The War on Cars1 Jul 2025

PREVIEW: Are Cyclists Too Mean Online?

This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, plus ad-free versions of regular episodes, merch discounts, pre-sale tickets to live shows and more, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.

Are cyclists too mean online? To read some of the headlines about a recent study, you'd think the answer was yes. "Forceful bike campaigners can undermine UK cycle lane planning, report finds," blared the headline in The Guardian. The subhead said that "toxic" online debates can make officials and other people in government reluctant to pursue cycling-related transportation projects. Adding one and one together, any reader would likely assume that it's those "forceful bike campaigners" who are mostly responsible for the "toxic" online debates. This story spread online and confirmed a lot of people's priors. Those darn cyclists! If only they'd behave they'd deserve safer streets!

Not so fast. The actual study was a bit more complicated than the headlines and social media posts might have led people to believe. It also offers good lessons for effective engagement to get the change we want at the scale we need, no matter the issue.

Become a Patreon supporter of the podcast for access to the entire episode.

Pre-order our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, coming in October from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House. And catch us on tour this fall and beyond, including at our book publication party and live show at The Bell House in Brooklyn.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(255)

Running the Chicago Transit Authority with Nora Leerhsen

Since 2025, Nora Leerhsen has served as the acting president of the Chicago Transit Authority, the second-largest transit system in the United States and an indelible icon of the city. She is the firs...

6 Okt 55min

PREVIEW: Ashik Jain, the Bicycle Mayor of One of India's Fastest Growing Cities

***This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, plus ad-free versions of regular episodes, merch discounts, presale tickets to live...

29 Sep 10min

Fighting for Federal Transportation Dollars with Mike McGinn

How will the United States spend $580 billion in federal funds for transportation over the next five years? That's the question facing Congress right now, as it's time once again for the transportatio...

22 Sep 46min

Fine, We're Doing a Helmet Episode

After New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted a social media video showing him listening to concerned citizens and deciding to wear a bicycle helmet, social media exploded. Some people praised the m...

8 Sep 1h 26min

PREVIEW: What Bicycles Can Do for Cities, via Velo-city 2026

25 Aug 11min

Let's Get Political [Re-release]

***We're taking a quick summer break this week so we're releasing this recent Patreon bonus episode into the general feed. We hope you enjoy it as a taste of what you can get if you sign up to support...

18 Aug 1h 6min

Human Transit with Jarrett Walker

Jarrett Walker's career has been dedicated to improving the quality of public transit in the United States and beyond. A specialist in bus network design, he has led transit planning projects around N...

4 Aug 56min