The Monday Roundup: Bikes in the military, self-enforcing streets, a futuristic street, and more

Welcome to Monday.

Here are the most notable stories our editors and readers came across in the past seven days.

But first… This week’s Monday Roundup is made possible by Nossa Familia Coffee, a Portland-based company who gives 50 cents from every bag of their yummy Full Cycle blend to organizations working to build a healthier and more accessible community through cycling.

Now let’s get you caught up…

Neighborhood of the future: This profile of the “15-minute city” vibes on Clement Street in San Francisco is an intriguing view of how cities and neighborhoods have changed/should change as we adjust to the new Covid normal.

VanMoof’s activism: VanMoof is calling out the paternalistic regulations on electric bicycles with their new, super-fast e-bike and I’m excited for the debate it has sparked.

Bikes at war: Bikes were used by troops in World War I, now the Australian military thinks it might be time to use them again. This time around however, they’re testing silent models that can reach speeds of 55 mph!

What about cars: The technology to prevent people from using electric bikes and scooters dangerously is truly impressive and it begs the question: Why the hell aren’t car companies installing similar tech in their cars and why aren’t cities forcing them to?

Biking while black: A new research paper not only draws a clear line between a lack of bike lanes and more ticketing of Black bicycle users, it also says more bike infrastructure would lead to more racial justice.

Opposed to traffic enforcement? Read this: “It’s incoherent to oppose traffic enforcement and support automobile hegemony if you’re a progressive,” says emerging, Berkeley-based urbanist leader Darrell Owens.

More on Owens: The Atlantic went deep into Owens’ impact on the Berkeley traffic policing and infrastructure debate and his impressive push for “self-enforcing” streets where traffic cops would be made obsolete by design.

EV trucks are just deadlier weapons: The leader of Transportation Alternatives is sounding the alarm about how the auto industry’s embrace of electric trucks is a greenwashing campaign, “that will make our streets run red”.

The self-driving car myth: Author Peter Norton shares about his new book that exposes how the narrative that cars will drive themselves is part of yet another propaganda push from the auto industrial complex to hide the vast negative externalities of their products.

Schumer on a bike: I recall when NYC was cracking down on Manhattan’s ubiquitous e-bike food delivery riders, now one of the most powerful politicians on Capitol Hill, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, has done a ride with them and is promising infrastructure to make their jobs easier.

Video of the Week: The UK’s “Bike is Best” campaign has a fantastic new ad:

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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