Curb Enthusiasm

Latest Episodes:

Episode 9: How Street Designs Differ Around the World, and How to Design Them for Kids, with Skye Duncan Jun 23, 2025

Show notes

Global Designing Cities Initiative Executive Director Skye Duncan joins Emily Weidenhof and Jason Banrey to discuss her work in cities around the world and the importance of designing streets with children in mind. Duncan is an urban designer with 20 years of experience in architecture, urban design, and planning, who previously served as a senior urban designer at the New York City Department of City Planning.

Episode 8 (Part 2): Eric Beaton on the Truth About Daylighting, Why Bike Lanes Benefit Everyone, and the Future of Vision Zero May 20, 2025

Show notes

Eric Beaton and Emily Weidenhof discuss the surprising findings from NYC DOT’s daylighting study, how we determine the placement for speed and red-light cameras, why bike lanes benefit everyone, and the future of Vision Zero.

Episode 8 (Part 1): Eric Beaton on Why Your Street May Feel More Congested and How Data Informs DOT Projects May 06, 2025

Show notes

Eric Beaton, NYC DOT deputy commissioner for transportation planning and management joins Emily Weidenhof to discuss how NYC DOT collects data, why road users’ feelings don’t always match traffic data, how we’re using data to inform transportation planning, and more. This is part one of a two-part episode.

Episode 7: The Online Shopping Effect: How eCommerce Is Reshaping Deliveries and Cities With Dr. Anne Goodchild Mar 31, 2025

Show notes

Emily Weidenhof is joined by Diniece Mendes, Assistant Commissioner for Transit Development at NYC DOT, for a conversation with Dr. Anne Goodchild centered on freight systems, the rise of ecommerce, and the role of government in freight policy. Goodchild is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Washington, and founding director of the Urban Freight Lab. She leads the university’s academic research efforts focusing on supply chain, logistics, and freight transportation.

Episode 6: Killed by a Traffic Engineer With Wes Marshall Feb 27, 2025

Show notes

Emily Weidenhof is joined by Nick Carey, traffic engineer and director of school safety at NYC DOT, for a conversation with Wes Marshall, author of Killed by a Traffic Engineer and professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Denver. The conversation focuses on the critical role of engineering in traffic safety, how planners and engineers react to traffic deaths, and the value of empirical science and research in designing streets.

Episode 5: Making Transportation More Inclusive with Veronica Davis Jan 16, 2025

Show notes

Emily Weidenhof and Diniece Mendes are joined by Veronica Davis, author of Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities, to discuss the importance of collaboration among planners and engineers, the need to have empathy and curiosity in transportation projects, tips for practical community outreach, and equity in urban planning across neighborhoods.

Episode 4: Building Better Bike Networks with NACTO Executive Director Ryan Russo Dec 18, 2024

Show notes

On this episode, Emily Weidenhof is joined by Shawn Macias, director of the bike unit at NYC DOT, for a conversation with National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) Executive Director Ryan Russo. The conversation focuses on the process of building bike networks in cities across the country, the role equity plays in transportation planning, how streets serve different road users, the impact of public support and outreach on projects, and so much more.

Episode 3: Innovation, Infrastructure, and Equity in Transportation with MTA Board Member Midori Valdivia Nov 21, 2024

Show notes

On this episode of Curb Enthusiasm, Emily Weidenhof and Diniece Mendes chat with Midori Valdivia, a board member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and a veteran of major transportation agencies in New York City, including the MTA, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. The conversation focuses on the importance of buses, how transportation needs evolve at different stages of life, how street safety can be fun and make neighborhoods more livable, how cities can work together on transportation, equity and opportunity in the transportation field, and much more.

Episode 2: The High Cost of Free Parking with Donald Shoup Oct 15, 2024

Show notes

On this episode of Curb Enthusiasm, Emily is joined by Diniece Mendes, NYC DOT Director of the Office of Freight Mobility, for a conversation with Donald Shoup, UCLA professor and author of The High Cost of Free Parking. Donald’s research focuses on land economics, public finance, transportation, and parking.Shoup describes how cities can benefit from a change in curb parking rates based on market pricing, how cities can better manage limited curb space, and what the future of urban parking looks like in major cities.

Episode 1: The Future of Transportation in the United States Sep 09, 2024

Show notes

Our guest, United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg, discusses the transportation sector’s role in addressing the climate crisis, reconnecting communities divided by urban highways, reducing traffic fatalities, building the support needed to bring big ideas to fruition, and her proudest accomplishments at U.S. DOT, among other topics. In true Curb Enthusiasm fashion, she also opines on the most annoying breach of subway etiquette. This episode was recorded in July 2024.

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