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 ...

In this edition of Spacing Radio, we're talking about public transit announcements. Matthew Kupfer started the VoxTranspo project to collect stories about Canada’s transit soundscape, focused on the stop announcement. The crowd-sourced, nationwide project aims to collect all kinds of stories — from small, personal anecdotes to those concerning larger issues like planning and accessibility. In this podcast, Matthew shares the first stories and sounds he's collected — from Ottawa, Toronto and Edmonton. Have a story or recording to share? E-mail: matthew-dot-kupfer-at-gmail-dot-com. Links from Spacing Shorts 003: VoxTranspo

This episode we take you behind-the-scenes. First, we go to Toronto City Hall where Mayor David Miller has packed his bags to make way for Mayor Rob Ford. Spacing publisher Matthew Blackett and contributor John Lorinc spoke to Miller on one of his last days on the job. Then we stay up into the wee hours with Edward Birnbaum and Maia Filar. The mission? To explore the late-night restaurant scene that caters to cab drivers. And finally, streetcars are an iconic part of the Toronto streetscape, but ever wonder who is tasked ...

In this episode of Spacing Radio we explore the topic of elimination - eliminating jogs, reducing unsustainable quick fixes, and phasing out cash fares. Spacing contributor Andrew Walsh tours Toronto's newly re-aligned Queen & Dufferin intersection with Councillor Gord Perks to find out how 'jogs' play into a city's street grid. Spacing Atlantic's Veronica Simmonds takes us to Dalhousie University for a discussion on sustainable growth featuring David Donnelly and Bruce Lourie. And, Spacing's Luca de Franco looks into the future of the Presto electronic fare-card system ...

Spacing Radio is back for Season Four and we’re jumping right into Toronto’s election debate! This election has been zany, to say the least. We go to Toronto Star columnist Christopher Hume for his take on why candidates have strayed so far off topic. And leading up to voting day, reporter Daniel Guillemette is on the campaign trail looking at how the front-runners are using our public spaces. Also in this episode, all the election talk about the so-called "war on the car" got producer Mieke Anderson thinking about the traffic lights ...

George Smitherman loves to walk. Earlier this week, in fact, he walked along Eglinton — all the way across Toronto. Spacing's Todd Harrison caught up with him yesterday in Leaside, and they walked and talked until just west of Victoria Park. Todd asked how Smitherman’s vision for Toronto applied to walkability, and what he as mayor would do to improve walking conditions in suburban communities. Smitherman, however, does not see walking as an issue-in-itself. Integration is his buzzword, and as such, he thinks of walking primarily as a means to connect people ...

Sometimes exploring a city means just shutting your eyes and listening. In this soundscape, Spacing producer Mieke Anderson takes you underground into the Glasgow subway system. Affectionately known as "the Clockwork Orange" because of its orange subway cars and circular route, Glasgow's underground dates back to 1896 making it the third oldest in the world. Recently, the city was considering shutting down parts of the system if they couldn't come up with the money for a massive modernization plan (the route itself hasn't changed in over a century). In April, an ...

Spacing Radio reporter Monika Warzecha sat down recently with writers Richard Gilbert and Anthony Perl. The second edition of Gilbert and Perl’s book, Transport Revolutions: Moving People and Freight without Oil, itemizes five major changes in transportation that have altered its course and development. And the rate of change is about to increase rapidly. “We feel that environment and energy considerations are leading us to a threshold where change will again be concentrated,” Perl told Spacing. “That’s why we need to refamiliarize ourselves with transport revolutions.” Links to stuff from Spacing Radio's Summer Shorts 009: website about the ...

Ask a bunch of people their definitions of a 'complete street' and you're bound to get a whole bunch of different answers. In today's SUMMER SHORT, reporter Andrew Walsh explores what it means to share our roads. He attended the 2010 Complete Streets Forum this past April and spoke with Barbara McCann, credited with coining the phrase, and New York City's Assistant Commissioner for Planning and Sustainability Andy Wiley-Schwartz. Links to stuff from Spacing Radio's Summer Shorts 006 Barbara McCann: National Complete Streets Coalition Andy Wiley-Schwartz: New York City Department of Transportation

[powerpress] 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 ...