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The War on Cars

BUILDING SOLIDARITY WITH BICYCLES AT VELO-CITY

The War on Cars

The War on Cars, LLC

Society & Culture, News, News Commentary

4.9937 Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At this year's Velo-city conference in Gdansk, the theme was "Energizing Solidarity," in honor of the city's history as the cradle of the Solidarity labor movement that helped bring down Communism in Poland. Velo-city is an incredibly good-mood event put on each year by the European Cyclists' Federation, where people come from all over the world to share best practices in urban cycling, and to connect with their fellow advocates, elected officials, and other members of the wider cycling community.  Sarah talked with advocates, government officials, and researchers how bicycles build solidarity as people around the world fight for democracy and our planet's health.

Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, Discord access, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers!

***Our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, will be published on October 21, 2025 by Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Pre-order now.***

Purchase tickets for our Life After Cars publication party and live show at The Bell House in Brooklyn on October 28th. The Patreon presale for our November 5th show at Town Hall in Seattle with City Nerd begins on Wednesday, July 16th. More shows will be announced soon.

The War on Cars is produced with the generous support of the Helen & William Mazer Foundation.

This episode was sponsored by Cleverhood and Xtracycle.

 

SHOW NOTES

Check out all the great work that the European Cyclists' Federation does. Velo-city 2026 will be in Rimini, Italy.

Thanks to Anthony Lau of Cyclehoop for the audio from the Cave Rave.

Learn more about the Shawlands Bike Bus in Glasgow.

Check out Bike Ottawa.

E-Bike City Zurich imagines a city that deprioritizes cars.

Find out about the COP Bike Ride for climate awareness.

Read about Dr. Ian Walker's motonormativity research, along with fun facts about his other life as an ultradistance athlete.

Learn more about Melissa and Chris Bruntlett.

 

 

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Let's say you're thinking of getting an extra cycle, but aren't sure which e-cargo bike

0:09.1

model is right for you.

0:11.5

You can schedule a personal ride review.

0:14.1

That's a one-on-one call with an expert from ExtraCycle who will listen to what you want,

0:19.3

ask questions about how you might use a bike, and help you find the perfect extra cycle that works for your life.

0:25.6

Even if you live in a place that isn't exactly a biking paradise.

0:29.6

Take Marie Claire, for example.

0:31.6

She's a mom of two who lives completely car-free in Tallahassee, Florida.

0:36.6

The really challenging thing in Tallahassee is that life is really centered around individual

0:44.6

transportation. There is a public transport system, but it's not extensive and it's not very

0:49.6

reliable. And no one understands that you can live without a car.

0:55.0

As Marie Claire's kids have gotten bigger, staying car free has been a challenge.

1:00.0

We've had to re-decide to not own a car many times.

1:05.0

And in fact, I remember one time where I came this close to buying a car, I even test rode a used car, because I was kind of at my width's end of how to make this work,

1:14.6

but we would recommit to not owning a car.

1:17.6

Riding an extra cycle swoop has enabled Marie Claire and her husband to stay car-free.

1:23.6

To be able to carry a nine and an 11-year-old on a bike,

1:26.6

you really do need, as far as I'm concerned, you really do need the assist of a motor.

1:31.3

It still feels like riding a bike, of course, but you just have more stability, less effort, and you get to your destination a little bit less tired, a little bit more on time.

1:45.0

In a hilly area, you're able to climb hills.

1:48.0

The other thing about the cargo bike is that you really have a lot of capacity for cargo itself,

1:54.0

even with your passengers.

...

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