The War on Cars

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Back in 2010, the notoriously pugnacious Toronto mayor Rob Ford declared that “the war on the car is over,” and vowed to halt the city’s expansion of bike lanes, transit, and anything that inconvenienced motorists even slightly. Fourteen years later, his brother — Ontario Premier Doug Ford — has continued the family crusade against bike lanes. The Ford government is pushing a bill that would require provincial approval of all bike lanes that repurpose car lanes. If it succeeds, it will have a chilling effect on the ability of cities and towns of all sizes to manage their streets and keep people safe. Plus, a handful of existing bike lanes could be ripped out.

Journalist Sabrina Nanji, a veteran of the Queen’s Park Press Gallery and the founder of the Queens Park Observer joins us to talk about the politics behind Doug Ford’s war on bikes.

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We’re not going to sugarcoat it. That election was tough. But there are some points of hope that can help us make our way forward. We got together in the studio to look at victories around the country for transit and safe streets, and to discuss how we can all hang in there together and continue making positive change in our communities.

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LINKS:

The good news from Nashville (Nashville Scene)

The good news from Seattle (The Urbanist)

Alexis Mercedes Rinck wins Seattle City Council seat

The good news from San Francisco (SF Standard)

New York legalizes jaywalking (The New York Times)

Alameda County election results

Pick up merch in our official store

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.

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Adam McKay is the Academy Award–winning screenwriter, director, and producer behind such movies as Don’t Look Up, The Big Short, Vice, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and more. He is also the founder of Yellow Dot Studios, a nonprofit production studio that raises awareness and mobilizes action on the climate emergency. Adam joins us to discuss his career and the existential anxiety that led him to write and direct the star-studded Don’t Look Up, one of the most successful Netflix movies of all time. We also hear about the books, films, and music that inspired him, and why humor is a useful tool for tackling serious subjects. Plus: Adam's relationship with driving, the power of visual storytelling, and why he thinks the age of the car is already over… even if most people don’t know it yet.

Thank you to Sheyd Bags and Cleverhood for their support. For the latest discount codes, listen to the episode.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, special bonus content, stickers, merch discounts, and more ***

SHOW NOTES:

Check out Car Commercial 419 and all the excellent work from Yellow Dot Studios. (Donate here!)

Books, movies, and music mentioned in this episode:

Generation Dread by Britt Wray; Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neal Postman; A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit; and The Vortex by Scott Carney & Jason Miklian

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957); Dr. Strangelove (1964); and Dogtooth (2009)

Public Enemy; LL Cool J; Kurtis Blow; Run-DMC; and Eric B. & Rakim

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Pick up official podcast merch in our store. Purchase books from podcast guests at our Bookshop.org page.

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. It was recorded by Kaden Pryor at Third Wheel Podcast Studio in Los Angeles. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Sound effects from the BBC Sound Effects Archives © 2024 BBC.

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***This is a bonus episode that was previously only available to Patreon supporters of The War on Cars. If you want to hear more bonus episodes like this, please sign up today! We’ll taking a very short break to work on our book and will be back with brand new episodes in November.***

Perhaps you’ve seen pictures of a person walking around in a large, wearable wooden frame meant to illustrate the space taken up by one person in a private automobile. That’s the gehzeug — or walkmobile — and it was invented by the Austrian civil engineer and professor Hermann Knoflacher.

Professor Knoflacher, 84, is the head of the Institute of Transportation at the Vienna University of Technology. Long before the current global pandemic, he compared cars to a virus. Rather than searching for vaccines and other ways to fight this particular threat, humanity has actively helped the spread of cars, much to the detriment of the built environment, human health and safety, and even our future on this planet. It’s a provocative analogy, but Knoflacher makes a compelling case. 

SHOW NOTES:

The Car Is Like A Virus, Says Urban Planner But This Is One Pandemic That Politicians Can Prevent (Carlton Reid, Forbes)

Excellent Uber Ad Distills the Problem With Uber in Crowded Cities (Angie Schmitt, Streetsblog)

"Driving is worse than an addiction" (In German: Deutschlandfunk Kultur)

"The driver is absolutely anti-social" (In German: Manager Magazin)

"Vienna has been my patient for decades" (In German: Kurier)

Virus Auto (Hermn

This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.

Patty Wiens is the Bike Mayor of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. We met Patty on our trip to Edmonton for the Winter Cycling Congress back in February and were really struck with her energy and drive as an advocate for people who ride bikes in her city.

We talked with Patty about how she became a Bike Mayor and how people in Winnipeg are organizing to create better streets for people in a very car-centric place. She also told us about how the community has been protesting against recent traffic violence in the city, including one case in which an Indigenous woman named Tammy Bateman was struck and killed by police driving through a city park.

Thanks to Ali Lemer for editing this episode.

If you aren't yet a Patreon subscriber of The War on Cars, maybe now is the time! Subscribe for $3, $5, or $10 per month. We’ll send you stickers and you’ll have access to ad-free episodes and bonus conversations like this one. We really appreciate the support, and we couldn’t produce the podcast without you.

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Zoning is an invisible force that dictates how and where we can build housing, offices, factories, parks and more. It dictates how we access such places and can reinforce car dependency, often in ways that burden the communities that can least afford it, reinforce segregation, and exacerbate climate change and other environmental harms.

In her new book, Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes our World, author Sara Bronin argues that zoning does not have to lead to negative outcomes, and that if we understand its power, we can use zoning to build the kinds of communities everyone deserves. Bronin dives into the history of zoning and tells the stories of the many activists and planners in cities such as Hartford, Baltimore and Minneapolis who have learned to harness zoning for good.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon for ad-free versions of regular episodes and access to exclusive bonus content. Plus, we’ll send you stickers. ***

LINKS:

• Pick up Key to the City by Sara Bronin and books by other podcast guests at Bookshop.org.
• Learn more about Sara Bronin.
• Get official podcast merch in our store. 

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.

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This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.

During the recent US Open Tennis Championships in New York City, top-seeded American player Jessica Pegula got some attention when she posted an Instagram reel showing her taking the subway from Manhattan to the event venue in Queens. “I don't like taking a car, and I like trains,” she said. “So I always try and take the train.”

We can relate.

Pegula’s post inspired us to have a discussion about other sports stars who, at least occasionally, like to skip the luxury SUV or Lamborghini in favor of non-car modes (LeBron!)—and why we should care about it. 

(As for Pegula, opting for the subway obviously didn’t hurt her tournament one bit—she made it to the final, her first time to do so in a Grand Slam!)

If you aren't yet a Patreon subscriber of The War on Cars, maybe now is the time! Subscribe for $3, $5, or $10 per month. We’ll send you stickers and you’ll have access to ad-free episodes and bonus conversations like this one. We really appreciate the support, and we couldn’t produce the podcast without you.

There’s been a lot of talk this election season about Project 2025, the initiative from the Heritage Foundation to prepare for a potential second Trump administration. Understandably, much of the conversation about Project 2025 has been about the stakes for abortion access, rights for LGBTQ+ people, protections for civil servants, the Department of Education, Social Security and much more.

But there’s also a 10-page chapter about the Department of Transportation, written by a former Trump administration official, that outlines a lot of ideas and plans that could spell doom for many vital progressive transportation projects, change how funding is distributed, and deeply harm the nation's ability to address climate change.

Kevin DeGood, the director of Infrastructure Policy at the Center for American Progress, joins us to walk through what’s in this document and what’s at stake for transportation in this election.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon to receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, special bonus content, stickers, and more! ***

This episode was sponsored by Cleverhood. Listen to the episode for the latest discount codes.

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LINKS:

• VOTE! Find out if you’re registered and look up when, where, and how you can vote at Vote.org.
• Learn more about Kevin DeGood and the Center for American Progress.
• Project 2025 author: “Bike Lanes Don’t Make Cycling Safe”. Really?

Subscribe to our new YouTube channel. Follow The War on Cars on Instagram, Threads, Facebook, Bluesky and Mastodon.

Follow and review us on Apple Podcasts. It helps people find us!

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Pick up official podcast tees and other merch in our official store. Purchase books from podcast guests and support independent booksellers at our official Bookshop.org page.

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.

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Why do Americans spend lots of money to visit walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly European cities, only to come back to the U.S. and oppose all those things where they live? Rick Steves has some thoughts.

Countless people know and love the popular travel writer for his guidebooks and long-running television programs, which encourage people to explore Europe’s “backdoor” destinations—those off-the-beaten-path locations that have just as much or more to offer than its more touristy cities and sights.

Rick takes a thoughtful and philosophical approach to travel and believes it offers people important lessons for becoming better global citizens. He is also an activist and philanthropist who believes in the power of local advocacy; he has funded affordable housing in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, and is pursuing a one-man effort to turn a downtown roundabout into an Italian-style piazza. 

Please note: This episode was recorded before Rick announced his recent cancer diagnosis. We wish him all the best and many more years of inspiring people to explore the world.

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***Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive ad-free versions of regular episodes and exclusive bonus content. Plus, we’ll send you stickers.***

This episode was produced with support from Pinhead Locks and Cleverhood. Listen for the latest discount codes.

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LINKS

• Learn more about all things Rick Steves.
• Pick up a copy of Rick’s book Travel as a Political Act and the 40th edition of his travel guide Europe Through the Back Door as well as books by other podcast guests at our official Bookshop.org page.
• “When he’s not traveling around Europe, writing about Europe or running his multimillion-dollar European tour company, the prolific TV host and author likes to squeeze in some local activism.” (Washington Post)
• Rick Steves Wants to Set You Free (New York Times)
• The Future in our Hands, the Norwegian movement Rick mentions in the episode.

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Buy official podcast merch in our store.

Follow The War on Cars on Instagram, Threads, Facebook, Bluesky and Mastodon.

Follow and review us on Apple Podcasts. It helps people find us!

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. It was recorded by Justin Fernandez at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.

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This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars. 

In June, Doug attended Velo-city, an annual cycling summit hosted by the European Cyclists' Federation that brings the bike world together. This year's conference was held in the Belgian city of Ghent. While there, Doug wandered the exhibition floor talking with people from all over the world — including elected officials, city planners, advocates, industry representatives, academics and bike-curious regular citizens — about why it was important for them to attend Velo-city and what lessons and knowledge they hoped to take home. As you'll hear in this bonus episode, the fight to make cities safer, more sustainable and more equitable truly is a global effort.

Thanks to the European Cyclists' Federation for having The War on Cars at Velo-City and to Ali Lemer for editing this episode.

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