The War on Cars

Why have some cities become places where it's easy to hop on a bike for daily transportation needs while others have languished or even been left behind? Is there some sort of magical combination of forces that separate the best cycling cities from basically everywhere else?

Those are the questions asked by Cycling Cities: The Global Experience, a research project headed by Dr. Ruth Oldenziel, a Professor in The History of Technolo...

Recently, on an episode of the Netflix show Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney, the subject turned to bike lanes. Or rather, the subject was turned to bike lanes by Natasha Lyonne. The actress, writer, director and producer said that bike lanes should be “shut down” and claimed that there is no space for them in Manhattan. Journalist Alissa Walker of Torched was on Everybody’s Live as a “public transit expert” to talk ...

This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, plus ad-free versions of regular episodes, merch discounts, pre-sale tickets to live shows and more, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.

And don't miss our new book, "Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile," now available for pre-sale wherever you purch...

Charles T. Brown is a longtime friend of the podcast who was last with us in 2023. We welcomed him back to talk about his important new book, Arrested Mobility: Overcoming the Threat to Black Movement, out now from Island Press.

Charles is the founder and principal of Equitable Cities, a minority- and veteran-owned urban planning, public policy and research firm focused at the intersection of transportati...

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Marco te Brömmelstroet, also known as "The Fietsprofessor," returns to The War on Cars to discuss a new study he co-authored with Dr. Ian Walker, another former guest of the podcast. The study takes a look at a phenomenon wher...

“Why are so many trans people into urban planning?” That’s the question independent journalist and co-host of the Cancel Me, Daddy podcast Katelyn Burns asked her Bluesky followers, and she got an overwhelming response. Katelyn wrote up some of those answers in a recent piece on The Flytrap, the feminist media outlet she recently co-founded and launched. It’s a thought-provoking read. We talked with ...

This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, plus ad-free versions of regular episodes, merch discounts, pre-sale tickets to live shows and more, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.

This is an excerpt from our interview...

Since early February, a protest phenomenon has been building steadily across the United States, springing up at scores of Tesla dealerships from coast to coast. Organizers call it Tesla Takedown. It's remarkable in part because in today’s United States, we have engineered an environment that prioritizes automotive convenience and speed—and in the process deadens civic life and makes protest difficult. So it’s ironic th...

This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, plus ad-free versions of regular episodes, merch discounts, pre-sale tickets to live shows and more, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.

You may remember Marco te Brömmelstroet, also known as "The Fietsprofessor," from episode 65, "Where Are the Bike Lanes I...

Trump’s on-again-off-again tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico are causing chaos across the entire economy, but they’re hitting the auto industry especially hard. The big three U.S. automakers rely on an integrated supply and manufacturing process that sees raw materials and parts crossing international borders multiple times before each finished car rolls off the assembly line. The tariffs come at a time when th...

Laura Laker is a London-based freelance journalist who specializes in writing about cycling and urban transport. We talked with her about the year she spent riding around Britain on the United Kingdom’s 13,000-mile National Cycle Network—an enlightening and often hilarious odyssey that she documents in her first book, Potholes and Pavements: A Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network. We also got into her work in formulating ...

Can you believe this is our second emergency episode about congestion pricing? This time, we’re responding to the Trump administration’s attack on the program, which has been in effect since January, delivering exactly the results that policymakers had hoped for. Despite those early signs of success, on Wednesday, February 19th, Sean Duffy, the new US DOT Secretary, sent an email to New York Governor Hochul saying t...

The Trump administration has upended the entire United States government over the last several weeks, sending Elon Musk and his minions into the guts of pretty much every federal department in a crusade for what they’re calling “efficiency.” Funds that were legally appropriated by Congress have been frozen, and in some cases even clawed back. The battle to preserve all sorts of spending is now in the courts. 

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