Episode 21: Bikes & Pedicabs in Chicago

I've arrived in Chicago!  First up is my good friend and fellow bike nerd and pedicab driver, Minku Sharma, host of the Vegan Pedicab Podcast. We talk winter biking, rickshaws and other transportation related matters.

Enjoy our thoughts on some current events including the ongoing New York City school bus drivers strike (Citizen Radio), privatization of public services and parking meters, car sharing, red light cameras. We explain why bike advocates should not be excited about Obama's nominee for Secretary of the Interior and why it makes no sense to prevent his new Chief of Staff from biking to work.  The Colorado Supreme Court recently struck down one town's attempt to ban bicycling.

Please visit criticaltransit.com, follow me on Twitter @JeremyInTransit, at like the facebook page. Please support my Sustainable Transport Tour fundraising campaign on Indiegogo if you get something from this show and want to see it get even better and more frequent.

Episode 19: Time's Up bike activism, driving a pedicab, and the big tour announcement

After a brief recap of my experience driving a pedicab in Washington, DC during the presidential inauguration, I stopped by the Time's Up bike coop in Brooklyn to chat with Keegan about how bike activists can create the change we want to see in the city. Time's Up is an all-volunteer grassroots direct action environmental organization working to ensure access to safe, sustainable, affordable transportation for everyone. Get involved with Time's Up by joining rides, fixing bikes, and helping and networking with other activists in the broader struggle for social and economic justice. Learn more about bicycles, rickshaws and social justice from the Vegan Pedicab Podcast.

Lastly, an exciting announcement about the future of the show as a component of my sustainable transport tour.  The next stop is Chicago.  Please get in touch if you have anything to share with readers and listeners, and consider supporting my upcoming fundraising campaign if you like the idea and enjoy learning about sustainable transportation.

Americans for Transit

Join me for a great discussion on transit funding and politics with Andrew Austin from the national advocacy group, Americans for Transit. It's a difficult time to be a transit advocate fighting federal neglect of sustainable transportation. Yet despite all the problems, it's increasingly clear that Americans want more (and better) transit, and pressure is increasing at the local level. Amir from Israel shares a few of the unique public transit challenges there related to religious tension and military transport.  Minku from the Vegan Pedicab Podcast sent in an article on mobile transit apps, prompting some grand thoughts on how to make mobile transit apps useful.

Follow Americans for Transit on Twitter @A4Transit and Facebook. Check out their Organizing Guide and Directory and other great resources for advocacy and activism. You can also read the article written earlier this year on Streetsblog, and remember that transit agencies are not allowed to advocate for us so we must do it ourselves.