Look Both Ways with David & Wes

Tire Pollution - David & Wes look at tire pollution and why the harms may be broader than most people realize. What started as a story about 6PPD-Q washing into streams and devastating coho salmon is now raising new questions about human health, including a recent study linking tire-related pollution to Alzheimer’s-related pathways. They talk through what we know, what we still do not know, and why tire wear should be part of the transportation pollution conversation, even in a world with more electric or autonomous vehicles.

Other topics:
🔹 What we unexpectedly learned about each other over the last year
🔹 David revisits Abundance & why his thinking has changed
🔹 Wes revisits traffic cameras & why his thinking has changed

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Correction: The Institute for Progress (rather than the Institute for Fiscal Progress) published The Transit Abundance Playbook

Additional resources:
EVs Are Sending Toxic Tire Particles Into the Water, Soil, and Air (David's article in The Atlantic) 

Learning What Substance Is Suspected of Causing Alzheimer’s May Throw You Into an Existential Crisis (Futurism) 

Tire chemical responsible for killing coho salmon in urban streams (U. Washington study) 

There’s a Big Problem With Your Car’s Tires (Slate)

Music by Charlie Van Stee
(courtesy of bensound)

Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.com or find us at www.lookbothwayspodcast.com, www.davidzipper.com, and www.wesmarshall.org

Bike Stress - David & Wes talk about bike route stress and a major blind spot in the existing Level of Traffic Stress method: intersections. The current approach does a good job rating street segments, but it largely ignores exactly where a route can become far more stressful in real life. David & Wes discuss a new survey designed to help fix that gap by bringing intersections into the mix, and why better bike safety analysis depends on measuring the full route, not just the links between intersections.

Other topics:
🔹 The bike tours we wish we could take (or not)
🔹 Bike lane cameras & whether automated enforcement could/should keep bike lanes clear
🔹 Some fun mailbag questions from listeners

Subscribe for biweekly conversations about all things transportation!

Links to the survey:
Bicyclist Intersection Stress Survey
https://ucdenver.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3ZS9DLyszX7GnYO?Q_CHL=qr

Additional resources:
Another Year of Devastating and Preventable Bicyclist Deaths

A New Tool in the Battle to Keep the Bike Lane Clear (David’s article in Bloomberg)

Don’t Park in the Bike Lane! Santa Monica Started Issuing Automated Bike Lane Tickets Today 

Pittsburgh Stationary Automated Curb Enforcement

Music by Charlie Van Stee
(courtesy of bensound)

Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.com or find us at www.lookbothwayspodcast.com, www.davidzipper.com, and www.wesmarshall.org

Crash Data Blind Spots - David & Wes dig into crash data and why Americans may know less about road deaths than we think. Everyone says they want data-driven safety policy, but the data we rely on often miss major categories of harm, including crashes on private property, parking lots, driveways, and behind gates. They talk through what gets counted, what gets left out, and why police-collected crash data can turn a partial record into something that looks more complete than it really is. It’s a conversation about why better road safety depends not just on having data, but on understanding where that data comes from, who collects it, and what it fails to see.

Other topics:
🔹 Our first jobs
🔹 The implications of a city turning public streets into a gated community
🔹 Fabio

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Additional resources:
Bow Mar’s plan to install a gate to reduce traffic has Denver, Littleton ready to retaliate

Waze Hijacked L.A. in the Name of Convenience. Can Anyone Put the Genie Back in the Bottle? 

Gordon S. Wood, Pioneering Historian of Early America, Dies at 92 

NHTSA's Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS) 

Music by Charlie Van Stee
(courtesy of bensound)

Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.com or find us at www.lookbothwayspodcast.com, www.davidzipper.com, and www.wesmarshall.org

The World Cup - David & Wes mark the start of the World Cup by talking about the transportation culture shock many international visitors may experience in the United States. From stadium access to transit service to the everyday assumptions baked into how we move people around big events, they discuss why hosting a global event can expose the gaps in our transportation system. It’s a conversation about what happens when the world arrives expecting world-class mobility and instead encounters the very American mix of cars, parking, costs, confusion, and workarounds.

Other topics:
🔹 Stadiums that fit well into the urban fabric
🔹 School buses stopping at railroad crossings & when safety rituals stop making sense
🔹 And we answer some mailbag questions such as how to talk about car-centric systems without losing people

Subscribe for biweekly conversations about all things transportation!

Additional resources:
No Train, No Stop? FMCSA Considers Rule Change for School Buses

Why Did Cars Get So Hard to See Out Of? (David's article in Bloomberg) 

Is Finland's new car-free bridge the longest of its kind in the world?

Music by Charlie Van Stee
(courtesy of bensound)

Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.com or find us at www.lookbothwayspodcast.com, www.davidzipper.com, and www.wesmarshall.org

Gas Tax Holiday - David & Wes take on gas tax holidays and why cutting a few cents from the price of gas is usually better politics than transportation policy. The federal gas tax has been stuck at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993, and suspending it would barely make a dent in a fill-up while weakening a transportation funding system that is already running on fumes. They talk through who actually benefits, whether the savings ever reach drivers, and why a real price-stabilization policy would have to move both ways, cutting the tax when prices spike and raising it when prices fall.

Other topics:
🔹 Singapore’s congestion pricing history & some transportation details that caught David’s eye
🔹 Fargo’s downtown parking rules can make “free” parking annoying (at least according to Wes)
🔹 David’s shirt!

Subscribe for biweekly conversations about all things transportation!

Additional resources:
How did Singapore restrict cars on its island? | With Paul Barter (Urban Mobility Explained) 

Trump Proposes Suspending Federal Gas Tax Until Prices Fall (The New York Times) 

Labor cuts fuel excise for three months, saving Australians 26c a litre on petrol and diesel (The Guardian) 

Governor says Indiana may have ‘flexibility’ to extend gas tax suspension again (Indiana Capital Chronicle) 

Music by Charlie Van Stee
(courtesy of bensound)

Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.com or find us at www.lookbothwayspodcast.com, www.davidzipper.com, and www.wesmarshall.org