Anyone should be able to ride a bike to any destination. But they can't. Why not?
Join us as we try to solve this puzzle and make bike transportation possible for everyone.
Bike Networks Now! is a production of Bike Streets. Learn more about how to unlock your city by bike at bikestreets.com
Stefan Carsten is a leading thinker on the future of mobility in Germany. While working at Daimler – yes, that Daimler – his team explored the reallocation of public space in Germany, 50-60% of which goes exclusively to cars. In that role, his team developed the concept for car2go – the Smart Car sharing service. Stefan has described bikes as a new status symbol and the appearance of them as a leading indicator of the successful reallocation of public space. A Ted Talk he gave starts with this question: “What do you see when you leave your home in the morning? Do you see trees, a shopping mall, a restaurant, a coffee?
The Current State of Mobility in Berlin (02:38)
Public Choice vs. Political Policy (05:21)
The Evolution of Urban Mobility (07:27)
Urban Geography and Space Allocation (11:49)
Envisioning Berlin's Future Street Design (13:55)
One-Way Streets as a Tool for Mindset Shift (18:57)
The Paradox of the Bicycle (23:29)
Economic & Community Benefits of Bike Transportation (26:59)
Berlin's Mobility Law & Societal Change (30:34)
Case Studies: Successes and Cautionary Tales in Berlin (36:53)
Community Engagement vs. Crisis Response (43:39)
Futurism as an Exercise in Optimism (48:47)
Closing Remarks (53:00)
23 Oct 2026
Mikael Colville-Andersen: Copenhagenize Design vs. Engineering
Mikael Colville-Andersen is the iconoclastic author of “Copenhagenize” and the forthcoming “Welcome to Analogville”, Founder and former CEO of Copenhagenize Design Company, and the host of the show Life-Sized City. Mikael is one of the preeminent voices in the bike transportation movement, though he has written, “I don’t identify in any way, shape or form, as a cyclist. I am just a modern city dweller who just happens to use a bicycle to get around because it is safe and efficient.”
The Bicycle as the Ultimate Urban Tool (01:06)
Universal, Timeless Design vs. Constant Optimization (03:30)
Traffic Engineering vs. Urban Design (05:40)
The Problem with Traffic Counts over Human Behavior (13:00)
Challenging the Automobile-Centric Paradigm (15:35)
Taking a Design-First, Human-Centered Approach (21:54)
Observing Cyclist Behavior & Questioning Assumptions (27:32)
The Evolution of Copenhagen's Bike Infrastructure (31:10)
Danish Design Principles Applied to Cities vs. Dutch Network Complexity (35:00)
Examples of Rapid Success: Seville, Ljubljana, and Tatarstan (45:30)
Addressing Cost, ROI, and Systemic Benefits (48:40)
Welcome to Analogville & Lessons for Future-Proofing Cities (58:45)
16 Oct 2026
Meredith Glaser: The Transformation of Amsterdam
Dr. Meredith Glaser is the CEO of the Urban Cycling Institute, an urban planning lecturer at the University of Amsterdam, and a Professor of Cycling at Ghent University. This conversation is part of a series with leading European bike thinkers. Austin, Albuquerque, and Albany aren’t Amsterdam, but there’s a lot we can learn from how European cities have navigated many of the same challenges we face in the US. Most of these discussions will be studio recordings, but this is a special conversation I recorded with Dr. Meredith Glaser on the streets of Amsterdam.
Finding Answers to Broken American Bike Networks (00:00)
Why Immersive Experiential Learning Changes Mindsets (03:25)
Transforming Amsterdam Streets via Puccini Method Guidelines (06:56)
Testing Space Reallocation through Interim Tactical Pilots (11:20)
Underwater Garages, Decreasing Car Ownership, Shifting Paradigms (14:39)
Seizing Strategic Windows of Opportunity for Mobility Overhauls (21:44)
Rapid Deployment Secrets Behind Sevilla’s Cycling Boom (25:34)
Traffic Circulation Plans: Lessons from Ghent’s Transformation (35:14)
Fietstraaten Evolution: When Whole Streets Become Bikeways (45:09)
Transitioning Transport Investments toward Values-Based Regional Planning (50:47)
Low-Cost Scalable Infrastructure Solutions for American Cities (57:04)
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