loader from loading.io

TEASER: Cars, Consumerism and Climate

The War on Cars

Release Date: 02/07/2023

Women's Freedom to Ride show art Women's Freedom to Ride

The War on Cars

Why don’t more women ride bicycles in London? The advocacy group wanted to know, and so they asked. What they discovered was disturbing: Among more than a thousand women surveyed, nine out of ten said they experienced verbal abuse and aggression while biking. Ninety-three percent said drivers had used vehicles to intimidate them. One in five said they had given up riding permanently or temporarily after they had been harassed. And when women reported incidents of aggression to the police? The cops almost never followed up. We spoke with the London Cycling Campaign’s Kate Bartlett about...

info_outline
Kathy Hochul's Congestion Pricing Flip-Flop Fiasco show art Kathy Hochul's Congestion Pricing Flip-Flop Fiasco

The War on Cars

In this emergency episode, we discuss New York State Governor Kathy Hochul's 11th-hour decision to "indefinitely suspend" congestion pricing, the program that would have charged drivers to enter Manhattan below 60th Street. Her move, announced in a prerecorded video on Wednesday, June 5th, came mere weeks before congestion pricing was set to launch, jeopardizing what was set to be a major funding source for transit and a revolutionary plan to reduce traffic in a way never seen before in the United States. Why did Hochul do this? Is it bad politics or atrociously bad politics? What does this...

info_outline
TEASER: The War on The War on Cars show art TEASER: The War on The War on Cars

The War on Cars

This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, . For this month's exclusive Patreon bonus episode, we take a look at three states that have attempted to ban everything from bus rapid transit to taxing driving by vehicle miles traveled. While most of these initiatives have failed, one of these states successfully banned bus wraps, but not because bus wraps make it harder to see out of bus windows. What is going on? We take a look at recent news from Indiana, Arizona and Florida.  

info_outline
Winter Cycling in Oil Country show art Winter Cycling in Oil Country

The War on Cars

An unlikely cycling revolution is happening in one of the coldest big cities on the planet: Edmonton, Alberta. Despite freezing temps, lots of sprawl, big trucks and an economy built on pulling oil out of the Albertan tar sands, the Western Canadian city is in the midst of a four-year, $100 million CAD investment in active transportation that will connect far-flung neighborhoods with a network of safe, high-quality, protected bike lanes. Many of these bike lanes will even get priority over roads for cars when it comes to snow removal. We traveled to the home of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers to...

info_outline
When Driving Is Not an Option with Anna Zivarts show art When Driving Is Not an Option with Anna Zivarts

The War on Cars

The United States has built a transportation system centered around automobiles. But one-third of the nation’s population can’t drive, whether because of disability, age, financial hardship, immigration status, or any of a host of other factors. Those tens of millions of people are often invisible to planners and elected officials, and that’s why Anna Letitia Zivarts, herself a low-vision nondriver and a longtime activist for better transportation choices, has written a new book titled When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency (Island Press). We talked with Anna...

info_outline
TEASER: Dodge’s “Deeply Weird” Pitch for Electric Muscle Cars show art TEASER: Dodge’s “Deeply Weird” Pitch for Electric Muscle Cars

The War on Cars

***This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, .*** We were getting ready to record our "" episode with Ed Niedermeyer last month when Ed happened to bring to our attention to . It's a promotional video for Dodge's new, "Next-Gen Charger," the electric-powered version of the very same "muscle cars" that Doug confronted at the New York International Auto Show in Episode  and Aaron rode along with back in Episodes  and . The move from gas-guzzling, window-rattling, V8 engines to electric motors has clearly plunged...

info_outline
Tesla Cybertrash with Ed Niedermeyer show art Tesla Cybertrash with Ed Niedermeyer

The War on Cars

Elon Musk’s gigantic, stainless steel, 1980s sci fi movie–inspired Cybertruck is starting to show up on city streets. Perhaps you’ve had the misfortune of seeing one rolling through your neighborhood. If not, you’ve almost certainly seen some of the vehicle’s many truly epic fails on the Internet. The Cybertruck might not work very well, but it still appears to be wildly popular. More than two million people have deposited $250 to get in line for the opportunity to buy one. Journalist Ed Niedermeyer is the author of “Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors.” In this...

info_outline
The Texas Freeway Fight with Megan Kimble show art The Texas Freeway Fight with Megan Kimble

The War on Cars

In the 20th century, planners and policymakers smashed Interstate highways through the middle of every major city in the United States. In the 21st century, we understand the many ways that urban freeways were economic, environmental, and racial justice disasters. And yet, incredibly, the State of Texas is planning to spend over $64 billion in the next few years to widen highways through the middle of its three largest cities, Houston, Dallas and Austin. Journalist Megan Kimble has been reporting on the Texas freeway fight for years now. Her new book -- published today -- is  . In it, she...

info_outline
Car Insurance is Too Cheap show art Car Insurance is Too Cheap

The War on Cars

It has never been more expensive to insure a car in the United States. Today, the average annual premium for full coverage is more than $2,500, up from more than $1,700 just a few years ago. There are a lot of reasons for this—including the high price of cars, supply chain issues, and the rising frequency and severity of crashes—but no matter how you add it up it’s a huge problem in a country where driving is a ticket to full participation in society.  Despite this, what if we told you that car insurance is still way too cheap? That’s something most people don’t understand until...

info_outline
Live from New York with Bernie Wagenblast show art Live from New York with Bernie Wagenblast

The War on Cars

In January, we held our third annual live show at Caveat on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. We were so thrilled to be in the same room as so many listeners and friends of the podcast. We were also happy to welcome Bernie Wagenblast, the voice of the New York City subway system, to The War on Cars. Bernie’s voice is instantly recognizable to millions of people — even if they don’t necessarily know who she is. Bernie’s personal story and the way she’s using her platform are also inspiring legions of New Yorkers and people around the world, and we were so glad she could join us on stage...

info_outline
 
More Episodes
What does the recent culture-war freakout over gas stoves have in common with efforts to maybe, possibly, just a little, pretty please, slightly reduce the many harms of automobiles, especially large SUVs? And of all the thing he could have chosen in his (pretty lame, if you ask us) attempt to bait climate activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter, why did Andrew Tate use his luxury car collection — and a picture of him filling one of them up — to signify his conspicuous fossil fuel consumption?