Interviews
Streetsblog Basics
‘Human Transit’ 2.0: How Mass Modes Make Us More Free
We sat down with Jarrett Walker to talk about the newly updated edition of his seminal work, and how the growth of the mobility justice movement has (and hasn’t) reshaped the conversation.
February 14, 2024
How Can Sustainable Transportation Advocates Help End Poverty? An Interview with Matthew Desmond
One in nine Americans live in poverty, and millions more live in a precarious place somewhere between precarity and true security. A new book argues that we can all play a role in challenging the systems and individual choices that "keep poor people poor" for benefit for everyone else.
April 27, 2023
Meet The New Boss: Assembly Corporations Chair Kenneth Zebrowski on His Plans For MTA Oversight
Here's our conversation with the Assembly member who just landed the plum job of overseeing the MTA!
January 13, 2023
‘It Ain’t 94 Percent’: NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy Discusses the Role of Human Error in Car Crashes
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy talks to Streetsblog about how why it's so important to say the right things about our national traffic crash crisis.
February 2, 2022
Transportation Engineers Are Ethically Bound to Protect Public Safety. Too Many Do Not.
Licensed transportation engineers are supposed to abide by an ethical code of conduct that places the highest priority on public safety. But if you look outside at the closest street, you'll probably see the result of engineering decisions that are antithetical to protecting people's lives.
October 11, 2017
Keith Benjamin Brings a Fresh Perspective to City Streets in Charleston
After developing policies to make transportation systems more equitable at U.S. DOT under Anthony Foxx, Keith Benjamin is helming the city DOT in Charleston.
September 11, 2017
Ryan Russo on NYC’s Bike Network Progress, Community Boards, and the Evolution of DOT
Russo discusses the state of bike network development, the potential introduction of different types of safety improvements to NYC streets, and how the public process for street redesign projects might be improved.
May 9, 2017
Q&A With Ryan Russo on the Early Days of the Plaza Program and Protected Bike Lanes in NYC
Few people have been so closely involved in the transformation of the city's streets over such a long period of time as Ryan Russo. So between his last day at NYC DOT and his move to the West Coast, I caught up with him to get an insider's perspective on more than a dozen years of change to NYC streets.
May 8, 2017
Q&A With Dongho Chang, a Traffic Engineer Who Stresses Safety Over Speed
Dongho Chang belongs to a new generation of transportation engineers who see their job as more than moving cars. His work with Seattle DOT has established the city as a national leader on designing multi-modal streets. We recently spoke to Chang about his work in Seattle and how the profession is changing.
February 14, 2017
Public Advocate Tish James Wants More Movement on Vision Zero
As a council member representing Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, and parts of Crown Heights, Tish James was a vocal proponent of redesigning Grand Army Plaza and other street safety initiatives. Since her election to the public advocate's office two years ago, James has amplified her message about the need to rethink city streets, advocating for better laws to safeguard pedestrians, more protected bike lanes, and bus rapid transit.
January 26, 2016