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For part two of the Mechanics of Transportation Year in Review, I’ve collected a few great bits from my past interviews around bikes and trails. In these chunks, we’ll hear from two members of Black Girls Do Bike club in the Richmond, Va region; John Murden, who is a cargo bike advocate and restaurant owner; and we revisit volunteers building bikes for kids for the holiday season. Rounding out the bikes bit, we’ll hear a good snippet from my interview with British race commentator Jez Cox, about the things he does.

For trails, we hear from Allie Hill, who’s a volunteer in the Charlottesville, Va area working to get the Three Notch’d Trail built; And, we’ll hear from Elliott Caldwell from the East Coast Greenway, a mega multi-use trail that runs from Florida up to Maine in the U.S.

All of the full interviews can be found on the Mechanics of Transportation podcast menu by scrolling down.

If you like the Mechanics of Transportation and want to support my efforts here at Big Soap Productions, then please consider subscribing to it by clicking the link in the show notes. If you do subscribe I’ll be sure to thank you at the end of each episode. Thanks!

Speaking of checking things out, if you like world music and other tunes, be sure to check out my weekly streaming show called Ian’s World O’ Music, found on MixCloud. For 17 years, I had a two-hour, weekly wms on a public radio station, so I know how to groove.

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Follow my bike adventures and transportation stories on Instagram or Threads @just_ianstewart or Twitter @IanCycles.

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It’s a been a banner first season on the Mechanics of Transportation, from being a sparkle of an idea to keep my foot in the transportation world after getting let go from a job at a public radio station as a transportation reporter, to producing 17 episodes in which I got to nerd out with people about infrastructure, biking and gaining listeners in Europe, it’s been a fun ride.

So as the year winds down, I’m taking snippets from the interviews you may have missed and putting them here into bit size nuggets for you to consume over the next few weeks.

We’ll start off with a mostly Richmond, Va special, starting with Henry Bendon–the now the former Communication liaison for the Greater Richmond Transit Company–he’s off having new adventures in Seattle; moving on Faith Walker of RVA Rapid Transit to Chet Parsons the head honcho at PlanRVA and the Central Virginia Transportation Authority; to Andy Boenau, a transportation expert.

If you like the Mechanics of Transportation and want to support my efforts here at Big Soap Productions, then please consider subscribing to it by clicking the link in the show notes. If you do subscribe I’ll be sure to thank you at the end of each episode. Thanks!

Speaking of checking things out, if you like world music and other tunes, be sure to check out my weekly streaming show called Ian’s World O’ Music, found on MixCloud. For 17 years, I had a two-hour, weekly show on a public radio station, so I know how to groove.

Support the show

Follow my bike adventures and transportation stories on Instagram or Threads @just_ianstewart or Twitter @IanCycles.

Send us a text

On this episode I speak with Kea Wilson, Senior Editor for Streetsblog USA, which is a daily newsblog that covers the movement to end car dependence in the United States. Besides their national site, they also have dedicated sites for San Francisco, New York, LA and more cities.

Kea is also the host of the great podcast The Brake, who’s topics have included How Mayor’s are Fighting Back Against Harmful Highways and How Cities are Getting Creative to Reclaim Public Space. She is also a novelist, cyclist, and affordable housing advocate.

We talk about what President-elect Trump’s pick to run the Department of Transportation – Sean Duffy – may look like; and about what else she’s hearing from transportation advocates through her reporting.

If you like the Mechanics of Transportation and want to support my efforts here at Big Soap Productions, then please consider subscribing to it by clicking the link in the show notes. If you do subscribe I’ll be sure to thank you at the end of each episode. Thanks!

Speaking of checking things out, if you like world music and other tunes, be sure to check out my weekly streaming show called Ian’s World O’ Music, found on MixCloud. For 17 years, I had a two-hour, weekly wms on a public radio station, so I know how to groove.

Support the show

Follow my bike adventures and transportation stories on Instagram or Threads @just_ianstewart or Twitter @IanCycles.

Send us a text

World Remembrance Day is Sunday November 17th. It’s the day to remember those lost to traffic violence.

On this episode of the Mechanics of Transportation I’m sharing a recent feature story I did for the NPR Public Radio station WTVR / Radio IQ about the day. But, in this version, I’m letting three parents share their stories in more detail.

Plus, we hear bits from an earlier podcast show I did featuring Families for Safe Streets Co-Founder Amy Cohen about their efforts to remember those lost or affected by traffic violence — the numbers of which are staggering.

To get more information by clicking here: World Day of Remembrance.

And to see the map featuring people who’ve died or been injured by traffic violence and to get support if you’ve been affected by it go to Families for Safe Streets.

To those who have lost loved ones or have loved ones who are suffering because of all the issues around our streets and highways, know that you are not alone–go to the Families for Safe Streets site, get support, learn how to be an advocate for your loved ones. And if you are a driver, do yourself and everyone around you a favor–put your phone away, drive the speed limit and learn patience.

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If you like the Mechanics of Transportation and want to support my efforts here at Big Soap Productions, then please consider subscribing to it by clicking the link in the show notes. If you do subscribe I’ll be sure to thank you at the end of each episode. Thanks!

Speaking of checking things out, if you like world music and other tunes, be sure to check out my weekly streaming show called Ian’s World O’ Music, found on MixCloud. For 17 years, I had a two-hour, weekly wms on a public radio station, so I know how to groove.

Support the show

Follow my bike adventures and transportation stories on Instagram or Threads @just_ianstewart or Twitter @IanCycles.

Send us a text

I’m circling back to finish up my conversation with British broadcaster Jez Cox. For cycling and triathlon fans who follow those sports, chances are you regularly hear Jez’s voice.

If you haven’t heard him covering a bike race or a cyclocross event, then you may have heard him covering the Olympics for Eurosport, particularly in the events of surfing, swimming and break dancing.

I had such a blast talking with Jez for the Full Disclosure with Roben Farzad podcast (in which I also interviewed Olympian Kristen Faulkner and which you should go check out) that I decided to post our entire chat here–and because we had a lot to talk about, but I broke them into bite size chunks.

Speaking of checking things out, if you like world music and other tunes, be sure to check out my weekly streaming show called Ian’s World O’ Music, found on MixCloud. For 17 years, I had a two-hour, weekly wms on a public radio station, so I know how to groove.

If you like the Mechanics of Transportation and want to support my efforts here at Big Soap Productions, then please consider subscribing to it by clicking the link in the show notes. If you do subscribe I’ll be sure to thank you at the end of each episode. Thanks!

Support the show

Follow my bike adventures and transportation stories on Instagram or Threads @just_ianstewart or Twitter @IanCycles.

Send us a text

Ok, sure, I know you may be expecting part two of my conversation with British broadcaster Jez Cox, but I wanted to get out this quick episode about a group of volunteers who are building over 500 bikes for kids of all ages so they can get bikes during the holidays.

The Richmond Area Bike Association or RABA has been doing this since the year 2000, with the help of many volunteers and local non-profit groups, as well as monetary donations from large and small companies to be able to purchase and deliver the bikes.

They have a build happening Saturday November 2nd–my son’s 15th birthday–but I digress. It’s at the Tool Shed in Richmond, Va.

They could use your help, too, either with your time or your donation.

If you like the Mechanics of Transportation and want to support my efforts here at Big Soap Productions, then please consider subscribing to it by clicking the link in the show notes. If you do subscribe I’ll be sure to thank you at the end of each episode. Thanks!

Support the show

Follow my bike adventures and transportation stories on Instagram or Threads @just_ianstewart or Twitter @IanCycles.

Send us a text

I’m taking a left turn on this week’s episode of the Mechanics of Transportation. That’s because I got the opportunity to interview British broadcaster Jez Cox. For cycling and triathlon fans who follow those sports, chances are you regularly hear Jez’s voice.

If you haven’t heard him covering a bike race or a cyclocross event, then you may have heard him covering the Olympics for Eurosport, particularly in the events of surfing, swimming and bread dancing.

Being a radio person, I love figuring out who's commentating races and learning how they do it. I had such a blast talking with Jez for the Full Disclosure with Roben Farzad podcast (in which I also interviewed Olympian Kristen Faulkner) that I decided to post our entire chat here–and because we had a lot to talk about, I break them into two bite size chunks.

If you like the Mechanics of Transportation and want to support my efforts here at Big Soap Productions, then please consider subscribing to it by clicking the link in the show notes. If you do subscribe I’ll be sure to thank you at the end of each episode. Thanks!

Support the show

Follow my bike adventures and transportation stories on Instagram or Threads @just_ianstewart or Twitter @IanCycles.

Send us a text

On this episode of the Mechanics of Transportation, I speak with Families for Safe Streets co-founder Amy Cohen.

The non-profit was founded in 2014 in New York City by families who either lost loved ones who were killed in crashes or who were severely injured. Amy, who lost her son Sammy, is in this group.

120 people are killed everyday in America due to traffic-related accidents, which is about 46,000 people every year, according to their website.

Families for Safe Streets helps those affected by traffic violence by connecting them to support groups and by helping communities change legislation to make the streets safer for everyone.

Recently, they launched a nationwide digital memorial database for families to post stories and pictures about their loved ones; and the group also put out a call to action for the federal government to install speed limiting technology into all their fleet vehicles, just like many other countries have done. Some cities, like New York, have this in place. You can sign a petition supporting their efforts.

We talk about their work, about the memorial, the call to action and what others can do to help make streets safer.

If you like the Mechanics of Transportation and want to support my efforts here at Big Soap Productions, then please consider subscribing to it by clicking the link in the show notes. If you do subscribe I’ll be sure to thank you at the end of each episode. Thanks!

Support the show

Follow my bike adventures and transportation stories on Instagram or Threads @just_ianstewart or Twitter @IanCycles.