Look Both Ways with David & Wes

Episode 10: What Happens When We Defund Transit + Rethinking Access

Defunding Transit – David & Wes examine the growing efforts to defund transit through mechanisms like the Highway Trust Fund. What happens when transit funding is threatened and slowly hollowed out? Rather than treating these moves as abstract budget debates, they focus on the real-world consequences for reliability, coverage, and who gets left behind. 
Today, we also talk about:🔹 How we learn about transportation in a new city & what those first impressions reveal🔹 What we mean when we say access & why the word often obscures more than it explains🔹 Transportation trends in Europe that are not going the way we’d hope 
Then, some listener questions and rail drinks... stay tuned for bi-weekly conversations about all things transportation!
Some additional resources: Elements of Access: Transport Planning for Engineers, Transport Engineering for Planners (2017) by David Levinson, Wes Marshall, & Kay Axhausen
Politico Article: Trump administration proposals seek to eliminate transit funding
Politico Article: Graves pans DOT proposal axing mass transit account
 
Music by Charlie Van Stee(courtesy of bensound)
Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.comor find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org 

Episode 9: The New New York City Transportation Agenda + Back to the Future

New York City – David & Wes break down Mamdani's New York City’s new transportation agenda and & the priorities it elevates and avoids. We examine how political vision, implementation, and street-level realities align or clash... and what all this signals about where cities may be headed next. Listeners will come away with a clearer sense of what’s genuinely new in the agenda, what feels recycled, and why meaningful change often arrives later than promised.
Today, we also talk about:🔹 Where we went, what we saw, & how seeing cities up close shapes our transportation thinking 🔹 Back to the Future & how flying cars seem long overdue, but do we even want Marty McFly's future?
Then we dive into the mailbag & have some rail drinks... stay tuned for bi-weekly conversations about all things transportation!
Music by Charlie Van Stee(courtesy of bensound)
Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.comor find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org 

Episode 8: The Hidden Harm of Traffic Noise + Advice for a Young Engineer

Traffic Noise – David & Wes dig into traffic noise as an overlooked public health problem and a quiet but pervasive form of harm in cities. Moving beyond annoyance, we explore how constant exposure to noise affects health, equity, and quality of life, and why it remains largely invisible in transportation decision-making. Listeners will come away with a better understanding of why noise matters, how it reflects deeper design choices, and what acknowledging this externality would change about how streets and cities are planned.
Today, we also talk about:🔹 Trick-or-Treating & how it's the more dangerous day of the year for kids🔹 A proliferation of anti-car books & what this moment says about shifting public attitudes🔹 The trials & tribulations of a young engineer trying to do better & Wes' advice for how to handle the ethical tensions
Then, we have some rail drinks...stay tuned for bi-weekly conversations about all things transportation!
Here is David's article on the Anti-Car Books:www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-10/car-brain-is-making-the-us-unhealthy-and-dangerous-evs-won-t-fix-it
And "The Traffic Noise Externality: Costs, Incidence and Policy Implications" paper by Enrico Moretti & Harrison Wheeler: www.nber.org/papers/w34298
Music by Charlie Van Stee(courtesy of bensound)
Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.comor find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org 

Episode 7: Transit Funding Failures + Learning to Drive

Transit Funding – David & Wes dive into the growing threats to U.S. transit funding and why they matter far beyond agency balance sheets. By looking at how federal decisions shape what cities can build and operate, they unpack why transit in the United States costs so much, delivers so little, and remains perpetually vulnerable to political whims. Listeners will come away with a clearer understanding of how funding structures quietly undermine reliability, access, and public trust in transit systems.
Today, we also talk about:🔹 Getting our driver’s licenses 🔹 An Amish paradise that includes eBikes & why technology adoption doesn’t follow cultural stereotypes🔹Why transit vehicles cost so much more in the U.S. & what that means for service and expansion
At the end, we have some rail drinks... stay tuned for bi-weekly conversations about all things transportation. 
Here is David's article (the first of its kind) on Why US Cities Pay Too Much for Buses:www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-26/us-cities-are-paying-too-much-for-new-transit-buses
And some other resources that might help your cause:- www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/transportation-secretary-sean-duffy-cta-funding-safety/- www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/nyregion/trump-nyc-subway-gateway-infrastructure-funding.html- www.brookings.edu/articles/paying-less-for-public-transit-buses/
Music by Charlie Van Stee(courtesy of bensound)
Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.comor find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org 

Episode 6: How Cities Should Prepare for Robotaxis + Old Bike Fights That Won’t Die

Robotaxis – David & Wes look ahead to the arrival of robotaxis and what cities should be doing (or not doing) to prepare. Rather than asking whether autonomous vehicles will “work,” they focus on the decisions cities actually control. Listeners will come away with a clearer sense of why waiting for technology to mature is not a plan, and how today’s choices could lock in decades of consequences for safety, access, and street life.
Today, we also talk about:🔹 How we go about finding a neighborhood to live in & what that reveals about transportation 🔹 Whatever happened to MaaS & why integrated mobility never delivered on its promises🔹 Evolving bike lanes, bikelash, & John Forester & why old arguments keep resurfacing in new forms
And then some rail drinks... stay tuned for bi-weekly conversations about all things transportation!
If you are interested, here is David's new article on Cities & Self-Driving Cars:www.vox.com/future-perfect/461393/self-driving-cars-cities-congestion-avs-parking
and his old one on MaaS:www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-05/the-struggle-to-make-mobility-as-a-service-make-money
Here is Wes' paper on how cities with more protected & separated bike lanes are safer for everyone:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140518301488
(if you don't like academic papers, this video explains our results: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwYeNz1jCkM)
as well as the back-and-forth...www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140519305481www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140519306310
Music by Charlie Van Stee(courtesy of bensound)
Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.comor find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org 

Episode 5: Traffic Cameras are More Popular than You Think + Our First Times (Riding Transit)

Traffic Cameras – David & Wes take a closer look at traffic cameras and why they consistently poll better than most people expect. Rather than treating automated enforcement as a political third rail, they explore what the data actually show about public support, behavior change, and safety outcomes. Listeners will come away with a clearer understanding of why traffic cameras succeed where many other safety interventions stall, and what that popularity reveals about how people experience streets day to day.
Today, we also talk about:🔹 Our first times riding transit & how those early experiences shaped how we think 🔹 Exporting car bloat & why oversized vehicles have become a global safety problem🔹 99% Invisible & making a city 10% better for no money, & how small, low-cost changes can add up to meaningful improvements
And stick around to the end for some rail drinks... stay tuned for bi-weekly conversations about all things transportation! 
If you are interested, here is David’s article on the popularity of automated traffic enforcement:www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-28/automated-traffic-enforcement-is-more-popular-than-you-think
Music by Charlie Van Stee(courtesy of bensound)
Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.comor find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org 

Episode 4: Rainbow Crosswalks Aren’t the Problem + Why U.S. Road Safety Is

Rainbow Crosswalks – David & Wes respond to the backlash against rainbow crosswalks and ask a more fundamental question: why are symbolic safety treatments (that have proven to help_ getting blamed for crashes instead of the underlying designs that put people at risk? Using recent controversies as a starting point, they unpack how U.S. road safety debates often focus on visibility and culture wars while ignoring the fundamentals of speed, vehicle design, and street/city geometry.
Today, we also talk about:🔹 What David noticed while traveling in Europe🔹 The “misery index” & paratransit 🔹 The US/Canada road safety gap, what Canadian cities prioritize differently, and why those choices matter
And it’s 5 O'Clock Somewhere so stick around to the end for some rail drinks... and stay tuned for bi-weekly conversations about all things transportation!
If you are interested, here is Wes’ paper about Paratransit:www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198225000260
And David’s article on the growing divide in road safety between the US and Canada:www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-13/the-us-and-canada-are-going-in-different-directions-on-traffic-safety
Music by Charlie Van Stee(courtesy of bensound)
Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.comor find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org 

Episode 3: Tesla Autopilot on Trial + Why We Don’t Buy the Hype

Tesla Autopilot – David & Wes unpack the implications of Tesla’s Autopilot being put on trial and ask what accountability for automated driving systems could or should look like. As tech companies promise to solve road safety, this conversation asks the harder questions. When technology fails, who bears responsibility, and who pays the price? We then examine why expensive hype-driven approaches to safety often distract from proven, low-tech, inexpensive solutions.
Today, we also talk about:🔹 The problem with tech-first safety narratives🔹 The Boring-est Company & how cities get distracted by shiny solutions🔹 The humble speed hump & why speed humps work when “smart” systems fail
And stick around to the end for some rail drinks... stay tuned for bi-weekly conversations about all things transportation.
If you are interested, here is David’s article on speed humps:www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-08-05/all-hail-the-humble-speed-hump-the-best-cheap-traffic-safety-fix
Music by Charlie Van Stee(courtesy of bensound)
Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.comor find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org 
 

Episode 2: Abundance in Transportation + Who Likes Cars Less (or More)

Abundance in Transportation – David & Wes take on the idea of abundance in transportation. What would an abundant transportation system look like? Why do so many policies end up producing scarcity instead? We also explore how well-intentioned rules can limit who feels safe, welcome, or able to move through a city. 
Today, we also talk about:🔹 Which of us likes cars less (or more)🔹 Bike helmet mandates & unintended consequences🔹 The risk of a transit doom loop
And then we have a couple rail drinks... stay tuned for bi-weekly conversations about all things transportation!
Music by Charlie Van Stee(courtesy of bensound)
And in case you want to read David’s article on Abundance:www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-03/when-the-abundance-movement-talks-about-transportation
Or Wes’ paper on bike helmets and safety:www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17457300.2024.2441501
Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.comor find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org 
 

Episode 1: Fare-Free Transit + Why We Started This Podcast

Fare-Free Transit – In this inaugural episode of Look Both Ways, David & Wes dig into the case for fare-free transit - and why the debate matters much more than the price of a bus ride. Does removing fares meaningfully improve access, safety, and ridership? Or does it distract from deeper structural problems in terms of how we fund and design transit? What can (and can't) fare-free policies accomplish, and what questions should cities be asking instead?The episode also sets the tone for the podcast itself in terms of why David & Wes felt this show was needed, what frustrates them about how transportation debates are usually framed, and how blind spots in conventional thinking continue to shape ours streets and cities for the worse.In this inaugural episode, we also cover:🔹 What people get wrong about the “safest streets” in America🔹 Why growing car design blind spots are still treated as an acceptable risk🔹 How transportation conversations lose the plot... and how to bring them back
And then we have some Rail Drinks!Stay tuned for bi-weekly conversations about all things transportation...Music by Charlie Van Stee(courtesy of bensound)Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.comor find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org