In this episode, I am joined by Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear to discuss their new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, which was inspired in part by their podcast, The War on Cars. Topics discussed include the origins of The War on Cars podcast name, having a good car management plan like the one implemented in Ghent, school streets, bike buses, the enhanced sociability of traffic-calmed streets, and so much more.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Life After Cars: on Bookshop.org or on Amazon
👉 My Bruce Appleyard episode
👉 My recent episode with Tim Gill
👉 Bike Bus video playlist
👉 Montclair Bike Bus profile
👉 My Paris School Streets video
👉 15 Minutes Cities conspiracy shirt by Tom Flood
👉 My Peter Norton playlist

Thank you so much for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and be sure to subscribe to the Active Towns Channel on YouTube for more content, or if you prefer, you can find and subscribe to the Pod on most major Podcatcher listening platforms.

If you are a fan of the Active Towns Podcast, please consider supporting the effort as an Active Towns Ambassador in the following ways:
1. Join our Patreon community. Contributions start at just $3 per month
2. If you enjoyed this episode, you can also “leave a tip” through “Buy Me a Coffee”
3. Make a donation to my non-profit, Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc., to help support my pro bono work with cities

Credits:
– Video and audio production by John Simmerman
– Music via Epidemic Sound

Resources used during the production of this video:
– My recording platform is Ecamm Live
– Editing software Adobe Creative Cloud Suite
– Equipment: Contact me for a complete list

For more information about the Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit our links below:
– Active Towns Website
– Active Towns on Bluesky
– Periodic e-Newsletter

Background:
Hi Everyone! My name is John Simmerman, and I’m a health promotion and public health professional with over 30 years of experience. Over the years, my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization in how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

Since 2010,  I’ve been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be while striving to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a “Culture of Activity” for “All Ages & Abilities.”

The Active Towns Channel features my original video content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks once again for tuning in! I hope you find this content helpful and insightful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2025