Streets Ahead

Dec 20 2024 75 ep. 49 mins 892
Streets Ahead Podcast artwork

Cities around the world are finally discovering the pitfalls of a car-centric transport system, with the most progressive cities implementing protected cycle lanes, liveable streets and low traffic neighbourhoods for improved cycling and walking. Each episode, we discuss the news and views in the fast-paced world of active travel, cycling, walking and urban planning in a jargon-free safe space.

Streets Ahead is co-hosted by Adam Tranter, Laura Laker and Ned Boulting.

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Streets Ahead joins a Bike Bus!

Dec 20 2024 43 mins  
Ned and Laura join a bike bus! This celebratory, festive episode of Streets Ahead includes an East End bike ride with tinsel, some Christmas tunes, and a joyful pedal through the streets of West Ham with adults and kids, to Park Primary School.A bike bus is simply a group ride to school, with both adults and kids joining at different points on set days, similar to a school bus. Exc

Taking a council to the High Court

Nov 29 2024 45 mins  
A community group has raised £75,000 to take its local council, Tower Hamlets, to the High Court. Save Our Safer Streets is seeking to retain and improve the changes to the streets in Bethnal Green, implemented in 2020, but Mayor Lutfur Rahman wants to fulfil a manifesto pledge to remove them.Laura and Adam spoke to Jane Harris, spokesperson for Save Our Safer Streets and Ricardo

On location in Pentonville Prison

Oct 04 2024 59 mins  
This time Ned and Laura go behind the walls of Pentonville Prison for this very special episode. Listeners may remember Stef Jones, founder of XO Bikes, who trains ex-offenders in cycle maintenance in south London to help them turn their lives around. With UK prisons full to bursting, people like Stef, along with prison staff themselves, try to break the cycle of reoffending t

We made front page news

Aug 23 2024 46 mins  
Our last episode, an interview with Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh MP, caused a bit of a storm and went viral. Laura's interview was picked up by a host of UK national media including BBC News, The Sun, GB News, The Times and more.We discuss how the story happened, what it means for active travel - and why the wider media picked up on it so extensively. Helping us n

Louise Haigh MP, Secretary of State for Transport

Aug 20 2024 51 mins  
Louise Haigh MP, the Secretary of State for Transport, joins Laura Laker on Streets Ahead for an insightful discussion on the future of active travel in the UK. From her own cycling experiences to the role of walking and cycling in tackling public health and climate challenges, Haigh outlines her vision for a national integrated transport strategy that prioritises active travel and

Paris Olympics: Could this be the first fully cyclable Games?

Aug 02 2024 42 mins  
In this episode Laura travels to Paris, to meet one of the campaigners behind a successful push to put cycling at the heart of the city's transport plans for the 2024 Olympics. Paris en Selle is one of a cohort of campaign groups who staged an 'Olympic relay' protest that inspired Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo to roll out cycleways linking every one of the city's 35 Games venues. This w

Can the US return to walkable, cyclable cities?

Jul 11 2024 44 mins  
This time we're talking with our guest about life across the Pond. If early US cities were inherently walkable, what on earth happened? Is an active travel revolution possible in such a car-centric nation? Why are there parking minimums in new developments? And what on Earth is Euclidian zoning?!John Simmerman, of the Active Towns podcast and YouTube channel, joins Adam and Laura a

General Elections, Unemployment and Awards

Jun 13 2024 43 mins  
Adam's left his job, Ned's won an award, Laura's touring the country, oh, and there's a general election in the UK. It's been quite a hectic few weeks at Streets Ahead.By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! We’r

Potholes and Pavements

Apr 24 2024 51 mins  
Laura's got a book out and we're here to plug it, 1) because it's brilliant and 2) because it'd be awkward if we didn't.Potholes and Pavements: A Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network is the story of the UK's fitful, sometimes painful transformation from a car-dependent nation of villages, towns and cities into a connected, bikeable network of communities.It's out on 9th

The Plan for Drivers

Mar 19 2024 40 mins  
In a special emergency episode, Ned and Adam try to make sense of the Plan for Drivers announcement. What does it mean for active travel and public transport? Will it actually change anything? What are the politics behind the announcement?You can read the Low Traffic Neighbourhood review here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-traffic-neighbourhood-reviewIn the episode