Andy Boenau

America’s morning ritual is treating kids like packages instead of people. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

Corporate media outlets have found a new click-bait genre: the terrifying e-bike. Social media warriors and neighborhood busybodies are all in a tizzy. usa.streetsblog.org/2026/09/11/i... @usa.streetsblog.org

Click-bait media outlets would have you think we should drop everything and do something about the scary threat of battery-powered bicycles and battery-powered motorcycles. But are either the biggest threat that road users face? usa.streetsblog.org/2026/09/11/i...

I care about e-bike safety 0.2% of the time. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

In a city where public transit has good coverage, you can walk anywhere. A transit trip is a walking trip.

Here's an unconventional reading list for my fellow agents of culture change. 13 books not about urbanism that will lead to better urbanism. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

Don’t let the Jaws Effect kill your bike advocacy! open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

If you want to have any hope of persuading people, you’ve got to first understand how the human mind works. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

Trauma Bond: A strong emotional bond formed between a victim and their abuser during prolonged exposure to trauma or captivity. Americans endure miserable commutes but insist there's no other way to travel.

This feels real.

The hating on quick-build bike lane networks by pro-bike academics and advocates is silly rage bait, so I hope they don’t discourage you. Absolutely support premium infrastructure, but establish networks now that get people riding now. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

Paint and flex posts are a good strategy, not a consolation prize. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

Pro-bike academics and advocates sometimes fall into this trap of attacking quick-build bike lane projects because a painted buffer doesn't protect you like concrete would. Don't be that guy. Capture the territory with paint & posts while pursuing funding for premium builds.

Transportation experts will say the road expansion project is worth it, but that's because they're leaving out the most expensive costs in their analysis. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

The roughly one-third of Americans who don’t drive—seniors who’ve stopped, people with disabilities, low-income households who can’t afford a car, people in transit-served cities—are subsidizing infrastructure they use little or not at all. www.fastcompany.com/91540490/gas... @fastcompany.com

You don't have to wait generations to make generational change. Capture the territory first, then harden over time. www.fastcompany.com/91540493/roa...

Our instinct is to judge anyone who relies on mental shortcuts. But it’s human nature and we all do it. Once you accept that, you can better communicate with people instead of talking past people. www.fastcompany.com/91522052/how...

Exclusion got repackaged as neighborhood character. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

The housing crisis is a storytelling problem. www.fastcompany.com/91518297/hou...

"We walked a lot and sometimes rode bikes to doctor’s appointments, the stores, the pool. But my mom’s favorite assignments were the ones to towns and cities with good public transportation, the places where a person with a vision problem had no problem getting around." www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...

Sound economics will open the doors to abundant housing. www.fastcompany.com/91509561/if-...

Maybe we're doing public engagement wrong. www.fastcompany.com/91505393/tra... @fastcompany.com

Be deeply skeptical of any report on the economic costs of traffic congestion. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

Putting already careless and reckless drivers in large vehicles without any sort of demonstrated skill is asking for trouble. www.fastcompany.com/91496840/we-...

Lunch-break analysis should happen long before rush hour traffic analysis. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

Productivity, and alleged lost productivity, has driven most of the conversation around traffic congestion and sprawl in the United States. While “time is money” is true in some contexts, it’s a terrible starting point for planning transportation systems. www.fastcompany.com/91496835/tim...

There are absolutely valid concerns about autonomous vehicles. But remember that humans are causing a public health crisis that kills tens of thousands every year. www.fastcompany.com/91485413/if-...

I think it was Frank Drebin who wisely said free parking and Drano both have benefits.

If you’re like most drivers, public transit is for other people. But here’s the thing: investing in better buses and trains could make your commute faster and less stressful, without you ever setting foot on one. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

A surprisingly small drop in cars on the road—just 5-10%—can dramatically ease congestion, and public transit is one of the most effective ways to get that drop. www.fastcompany.com/91493803/whe...

Every day on social media:

Once upon a time, did Americans flock to dealerships out of pure need—or were they herded by subversive forces? Was it free will or predestination? www.fastcompany.com/91480898/psy...

The automobile’s rise was a master class in what the military would call a psychological operation, a psy-op. In a flash, the “household automobile” became the “personal automobile,” thanks to advertising genius that turned utility into aspiration. www.fastcompany.com/91480898/psy...

State lawmakers don't realize they're making life more dangerous for school-aged kids. www.fastcompany.com/91480894/is-... In VA, some politicians are threatening to ban safety cameras even though:

Lessons from the cockpit that was designed to fit zero pilots. www.fastcompany.com/91481684/wha...

The Highway Trust Fund is in a state of bankruptcy, but we keep chugging along as if there’s no real financial urgency. www.fastcompany.com/91469982/ame... @fastcompany.com

When people don’t feel secure on public transit, they opt out. Some of you will want to get defensive about real vs. perceived security, but you can't ignore human nature. Go the extra mile to improve transit conditions. www.fastcompany.com/91469963/wan... @fastcompany.com

We shouldn’t be aiming to nudge a few percentage points in public opinion. Our goal should be to make freedom of mobility so compelling that people demand it. usa.streetsblog.org/2026/01/13/o...

I hope you feel something between discomfort and rage when you hear about people being forced to let a road widening take over their front yard, or being forced to move out of their home to make way for some corporation. www.urbanismspeakeasy.com/p/the-busine...

Zoning will keep killing the squirrels. www.urbanismspeakeasy.com/p/the-purpos...

After the Kelo case, many states reconsidered the whole "greater good" defense of eminent domain. But there are still lots of loopholes for taking property by force. www.fastcompany.com/91463687/cas...

In many states, you can get kicked out of your home if the local government thinks someone else will generate more tax revenue. My latest in @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91463687/cas...

Local regulations created (and continue to create) car-oriented sprawl in cities and the suburbs. This has been going on for nearly 100 years without taking a foot off the brake. Planners need to confront zoning as the Villain. www.fastcompany.com/91463800/bui...

"Normal science" is the activity in which most scientists spend almost all of their time, and it's predicated on the assumption that the scientific community knows what the world is like. Zoning has a "normal science" problem. www.fastcompany.com/91460628/zon...

I still can't believe Trump is going to Make Trucks Great Again. 🙌

When you study history, you can’t help but be overwhelmed by how often things get better in the end—and how quickly the transformation can happen once it begins. www.fastcompany.com/91450326/ber...

Claim: Zoning helps more people than it hurts. Evidence: Zoning hurts more people than it helps. Planning Inc: Let’s keep trying more zoning.

It’s disappointing that the intellectual energy to improve the built environment is still coming from outside Planning Inc. or from planners who first had to unlearn much of what they were taught. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...