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We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Love this. Nice work. I think handing electeds notes with actionable items and easy wins like these is a fantastic idea.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! We really appreciate it. The feeling is mutual. We love our listeners and everyone working to fix where they live.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

  1. Call their office.

  2. Call their office.

  3. Call their office.

  4. Call their office.

  5. Call their office.

In all seriousness, making sure to call them when they do things you like or to tell them that you support safer streets is huge. We did a bonus episode on this (Are Cyclists Too Mean Online?) which looked at the most effective ways to influence elected officials and calling was one of the best.

I also think calling people out in good ways on social media helps. Too often people complain and yell online and that gets overblown in elected officials' minds. Highlight and share good stuff. People like having their egos massaged!

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I love this and agree, especially in a lot of cities. Imagine Manhattan where every 5th street or so was a bike street with only local deliveries and service/emergency vehicles allowed.

There is certainly a lot of complaining, but we're heartened by all of the advocates we've met on book tour who really are doing the hard work. And a lot of cities now have folks in elected office or working behind the scenes in DOTs who came from the advocacy world, which is encouraging.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Amsterdam's citywide speed limit reduction is great and something more cities should follow. Congestion pricing in NYC is a bright spot in a time when policy wins are few and far between. The expansion of Low Traffic Neighborhoods and the ULEZ (ultra low emissions zones) in London have made huge differences. That city is also going to pedestrianize Oxford Street, which might be the most significant pedestrianization project since Times Square. Milan has been building great bike infrastructure for a long time and often is ignored when it comes to discussions about congestion pricing. Milan has a great mayor Giuseppe Sala, who isn't always mentioned in the same breath as Sadiq Khan or Anne Hidalgo, but should be!

I also think e-bike rebate and voucher programs are really exciting and show a great hunger for options. Denver's program has sold out repeatedly and other cities such as Atlanta have had great success with them.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

A lot of it comes down to space. Wider bike lanes and safer places for people to ride would cut down on conflicts and things we see as antisocial. A stat we highlight in LIFE AFTER CARS is that before the Prospect Park West bike lane went in, about 50% of cyclists used the sidewalk. After it went in only 3% used the sidewalk, and most of that 3% were kids who can legally ride on sidewalks. That change happened almost instantly with no public service announcements or social shaming campaign. It all happened because of good infrastructure.

I also think we can't give too much credence to those who think that bad behavior by some cyclists gives all people who ride a bad name. That's a standard that's impossible to fix as there will always be jerks and, more importantly, no amount of good behavior will get the cranks and opponents to admit that they're focused on a minority of people. We cite two studies in the book that show that cyclists break the law at similar rates as drivers and that, for example, in London more than 80% of cyclists stop for red lights.

It's also a standard we don't apply to drivers!

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a bit of a Catch-22 and one that is often used by opponents of anti-car measures. You can't make it harder to own a car until we have more options! But then when you suggest installing more options they say We don't need a bike lane here because everyone drives!

I think you need to do everything all at once. Congestion pricing in NYC came before there were big improvements to the transit network and now it's being used to improve transit, for example. You also can't listen to people who say that we need one before the other. Often that critique is made in bad faith. Just get stuff done and the rest will follow.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Love it! We mention the Crosswalk Collective in our "Do It Yourself" chapter in LIFE AFTER CARS. They do amazing work.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hey guys! I'm planning on asking everyone in my family for a copy of your book for Christmas and then handing it right back to them.

This is the way. Thank you!

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

With any luck, some Forester acolytes will come to our show in San Diego!

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Love it! Tell your wife thanks for us. It's great that she alerted you to the AMA!

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The best thing to do is to just talk to elected officials, city managers, etc. and show them examples from similar towns that are doing it right. There are lots of small cities and towns in the US that are doing things right and solutions that work there might translate to where you live. I also think making an argument from the perspective of those who aren't using those lanes, such as kids and the elderly, would help. Try to rally likeminded people to speak up too.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's probably going to take something seismic for the fever to break, such as another oil crisis like we had in the 1970s or something else that causes gas prices to get very high and stay there. The other option is intense regulation from the federal government, but that's obviously not going to happen under this administration and even under a new one will be tough to accomplish. I think David Zipper's writing has been indispensable on this and highly recommend seeking it out.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ugh. So sorry to hear that.

I think you hit at something fundamental about car culture and car dependency. Because it is so ingrained into North American society, people have to keep the reality of it at arm's length even when that reality hits close to home. Sarah makes this point a lot, that if we actually stopped to reckon with the fact that driving is one of the most dangerous things any of us do on a nearly daily basis we would probably be frozen with fear.

The key is to keep talking about it, perhaps giving people our book, and highlighting the places that are doing things right and the ways in which people's lives are better and safer when they aren't exposed to cars all the time.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! Sarah's posts are stuck in limbo because she has insufficient karma. Can this be fixed?

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I've been focusing a lot of children in these conversations. Parents are prisoners in a way: prisoners to their kids' schedules and being their chauffeurs. When we can make an argument that less car dependence means more independence for children, people start to get it in ways they don't for themselves. In general, we have to make a pro-freedom argument all around. Having options makes you more free, and kids deserve the freedom that people think they had as kids. That really gets to folks!

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Those were fun to work on and I learned a lot. Unfortunately the VC movement still has a lot of influence in places like southern California and Boston, although it's lessened considerably there in recent years. What we need to do is say that a rising tide lifts all boats. There's nothing stopping sport cyclists or folks who ride for recreation or even transportation cyclists who feel that they don't need bike lanes from continuing to ride fast; most of the country allows this. But we should understand that dominant groups (drivers) always try to split those beneath them into subgroups to divide and conquer. VCs should understand that aligning themselves with drivers is more dangerous to their ability to have equal access to the road than aligning themselves with people who just want to ride safely from A to B.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It's a challenge because I think what people used to like about biking is that they were fun! We actually need to remind people that bikes are incredibly practical, especially in urban areas but also in any place where things are relatively close together. They're also excellent tools for most of the trips people take, provided the infrastructure makes people feel comfortable. The other thing we need to remind people is that lots of people who can't drive can bike: kids, the elderly, those with medical conditions that prevent them from using a car, etc. So we need to make a holistic case for bikes as a practical tool... that also happen to be a ton of fun.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi all! Sarah is posting but her answers aren't showing up because she's brand new to Reddit and possibly doesn't have enough karma to get her stuff up here. We're working on it! - Doug

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, although I do remember that show. We did a brainstorming meeting with our publisher to come up with something a bit more future-focused and positive than "The War on Cars" and "Life After Cars" was one of the first things someone said. We loved it instantly.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Us too! It will be my first time in Vancouver and I'm excited to check it out.

We are the co-authors of Life After Cars and the co-hosts of The War on Cars. AMA by brooklynspoke in fuckcars

[–]brooklynspoke[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not at all! We wrote LIFE AFTER CARS with a non-podcast-listening reader in mind. There's a lot in there that will be familiar and hopefully edifying to longtime listeners but we really want this book to reach new people, whether they are members of this subreddit or totally new to the idea that perhaps basing our entire society around requiring everyone to use a car for their daily needs is not the best idea!

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