Home Podcasts Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast
Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

The Overhead Wire 799 Episodes Sep 17, 2026

A weekly podcast about the intersection between sustainable transportation, urban planning, and economic development. Hosted by Jeff Wood of The Overhead Wire.

Episodes

Flashback: Episode 542: Measuring Transportation System Success
Flashback: Episode 542: Measuring Transportation System Success Sep 17, 2026 57:21 This week we're away at a conference, but we're flashing back to episode 542 where we're joined once again by professor Karel Martens. We learn about how transportation engineering is good at measuring only one problem and ignoring others and a new tool to determine the success of transportation systems. Fair Transport Lab Website A scale for describing people's mobility status - Findings Press ++
Episode 593: Carspreading
Episode 593: Carspreading Sep 10, 2026 54:41 This week we're joined by Sofia Navas and James Nix of the NGO Transport & Environment to talk about their recent report: Ever Bigger? Car Size at a Crossroads. We discuss the increasing size of vehicles and why they keep growing. The safety issues that are tied to vehicle size increases, and the amount of parking and public space that could be lost. +++ Get the show ad free on Patreon! Find out a
Episode 198: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Creating Systemic Change
Episode 198: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Creating Systemic Change Sep 8, 2026 41:34 This week we're Han Solo, but that won't stop us from sharing some interesting news including daylighting urban streams, why we shouldn't put everything on transit, Barcelona's e-bike subsidy, and Charlotte's value created.  News Items Two ways to daylight streams - The Conversation Transit scope creep - Works in Progress Barcelona e-bike - City of Barcelona The Carbon Wave - MIT Press Reader
Episode 592: New Tricks for Old Bureaucracies
Episode 592: New Tricks for Old Bureaucracies Sep 3, 2026 56:09 This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by Joshua Schank to talk about his book New Tricks for Old Bureaucracies: Improving Policy Outcomes in the Public Sector. Joshua talks about the inner workings of LA Metro, benefits of openness and transparency as well as strategic planning.  We also share frustrations about meetings, transit board structures, and agency fiefdoms. +++ Get the
Episode 591: The Urban Pulse
Episode 591: The Urban Pulse Aug 27, 2026 40:49 This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by Yale's Karen Seto and University of Connecticut's Zhe Zhu to talk about their study: The Urban Pulse. We talk about using frequent time series satellite data to measure change in cities and the processes of urbanization. The Urban Pulse - Yale School for the Environment The Urban Pulse: Diagnosing the urbanization process as spiky, cyclica
Episode 197: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Change Orders!
Episode 197: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Change Orders! Aug 25, 2026 46:29 This week on the Mondays Show we are Han Solo again, but have a lot of interesting news to share.  We talk about LA's people mover change orders, a poll that finds lots of people want urbanism, and a trip along the coast of West Africa. Today's Items People mover change orders - The Hollywood Reporter Voter attitudes towards green urbanism - Data for Progress Overperforming downtowns - Patrick
Episode 590: Coulda Built 36 Paris Metros
Episode 590: Coulda Built 36 Paris Metros Aug 20, 2026 43:27 This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're chatting with Dallas Developer, DART Board Member, and urban designer Patrick Kennedy about his recent publication, An Atlas of Intercity Highway Impacts (Available Here). We discuss the tax base removed from cities by highways, what we could have done for cities with federal transportation funding, and the long term value lost. +++ Get the show ad f
Episode 589: The Bikeable Forest
Episode 589: The Bikeable Forest Aug 13, 2026 38:03 This week we're finally doing it! We're going to Kingwood Texas and talking about the greenbelt trail system I've been telling everyone about for years. This is a storytelling episode, featuring guests John Walsh, Jerry Lunow, and Bill Neuhaus so I hope folks enjoy hearing about NASA, timber companies, bike trails, and Houston's bayous.  But also, stick around to hear how a suburban development in
Episode 196: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Disassembling to Save The Building
Episode 196: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Disassembling to Save The Building Aug 11, 2026 43:46 This week we're Han Solo and covering some of the news from the last few weeks.  We talk about delivery worker stress, Maryland's need to build a revolving loan fund, and how street network design could help us build more housing. Below are the show notes with links from the articles we mentioned.  Main Items Sydney active transport superhighways - Committee for Sydney Beauty over billboards - R
Episode 588: What Does It Cost to Build a Bus?
Episode 588: What Does It Cost to Build a Bus? Aug 6, 2026 57:48 This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by Lisa Jerram of APTA and Philip Plotch of the Eno Center for Transportation to discuss Eno's report: Customization, Competition, and Costs: Findings and Recommendations for the U.S. Transit Bus Industry. We discuss what agencies want in a bus and why, the differences in European and US bus markets, and why customization standardization is h
Flashback: Megan Kimble Talks Highway Expansion in Texas
Flashback: Megan Kimble Talks Highway Expansion in Texas Jul 30, 2026 46:37 We're on vacation this week but we're flashing back to Episode 482 from two years ago featuring Megan Kimble discussing her book City Limits.  Soon we'll have Patrick Kennedy on the show and some of this work goes very well with his so I thought it would be a good one to bring back. Hope folks enjoy it! This week we're joined by Megan Kimble to talk about her book  City Limits: Infrastructure, In
Mondays Flashback: The Messiness of Family Travel
Mondays Flashback: The Messiness of Family Travel Jul 28, 2026 56:58 We're on vacation this week but we're flashing back to episode 422 of Talking Headways from a couple of years ago featuring one of our favorites, Jennifer Kent. We'll be back in a few weeks but I hope folks enjoy this one. This week we're joined by  Dr. Jennifer Kent, Senior Research Fellow in Urbanism at the University of Sydney, to talk about her work on family transportation, the messiness of

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