Regular listeners may know that I’ve been hesitant to commit to more frequent episodes (or blog posts) as I’ve struggled to keep it up when working or traveling. One of the main reasons I’m not a location-independent “digital nomad” is that I prefer not to spend large chunks of time at my computer. However, due to popular demand, I am starting a po…

#10, Eureka, Calif. In September 2018, I rode south along the Pacific Coast from Lincoln City, OR to Crescent City, CA plus a few bonus days in the Redwoods. I put together some audio and photos from along the way. Let me know what you think or ask questions in the comments. from wikimedia commons from wikimedia commons from wikimedia commons…

#9, Arcata, Calif. In September 2018, I rode south along the Pacific Coast from Lincoln City, OR to Crescent City, CA plus a few bonus days in the Redwoods. I put together some audio and photos from along the way. Let me know what you think or ask questions in the comments.Door Critical Transit

#8, Redwoods National Park, Northern California. In September 2018, I rode south along the Pacific Coast from Lincoln City, OR to Crescent City, CA plus a few bonus days in the Redwoods. I put together some audio and photos from along the way. Let me know what you think or ask questions in the comments.…

#7, Brookings, Oregon to Crescent City, California. In September 2018, I rode south along the Pacific Coast from Lincoln City, OR to Crescent City, CA plus a few bonus days in the Redwoods. I put together some audio and photos from along the way. Let me know what you think or ask questions in the comments.…

#6, Humbug Mountain State Park. In September 2018, I rode south along the Pacific Coast from Lincoln City, OR to Crescent City, CA plus a few bonus days in the Redwoods. I put together some audio and photos from along the way. Let me know what you think or ask questions in the comments.Door Critical Transit

#5, Seven Devils Road to Port Orford. In September 2018, I rode south along the Pacific Coast from Lincoln City, OR to Crescent City, CA plus a few bonus days in the Redwoods. I put together some audio and photos from along the way. Let me know what you think or ask questions in the comments.Door Critical Transit

#4, Reedsport to North Bend. In September 2018, I rode south along the Pacific Coast from Lincoln City, OR to Crescent City, CA plus a few bonus days in the Redwoods. I put together some audio and photos from along the way. Let me know what you think or ask questions in the comments.Door Critical Transit

#3, Yachats to near Florence. In September 2018, I rode south along the Pacific Coast from Lincoln City, OR to Crescent City, CA plus a few bonus days in the Redwoods. I put together some audio and photos from along the way. Let me know what you think or ask questions in the comments.Door Critical Transit

#2, Newport to Waldport. In September 2018, I rode south along the Pacific Coast from Lincoln City, OR to Crescent City, CA plus a few bonus days in the Redwoods. Here is some audio and photos from along the way. Let me know what you think or ask questions in the comments.Door Critical Transit

#1, Lincoln City to Newport. In September 2018, I rode south along the Pacific Coast from Lincoln City, OR to Crescent City, CA plus a few bonus days in the Redwoods. I put together some audio and photos from along the way. Let me know what you think or ask questions in the comments.Door Critical Transit

This final Utah bike tour journal was recorded after the tour ended. I went over the experience and consider some lessons learned. Let me know what you think. This spring I rode my bicycle across southern Utah to view the spectacular remote desert landscape and explore seven national parks: Colorado NM, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Capitol Reef NP, G…

Part 13: Ross and I recap our tour. We decide it was a success: we had a great time, learned a lot and experienced beautiful landscapes -- through the climbs, the heat and the cold, the isolation, the food deserts (and literal desert) and more. Listen for the highs and lows, what we learned, and where we're headed next. This spring I rode my bicycl…

Part 12: I spent the day riding around Zion and later hiking via shuttle bus, then reconnected with Ross after we had split up at Bryce. (Ross finally joins me on air in the next episode.) In the adjacent town of Springdale, I picked up my summer sleep sack (it's 95 degrees here), ate a vegan breakfast burrito, took a yoga class and visited the lib…

Part 11: I made it to Zion! So excited to explore the canyon and walk around an actual town. I lucked out with a campsite cancellation (really wish they had hiker/biker sites!) and plunked down out my stuff to ride around unloaded. This spring I rode my bicycle across southern Utah to view the spectacular remote desert landscape and explore seven n…

Part 10: Audio from a short lunch stop in Orderville, Utah, as I was eager to reach Zion the same day. I said goodbye to a Swiss couple I had been leapfrogging (see their bikes at the grocery store), before pushing on into Zion (next episode). This spring I rode my bicycle across southern Utah to view the spectacular remote desert landscape and exp…

Part 9: I rode a 12-mile paved trail west from Bryce Canyon en route to Zion, in the heat but with all my gears now working (finally!). No food stops today and no nice photos. Not the easiest ride, and by this point I was ready to be done. This spring I rode my bicycle across southern Utah to view the spectacular remote desert landscape and explore…

Part 8: Hiking some trails on my third and final day in Bryce Canyon National Park. ** EDIT: I uploaded the wrong audio file by mistake; this is now the correct one. ** This spring I rode my bicycle across southern Utah to view the spectacular remote desert landscape and explore seven national parks: Colorado NM, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Capitol …

Part 7: Climbing back up to 9,000 feet (2,500m) elevation. A low temperature of 24F/-5C and a temporary illness forced me to find indoor accommodation for two nights. I took full advantage of the park's hiking trails while awaiting replacement bike parts, then camped a third night. This spring I rode my bicycle across southern Utah to view the spec…

Part 6: Emerging from the historic Burr Trail into Boulder and Escalante, but not before a broken gear cable changes things up. I wasn't able to ride between the Kiva Coffeehouse (pictured, not a bad spot to break down on a cold morning) and Canonville. The descent between Boulder and Escalante was too scary to take photos (think 25 mph sidewinds o…

Part 5: the historic Burr Trail in all its glory and struggle (info), through Capitol Reef National Park & Grand-Staircase-Escalane National Monument. This spring I rode my bicycle across southern Utah to view the spectacular remote desert landscape and explore seven national parks: Colorado NM, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Capitol Reef NP, Grand Sta…

Part 4: from Blanding to Bullfrog, camping before crossing the Colorado River on the Lake Powell Ferry. Complete with climbing and headwinds. This spring I rode my bicycle across southern Utah to view the spectacular remote desert landscape and explore seven national parks: Colorado NM, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Capitol Reef NP, Grand Staircase-Es…

Part 3 from Moab, the last large town on our route. This spring I rode my bicycle across southern Utah to view the spectacular remote desert landscape and explore seven national parks: Colorado NM, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Capitol Reef NP, Grand Staircase-Escalante NM, Bryce Canyon NP and Zion NP. My friend Ross and I left April 30 from Breckenri…

Part 2: from Fruita, Colorado into Utah, camping in Moab, then a side tour into Arches & Canyonlands National Parks. View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize This spri…

Intro & Part 1: Western Colorado (recorded at Colorado National Monument in Fruita). This spring I rode my bicycle across southern Utah to view the spectacular remote desert landscape and explore seven national parks: Colorado NM, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Capitol Reef NP, Grand Staircase-Escalante NM, Bryce Canyon NP and Zion NP. My friend Ross a…

I made an appearance on this week's episode of Pedalshift with Tim Mooney, which reminded me I hadn't shared this episode from my winter bike overnight in February on my Brompton folding bike. It was perhaps more successful than Tim's most recent ride on the C&O Trail, albeit shorter, a few degrees warmer and solo (sans dog). Notice how there was n…

Some strange twists as a train mishap leaves me walking around Northampton, Mass., and exploring/spending the night in Holyoke, Mass. This episode includes musings on transit with two old advocate friends I bumped into. Then it's off to some new adventures. Spoiler alert: I've been in Colorado since then. INTRO: In late August I moved out of my apa…

I made it to Burlington! It's one of those places you always read about and want to experience for yourself. I did a fantastic loop around Lake Champlain, dealt with churches and the police, and spent a few days back in town decompressing before continuing west. INTRO: In late August I moved out of my apartment in Boston, put about 8 boxes into sto…

An update from my fall tour of northwestern Vermont: starting in Rutland and heading north to Burlington and beyond. Not quite as hilly as the rocky Maine coast but even better views and more ferries. INTRO: In late August I moved out of my apartment in Boston, put about 8 boxes into storage, and took a bus to Brunswick, Maine with my bike and camp…

Here is some listener feedback on free transit. First I chat with transportation activist Eli Damon from Northampton, MA, who wrote in about free transit and also shares some insight into the transit environment in Western Massachusetts. Then I read a listener email. UPDATE: Corrected version. The previous file was missing the interview due to an e…

At long last, here is Part 3 of my bike tour of Coastal Maine in September. This episode included Acadia National Park and the final days before a two-week hiatus. INTRO: In late August I moved out of my apartment in Boston, put about 8 boxes into storage, and took a bus to Brunswick, Maine with my bike and camping gear. By popular request for tour…

Despite its tremendous value and egalitarian mission, public transportation remains the only essential public service that charges a fare. The only reason we still collect fares is because we always have, ever since the early days of horse-car transit. Now, user fees make up only a small portion of total revenue yet create a significant barrier to …

This episode covers from Belfast to Blue Hill, one day before reaching Bar Harbor. INTRO: In late August I moved out of my apartment in Boston, put about 8 boxes into storage, and took a bus to Brunswick, Maine with my bike and camping gear. By popular request for tour updates, I decided to record a series of brief, daily, mostly unedited episodes …

In late August I moved out of my apartment in Boston, put about 8 boxes into storage, and took a bus to Brunswick, Maine with my bike and camping gear. This episode covers from Brunswick to Belfast. By popular request for tour updates, I decided to record a series of brief, daily, mostly unedited episodes to share here. Note that at the time of upl…

Recent MBTA news and advocacy battles encouraged me to record a podcast to counter the dominant narrative. Let's review what's causing this mess and how to stop the bleeding and operate a reliable and effective network. Why a well functioning and affordable T should matter to everyone, because we all depend on transit even if we never use it (some …

Expanding our focus beyond Boston, we speak with Jeff Wood, a San Francisco-based consultant (The Overhead Wire) and operator of The Direct Transfer, a daily news source on transit, cities and urban design. Jeff also hosts Talking Headways, a weekly transportation podcast, and his work includes media, cartography, data analysis and research on tran…

Critical Transit resumes with Nick Pendergrast, sociologist, one-time urban planner and co-host of Progressive Podcast Australia. Nick is a lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. We talk about transportation and urban design, housing, demographics, social and environmental justice, related structura…

Critical Transit is back after an unplanned break, and we're moving in a new (local) direction as part of a push for better transit in Boston. Learn all about the future of Critical Transit in this mini episode.Subscribe to the blog and podcast (iTunes), follow my thoughts on @criticaltransit on Twitter, like the Facebook page, and stay in tough wi…

This is the first of several episodes featuring content from TRB Annual Meeting sessions in Washington, DC, starting with the common themes of transport data, automation and the idea that technology will solve more than a few of our problems. From the sessions, we learn how to successfully insert a light rail transit (LRT) line into a city streetsc…

Our guest today is transit data and communications consultant Aaron Antrim of Trillium Solutions. We learn how to manage, present and use transit information to improve mobility and expand freedom by making transit networks easier to use. Find Aaron's work at Trillium Solutions, including his analysis of social media for transit and what makes a gr…

A new year, a new challenge to the deity of traffic engineering: the traffic light. Streets.mn contributor and recent Minneapolis City Council candidate Matt Steele says we have too many traffic signals and explains why that's a big problem for everyone. Choosing alternative measures of traffic control offers significant benefits to pedestrians, bi…

An informative panel discussion with four winter bicycling veterans in Minneapolis. We cover bike handling, what to wear and how to prepare your two-wheeled vehicle for our favorite season. Sneak away from the holiday dinner for this special episode and get ready to ride across a frozen lake, visit an ice shanty, ride a ski bike, go mountain biking…

In light of the latest Metro-North Railroad derailment, fellow New Yorker Marc Ebuna, now a Boston-based transit advocate and editor of Transit Matters, joins me to explain what we can learn from the recent series of incidents this year on the nation's busiest commuter rail network. Topics include technology, maintenance, funding, regulations and m…

Brock Dittus and Aaron Flores take a break from hosting The Sprocket Podcast to join me from rainy Portland, Oregon, for a discussion of biking in cold and wet weather. We discuss the three elements -- clothing, bike setup, behavior -- of a warm and dry trip, without any fancy gear or sacrifices. Most importantly, do what works for you. And if you …

Fear of cycling in traffic is the greatest barrier to bicycle transportation, but safe bicycling is possible when you take control of your space and drive defensively. Our guest today is cycling instructor Keri Caffrey, co-founder of CyclingSavvy and editor of Commute Orlando. She is working to increase confidence and prevent crashes by educating b…

Oh look ... guess who's on the latest Streets.mn podcast? Yep, yours truly. We discuss the effects of last week's Minneapolis city election, politics and transportation. It's mostly with a local focus but most things also apply elsewhere. Go listen here.Remember you can also find my local transit writing on the same site. Hopefully the impending co…

Andrew Austin stops by from Americans for Transit (twitter: @A4Transit) to share some impacts of the government shutdown and how it fits in with the ongoing austerity culture. We learn about transit diversity, labor issues and the BART strike, and review why it's critical for transit agencies to support their employees and maintain a positive work …

Scott Bogren of the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) joins us to discuss their work supporting and advocating for the growing number of small urban, suburban and rural transportation services. He interviews transit operators on his own CT Podcast and spends a lot of time on Twitter. The second transit strike in just a few mont…

As cities respond to growing calls for safer streets and more open space, many have begun holding a series of Open Streets events where streets are closed to cars and opened to everyone else (people, bikes, skates and other non-motorized users). In most cases there is special programming including vendors, music, demonstrations and fun activities, …

In this episode I debunk the myth endorsed by Freakonomics in their episode on Mass Transit Hysteria and peddled by many others that cars are more efficient than transit. Each transit route is part of a network which may serve many functions that we believe contribute positively to our society. Transit is a public benefit. Most of the episode is de…