Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

Talking Headways is a podcast hosted by Streetsblog USA and Jeff Wood of The Overhead Wire. We explore the intersection of transportation, urban planning, city living, and anything else that piques our interest.

Episodes

November 12, 2025 43 mins

This week we're joined by Cortni Desir, Executive Program Manager for Public Transportation at the Connecticut Department of Transportation at the Mpact transit + community conference in Portland. We discuss her international influences, upgrading bus stops, customer experience, homelessness and transit, and being curious.

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This week we're joined by Corrigan Salerno of Transportation For America. We discuss three transportation principles for a better federal transportation bill, how to create better reporting data for MPOs, and better bus manufacturing.

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This week on Mondays at The Overhead Wire we chat about signal timing tinkering in Houston, the impact of commute times on sleep disorders, Phoenix's lack of water for sprawl, and how many times Raleigh had to bid for contractors to build bus rapid transit.

Below are the show notes:

Houston signal timing off - Rice Thresher

Whitmire thinks he knows - New York Times

Sleep impacted by commutes - SciTechDaily

Lifting the smog in Sa...

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This week we're back live for another show from Manny's in the Mission featuring Streetsblog SF editor Roger Rudick interviewing California High Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri. They chat about reducing costs, systems in other countries, and take questions from the audience.

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October 23, 2025 54 mins

This week Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon of the War on Cars podcast join the show to talk about their new book: Life After Cars – Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile. We discuss opposing views, Turtle Jesus, and potential offramps towards car free cities.

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This week on Talking Headways we're flashing back to exactly ten years ago to Episode 78 with Dr. Kevin Gurney, now at Northern Arizona University. We chat about measuring emissions at the street, block, and neighborhood level and the data that enables it. 

I wanted to flash back to this one this week because I recently saw Kevin pop up in a New York Times article discussing all the work that the administration is cutting, includi...

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This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by Ben Donsky of Agora Partners to discuss City Walk BHAM in Birmingham Alabama, a public space project that connects two sides of the city separated by a highway. We chat about positive public space and what it takes to make projects like this happen.

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We're Han Solo again but this time I'm sharing some thoughts from my trip to China in addition to the news.  We've got stories about traffic lights in Japan, the creation of a new electric company, and housing costs. And of course there's much much more.

Below are the show notes:

Middle class housing - National Housing Conference

China builds quickly - Vox

Ann Arbor reinvinting power company - Fast Company

Dutch look to regulate...

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October 2, 2025 46 mins

This week we're joined by Adele Houghton of the Harvard School of Public Health and Carlos Castillo-Salgado of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to discuss their new book Architectural Epidemiology: Architecture as a Mechanism for Designing a Healthier, More Sustainable, and Resilient World. We chat about how to connect the social and architectural determinants of health before projects g...

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September 25, 2025 52 mins

This week we're on vacation, but we're flashing back to Episode 391 and chatting with Jonathon Stalls about his wonderful book Walk: Slow Down, Wake Up, and Connect at 1-3 Miles Per Hour. He also talks about Pedestrian Dignity and his 2010 walk across the US.

Hope everyone is doing well. I'm in China this month and will be back with new episodes next week, but this week I'm hanging out in Beijing and didn't have time to produce a n...

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September 18, 2025 45 mins

This week we're joined by former FHWA Deputy Administrator Andrew Rogers to discuss how congress can help reduce traffic deaths and collisions with the use of technology. We discuss the best time to influence congress on transportation and the crash first, fix later mentality. 

Find out more at https://www.marscoalition.org/

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September 11, 2025 44 mins

This week we're joined once again by Sam Sargent of VTA for part 2 of a conversation about transit agencies and special projects and programs. Sam chats with us about Austin's light rail plans, Caltrain electrification and moving diesels to Peru, and gives some thoughts on visionary transit leadership such as Randy Clarke at WMATA.

YouTube video of C...

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September 4, 2025 30 mins

This week on Talking Headways we're joined by Sam Sargent of VTA, formerly Caltrain and Capital Metro, for part 1 of a conversation about transit agencies and special projects and programs. This week Sam chats with us about VTA's history, current projects and future prospects in the South Bay.

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This week we're Han Solo but have a lot of great news to share. We talk about the smartest city in the world, Toronto's TOD ambitions, electric car range and much much more!

Below are items we shared on the show:

Main Items

Toronto's TOD - Brandon Donnelly

The smartest city - Reasons to be Cheerful

Less range - InsideEVs

Future of cooling is past - Atmos

Grocery robot - The Verge

DOT repaints Pulse crosswalk - Orlando Sentinel

...

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August 28, 2025 53 mins

This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by professor Daniel Wortel-London to discuss his new book The Menace of Prosperity: New York City and the Struggle for Economic Development, 1875–1981.  We talk about urban growth and missed opportunities by reformers to allow cities to capture more of their value. We discuss Henry George and the land tax movement, what running a city like a business should really mean, and the...

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This week we're joined by Ryan Russo, Executive Director of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). Ryan shares with us more wisdom from the revised Urban Bikeway Design Guide and discusses the transformation of street systems and managing space for people and deliveries.

NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide Online | Physical Book

Urban Delivery by Bike Practitioner Paper

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This week we're Han Solo on Mondays but we've got a lot of news and information for you! We cover the bipartisan housing bill, the impact of new housing stock on older rentals, disgust for density, the car colors that make cities hotter and much more!

Check out the show notes below!

Bipartisan housing bill proposed - Washington Post

New housing slows rent growth - Pew Trusts

Cities shifting from social hubs - Yale Ne...

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August 13, 2025 40 mins

This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined once again by Colin Parent of Circulate San Diego to discuss a new report entitled The Powerless Brokers: Why California Can't Build Transit. We talk about permitting delays and reforms, public sector capacity, and giving transit authorities more authority.

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This week we're joined by Emily Laflamme of the Center for Neighborhood Technology in Chicago. Emily chats about the Elevated Works technical assistance program that helps developers bring equitable TOD to life.

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This week on Mondays at The Overhead Wire we're joined by James Llamas, now at Nelson Nygaard, to chat about a number of different items including Vietnam's move to ban gas powered motorbikes in central Hanoi, the importance of walking to your health, racing the 8 bus in Seattle, Brightline's death toll, and the 8D magical city of Chongqing. 

Below are the show notes!

Vietnam to ban gas bikes - Electrek

7,...

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