Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

This week on the Talking Headways podcast we’re joined by George Karayannis, Vice President of CityNow, a smart city arm of Panasonic Corporation. George talks about smart cities and how to think beyond shiny technology and what it means to think about the future. George also discusses what CityNow is setting up at Pena Station Next, a new smart city concept on Denver RTD's A Line commuter rail that incorporates ideas such as district energy, smarter streetlights, and intelligent power management in buildings. He talks about how and why the station location was chosen for this innovative project.

This week we’re joined by Christof Hellmis, Vice President of Strategic Program at Here Technologies in Berlin Germany.  I was invited to CES in Las Vegas by HERE to check out the next generation in data and maps and got to sit down with Christof to talk about data and transportation.  We chatted about how mapping and location will be important for new transportation technologies and old and I ask questions about equity and data and potential privacy concerns.  At one point Christof goes on to say this isn’t just mapping for humans, it’s maps for everything. 

This week on the podcast we’re joined by Kyle Shelton of the Kinder Institute to talk about his new book Power Moves: Transportation, Politics, and Development in Houston.  I ask Kyle why he wrote the book and his feelings about looking back at history knowing about potentially better transportation outcomes.  We also talk about the idea of “infrastructure citizenship” and how local advocacy groups wielded power in past fights between road builders and transit advocates.

This week we’re joined by Yonah Freemark of the Transport Politic for our annual prediction extravaganza!  Find out how last year’s predictions held up and whether you agree with this year’s thoughts on Montreal transit and Bus Rapid Transit in Boston. We also discuss the leaked infrastructure plan from the new administration and talk about our favorite writers focused on urban issues. 

This week’s episode features Fehr and Peers Ron Milam and me discussing the differences between the Transportation Research Board conference in Washington DC and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, both of which took place on the second week in January. We discuss all the interesting topics that emerged from both conferences including delivery drones, curb management, massive data collection from autonomous vehicles, and the potential uses and rights issues that might arise in the built environment from the use of augmented reality.

This week we're back at NACTO 2017 in Chicago with a series of speakers that did quick presentations on how the work we do as advocates to change minds.  Skye Duncan hosts and starts off with a discussion of the NACTO Global Designing Cities Initiative. Chris Bruntlett talks about the work he and his family do at Modacity "marketing the lifestyle of cycling". Ed Solis of The City of San Jose describes Viva Calle, San Jose's Cyclovia. Kris Carter of the City of Boston talks about the safety competition app "Boston's Safest Driver". Ankita Chachra discusses the language of design and tools to make change in small ways that empower citizens to demand change. And finally Ronnie Matthew Harris talks about showing people in his neighborhood alternative ways to plan journeys without the car.

This week we’re back at the NACTO Designing Cities conference for the closing plenary.  Paris’ Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Public Space Christophe Najdovski discusses all the improvements that are being made to the city’s transportation network.  He chats about expanding the subway and tram networks, improving cycling infrastructure, creating more space for people in public squares and pedestrianizing the left bank of the River Seine.

This week we’re chatting again with Jonn Ellege of CityMetric.  This time it’s my turn to interview and we cover a lot of ground.  We talk about housing in London and out including the basics of council housing.  We chat about major transportation projects including Crossrail and high speed rail while also discuss what’s happening to the buses on Oxford street and how Transport for London is regulating Uber. 

This week we're joined by Breen Masciotra, TOD Manager for the Port Authorty of Allegheny County and Karina Ricks, Director of the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure at The City of Pittsburgh.  We discuss transportation in Pittsburgh and the challenges they face including topography, new technologies, and hostile streets. We also talk about awesome improvements to the system including new bus rapid transit, transit oriented development, eco innovation districts, and connecting multiple mobility types.  

This week we're at the NACTO Designing Cities Conference in Chicago and hear keynotes from Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Department of Transportation's Director of Planning and Programming Erin Aleman.   The Mayor discusses Chicago's distinct advantages compared to other cities as well as improvements that have been made to the cities transportation system. He also talks about new funding sources including a ride hailing fee for transit capital and why those things are related.   In her discussion after the Mayor, Erin Aleman discusses how IDOT is working to use NACTO's street design guides, how improvements are being made to reduce fatalities on streets, and how transportation affects everyone.

This week we’re joined by James Corless, CEO of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, the Sacramento area’s MPO and COG.  We chat with James about the Sacramento region and its connections to both urban and rural economies, his past working on federal transportation policy in Washington DC, why it’s kind of ridiculous to do 30 year regional long range transportation plans, and why mid-sized cities are part of a whole new space race for providing jobs and housing around the United States.   

This week we chat with Benjamin De La Pena, Deputy Director for Policy, Planning, Mobility, and Right of Way at Seattle DOT.  We talk about SDOT’s New Mobility Playbook which offers strategies for future transportation that focuses on people first.  Benjamin also discusses his affinity for international transportation, how we help the unbanked with transportation solutions, and how organizations can get ahead on policy during this whirlwind time for new mobility.

This week we’re sharing the last plenary session of the Rail~volution conference which was a panel discussion of three current mayors of major United States cities hosted by Maurice Jones of LISC.  Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland, Mayor Bill Peduto of Pittsburgh, and Mayor Michael Hancock of Denver discuss transportation and innovation in their cities including civic focused non-profits, public-private partnerships, neighborhoods pressures and resilience. 

This week we’re back again at Rail~Volution and joined by Diana Mendes, Transit/Rail Practice Leader and Vice President at HNTB.  We talk about how Diana met the author of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and what needs to change about environmental planning.  She talks about the environmental planning process for the Lower Manhattan Recovery after 9-11 in addition to early use of GIS.

This week we’re back at the Rail~Volution conference in Denver talking with Congressman Earl Blumenauer who represents Oregon’s 3rd District which includes parts of Portland.  Congressman Blumenauer discusses how Rail~Volution got its start, how we can use congestion pricing and road user charges to pay for transportation, Vision Zero, and why urbanists should be thinking about the Farm Bill

This week we’re joined by Tony Dutzik of the Frontier Group and Steven Higashide of TransitCenter to discuss their new report entitled Who Pays for Parking? We discuss where these parking tax subsidies come from, what are some case studies of cities that have learned how to create value from parking, and who benefits from these parking subsidies.

This week on the podcast we’re bringing you an episode we recorded at Rail~Volution in Denver in front of a live audience. I was joined by transit advocate and Maryland local Dan Reed to talk about the Purple Line light rail project.  After 31 years of discussion the Purple Line is finally under construction and Dan gives us some background on the project including where the project goes, how the public private partnership was put together and how lawsuits just couldn’t keep a good line down.  We also learn how Dan used to talk about the project with his friends in high school and how his advocacy has spanned 14 years. 

This week we’re joined by Abby Thorne Lyman, the Transit Oriented Development Program Manager at BART. Abby discusses BART’s new TOD Guidelines and the group of agency policies they pull together.  We talk about the importance of reduced parking, the ridership benefits, and expectations transit agencies should have for property developers.

This week we are back at the UITP Global Public Transport Summit in Montreal. We recorded this session on Land Value Capture featuring Julian Ware of Transport for London, Sharon Liu of Hong Kong’s MTR, and Iain Dobson of Strategic Regional Research Associates in Toronto.  Each of them discuss how each of their organizations looks at land value capture as a specific tool for transport development.

This week we’re chatting with Nico Larco, an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Oregon and  Co-Director of the Sustainable Cities Initiative.  We talk about the secondary effects of autonomous vehicles and e-commerce such as street design, parking, and land values.  We also talk about terrestrial drones, zombie cars, delivery bee hives, and the fact that cities just aren’t ready yet for an autonomous future.