Spacing sat down with Adrian Corry, an international transit consultant, to discuss recent trends in public transportation and how different technologies can be used to serve different civic need. Corry said that in order to get people out of their cars and into transit, the experience must improve. “People are used to riding in their cars. They have their sense of being in control: they have their own coffee, they have their ability to connect, they have their cellphones, they can listen to the radio. And they feel basically that they are in control of the situation,” he said.  Essentially, public transit must be able to compete with this in order to make trading in your car for the subway the more attractive option. He also noted that cities must look elsewhere when considering their own transit options.  “Looking at what other cities are doing, what else is happening around the world is absolutely an imperative,” he said.

Listen to this great chat by pressing the "play in new window" link at the top of this post. Or subscribe to Spacing Radio on iTunes.

NOTE: This edition of Spacing Radio represents the finale of our first season. We're going to take a bit of a break. Look for another podcast in a couple of months.

Join us as we listen in on a handful of the 117 walks Torontonians led and attended as part of this year's Jane's Walk.

In this podcast, we'll travel to Bloor and Lansdowne, Kipling and Steeles, the Lower Don Lands, and the Geary Avenue hydro corridor. Also, host David Michael Lamb talks to organizer Jane Farrow about how this year's Jane's Walk events played their part in documenting and celebrating what Jane Jacobs (for whom Jane's Walk is named) famously called "the complexity of the sidewalk ballet."

Plus, we'll hear music by local independent band Hooded Fang.

Links to stuff from Spacing Radio 006

• Jane's Walk: the website, and the list of Toronto walks
• Jane Jacobs: her Project for Public Spaces bio and Wikipedia entry
• Mayor's Tower Renewal: the project's official site
• Lower Don Lands: redevelopment details on the WaterfronToronto website
• Hooded Fang: the band's MySpace page, CBC Radio 3 page, and Zunior.com catalog entry

New York City Commissioner of Transportation Janette Sadik-Khan came to Toronto on Earth Day to speak at an event organized by Walk and Bike for Life. She spoke extensively about cycling (calling it not an alternative mode of transit, but something mainstream and ideally suited to the flat terrain of New York), but she also went much, much further. We feature almost her entire speech in this episode, and you've got to hear it to believe it.

Sadik-Khan outlines her plan to transform her city's grid into a network of shared spaces that favour people instead of cars. She calls her office the Department of Placemaking in New York, and her accomplishments and proposals -- including major new policies to massively expand the cycling network, prioritize transit, and give streets back to people through new design concepts and special community-based street closures -- provide a fantastic blueprint for Toronto.

Then, Nancy Smith-Lea of the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation gives reporter Megan Hall a hometown perspective on the state of cycling in Toronto, citizen support for the bike plan, and what roadblocks need to be overcome to get more lanes painted. She also provides a preview of the upcoming Bike Summit on May 28th at the Toronto Novotel Centre.

We'll also check in with long-time Spacing contributor Fred Sztabinski, who lives and bikes in the unofficial world cycling capital of Amsterdam.

Plus, we feature music by Toronto band Spiral Beach.

Links to stuff from Spacing Radio 005

• Walk and Bike for Life: the organization's website
• NYC Department of Transportation: the home page, and the section on cycling
• Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation: TCAT's website, and details about the bike summit
• Fred Sztabinski: Fred's post on the Spacing Toronto blog about people who cycle as a family in Amsterdam
• Spiral Beach: the group's website and MySpace page

As Earth Day approaches, Spacing Radio sent host David Michael Lamb to sit down down and discuss Toronto's sustainability ambitions with Mayor David Miller. While the mayor is hopeful that his eco agenda is working for Toronto, city hall observers like Katrina Miller of the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) worry about the bureaucratic gridlock that is delaying much needed projects and initiatives. Spacing Radio reporter Megan Hall learns how the iconic wind turbine on the CNE grounds operates. All this, plus music by Final Fantasy.

Links to stuff from Spacing Radio 004

• The Eco Agenda: Toronto's Live Green web site and Mayor's Tower Renewal
• Bureaucratic Gridlock: TEA's 2008 city hall green report card
• Toronto's Green Icon: All about the CNE wind turbine
• Final Fantasy: web site, MySpace, Facebook, and Blocks Recording Club

The next issue of Spacing, due out in mid-April, will focus on Toronto's "grey spaces" -- those places that feel public but aren't, and as such, come with strings attached that can limit one's ability to explore, use, or develop them. We explore these areas further in the third episode of Spacing Radio.

First, Spacing senior editor Shawn Micallef takes host David Michael Lamb to Yonge-Dundas Square for an examination of the rules of engagement for Toronto's grey spaces.

Then, DML and Wavelength co-founder Jonny Dovercourt discuss the cultural importance of independent book and record shops as hubs and rallying points for the city's arts communities.

And reporter Megan Hall takes us through the struggles of an architect who is trying to build a house in a laneway in Parkdale, but is running into all kinds of roadblocks at the City's Works department.

All this, plus music by Gentleman Reg -- who's new album, Jet Black, was just released on Arts+Crafts.

Links to stuff from Spacing Radio 003

• Yonge-Dundas Square: the square's official site and Wikipedia article about the history of the corner and the management of the square.
• Indie book and record shops: websites for Soundscapes, Rotate This, and Pages Books.
• Laneway housing: a great post on Urbanphoto.net by Spacing Montreal contributor Christopher DeWolf.

Spacing Radio headed to Hamilton last week for the Ontario NDP leadership convention to find out if a new leader will have any affect on how politicians tackle city issues at Queen's Park. Host David Michael Lamb sits down with Spacing senior editor Dylan Reid, who blogged and Tweeted from the floor of the convention, and publisher Matthew Blackett who talked to the candidates -- including eventual winner Andrea Horwath -- about their platforms.

You’ll also hear from Spacing Radio reporter Megan Hall who chats with contributing editor John Lorinc about his upcoming article in the spring issue of Spacing. John profiles Toronto's first radical public health officer, Charles Hastings, and the plan 100 years ago to bring sanitation and good health to local slums.

And what would a debate between Toronto's first mayor and our current mayor sound like? Spacing Radio dropped in on William Lyon MacKenzie vs. David Miller during Toronto's 175th anniversary celebrations. Our featured musical act is Caribou -- formerly known as Manitoba -- a Hamilton-area DJ whose career took off while he attended the University of Toronto.

Links to stuff from Spacing Radio 002

• NDP Candidates: Michael Prue, Peter Tabuns, Gilles Bisson
• A New Leader: Andrea Horwath's leadership site and MPP site
• From The Convention: Spacing's Dylan Reid reports from Hamilton
• Charles Hastings: Wikipedia profile
• Toronto's 175th Anniversary: Events and celebrations
• Caribou: web site, MySpace, Facebook, and iTunes

Welcome to Spacing Radio's pilot show. In our first podcast our host David Michael Lamb jumps right into the thick of things with a sit-down interview with former London mayor Ken Livingstone. In early 2003, Red Ken ushered in a congestion charge for anyone driving into the core of London. It was a radical idea but something London needed to implement to remain a globally competitive city. What can Toronto and other cities learn from London's experience? Livingstone gives us his insight.

You'll also hear the opinions of regular Torontonians on road pricing.  Spacing publisher Matthew Blackett will drop by to fill you in on why Spacing has started a podcast show and what to expect in the upcoming issue of the magazine. And what would a radio show be like without music? Our featured Toronto band is The Bicycles.

Links to stuff from Spacing Radio 001

• Congestion Charges: City of London's web site and Wikipedia primer
• Ken Livingstone: Wikipedia profile and 2008 election site
• Spacing Toronto: blog posts and article links on "road tolls"
• The Bicycles: web site, MySpace, Facebook, and iTunes