they will get their hands on the £250m emergency funding.

Cycling advocates know that if you build it, they will come, but are councils building things quick enough? We'll explore a variety of things that need to happen very quickly if we are to realise the UK's golden age for cycling, speaking with Phillip Darnton, Chair of The Bicycle Association, Cllr Adam Clarke, Deputy Mayor of Leicester and Dr Jonathan Kelly from St Bart's NHS Trust. Ned also, for one day only, pretended he had a job and commuted into central London, bringing us with him.

We hope you enjoy this episode of Streets Ahead, a podcast dedicated to the world of active travel, liveable streets and people-focused urban design.

We’re on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: http://www.twitter.com/podstreetsahead 

Please rate and review us too!

Thanks for listening!

From Adam, Laura and Ned

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Episode four and we've convened to bring you a special emergency broadcast. In the last week, the UK government has announced a raft of measures, some more helpful than others, to help get more people cycling and walking for short journeys. We hope you enjoy this episode of Streets Ahead, a podcast dedicated to the world of active travel, liveable streets and people-focused urban design.

That Government Announcement

A lot can happen in a week, but the challenge in front of us will be the decider of whether cycling and walking reach their potential in Britain, or whether we'll just continue to drive everywhere. We don't have long to make a difference, so we're discussing what the government's latest announcement means for active travel. Spoiler: £2bn isn't enough and it's old money, split over five years. But there are some positives too.

In this episode, we look at the local and national picture for active travel and explore behind-the-scenes of why there is a newfound

impetus to get people on bikes and out of their cars. Is this Boris Johnson doing his thing?

We also talk to one of active travel's newest advocates, sports broadcaster Jacqui Oatley, and ask: Is she perhaps a better ambassador for getting the nation cycling than Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome?

We’re on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: http://www.twitter.com/podstreetsahead 

Please rate and review us too!

Thanks for listening!

From Adam, Laura and Ned

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Episode three and we're joined by Chris Boardman, Greater Manchester's Cycling and Walking Commissioner. We hope you enjoy this episode of Streets Ahead, a new podcast dedicated to the world of active travel, liveable streets and people-focused urban design.

Cycling and Walking Commissioners

We wanted to find out more about the increasing number of Cycling and Walking Commissioners across the UK, and who better to speak to than Chris Boardman? Chris has travelled from his first job in carpentry in Tranmere to revolutionising cycling and walking in Manchester, with an Olympic Gold in Barcelona in between. Chris is hesitant to use the words "career", but we discuss the latest in his project; the only one that's kept him up at night in twenty years.

In this episode, we explore what's required of a Cycling and Walking Commissioner, discuss Chris' frustrations over Zebra crossings and whether he'd consider a job in politics. In addition, Ned makes a colossal faux pas, Adam struggles to speak in full sentences and Laura does her best not to follow remote podcasting etiquette.

We’re on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: http://www.twitter.com/podstreetsahead 

Please rate and review us too!

Thanks for listening!

From Adam, Laura and Ned

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It's our second episode and we're focusing on Behaviour Change, with our first guest, Dr Ian Walker. We hope you enjoy this episode of Streets Ahead, a new podcast dedicated to the world of active travel, liveable streets and people-focused urban design.

Behaviour Change

Streets Ahead welcomes our first guest, Dr Ian Walker, Environmental Psychologist at the University of Bath. Ian is most famous for dressing up as a woman and impersonating a Police officer, all in the name of research on driving habits.

In this episode, we explore what is required to change people's behaviour, during normal times and currently during the pandemic. How can we use this to get more people cycling and walking? We also explore if we're addicted to cars and what might be required to overcome that. Meanwhile, Ned drops the bombshell that he showers outdoors, Laura name drops her new best mate Greta Thunberg and Adam reveals his interest in car fetishes.

We’re on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: http://www.twitter.com/podstreetsahead 

Please rate and review us too!

Thanks for listening!

From Adam, Laura and Ned

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.