We met up with John J. Bauters, Mayor of Emeryville, CA to learn more about his experience as arguably one of the most bike-friendly mayors in the U.S. In this rider story, John takes us on a tour of Emeryville, talks about his upbringing, and how others can inspire change no matter what city they live in. How did he become mayor? What motivates him to prioritize building infrastructure for people and not cars? Watch to find out. A special thank you to Blue Heron Bikes in Berkeley, and to Riese & Muller for supporting this video.
Timecodes:
0:00 Who is John Bauters?
1:00 Riese and Muller Load 60
1:25 What is Emeryville?
1:40 Living a car-free lifestyle
2:05 Building infrastructure around bicycles
2:38 Electric vehicles are not the answer
3:05 Lifetime cost of owning a vehicle
4:10 Branding a bicycle in the United States
5:00 Emeryville bicycle infrastructure
6:00 Continuous bicycle infrastructure is necessary
6:45 Helping families commute by bike
7:40 Greenway bike trail
8:45 San Francisco Bay Trail
8:50 How to change bike infrastructure in your city
9:50 Getting involved with city decision making
11:00 Older people are over-represented in government
12:00 Anybody can create change in their city
13:50 How to make roads less car-oriented
16:30 Adding more freeway lanes makes more traffic
17:50 Answering twitter questions
18:25 Feeling calm in public space
19:40 How to move the city into being less car-dependent
20:40 Using cargo bikes for business use
21:20 How to get politicians interested in bikes
22:55 Most important bike infrastructure
23:30 John Bauters rides a cargo bike
#bikeinfrastructure #bikecity #bikecommuting
MusicBed ID: MB01SQNGVBBHMFX
24 Comments
I have to have a car for my area, because I can bike in my suburban/rural hybrid area, and I can bike in my town, but I can't bike on the highway between them, not even legally. I have to drive to a public parking area about ten miles from home, then I can bike everywhere else from there. Even then, I still deal with the caveat that my town's bike pathing is a gravel trail that used to be a cargo train line. I've popped tires multiple times because things sometimes get hidden in the gravel that I'd see and probably even bother to stop and clean up on pavement. Other than this repurposed gravel rail line, there are almost no bike pathings in this entire city, other than a random strip with bike path symbols next to a McDonalds. Places in the U.S. like where I live could absolutely take a hint from developments in other areas of the country like this. Even though the gravel path is all I got to get around, I make use of it, and I've been able to successfully use it to get everywhere I need, of course with the caveat of having to go by car to cross a highway, but with far less fuel spent than the other options I have at my disposal. And I get to socialize with the occasional person I end up riding alongside, which has led to me meeting a lot of new faces even though I've not been doing this routine very long.
Bicycles, ebikes, electric cargo bicycles, robo taxis and escooters are great options for last mile, short distance travel.
Reduced transportation costs and fossil fuels free transportation.
Cities need to do more to encourage people to ride bicycles by providing SAFE, PROTECTED BIKE LANES and trails. Every adult and child should own a bicycle and ride it regularly. Bicycles are healthy exercise and fossil fuels free transportation. Electric bicycles are bringing many older adults back to cycling. Ride to work, ride to school, ride for health or ride for fun. Children should be able to ride a bicycle to school without having to dodge cars and trucks. Separated and protected bike lanes are required. It will also make the roads safer for automobile drivers. Transportation planners and elected officials need to encourage people to walk, bike and take public transportation. Healthy exercise and fossil fuels free transportation. In the future cities will be redesigned for people not cars. Crazy big parking lots will be transformed with solar canopies generating free energy from the sun.
As a person from the bay area and who has been to emeryville by train, this is amazing
This mayor is incredible (by US standards, that is) but I guess he is labeled as "un-American" by the reactionary and car advocates flock?
This guy is incredible. He understands how the systems work, he sees how they interconnect (like how car dependence relates to social mobility and working conditions), and seems genuine and passionate and actually in touch. My fucking goat.
Great interview. What an awesome mayor. Portland Oregon has good infrastructure but mayor John is at another level! I love the path thru the building and couldn't help giggle at the four seasons landscaping t-shirt.
this is a real mayor for the people.
I thought the title said bikini utopia, watched the video for three minutes confused
I like what you are doing there, Mr. Mayor. I live in a very rural area and I love it because the roads are lightly traveled but I also love visiting my daughter in Phoenix because it's a great place to bike. When I'm home I ride my bike almost every day to town to take packages to the post office and get groceries. I see foxes and all sorts of wildlife. When I ride my long wheelbase recumbent I get to meet a lot of people because they are all interested in the bike. I wave to people on their front porches and they call out "Cool bike" and it's so much more fun than taking the car. I dream of living car-free but it's not practical where I live. But I can use the bike as much as possible and that saves me a lot of money and keeps me fit.
As far as my car is concerned it should be made an empty metal shell sunk to bottom of the sea and become a reef. My city is all for cars and very dangerous for everybody, including drivers. Also, many drivers have attitudes (bad) towards two wheeled transportation.
Love this guy! He's both informed and idealistic.
That Major is one in a million. We need more like him, and you!
I applaud you two.
crazy good audio for recording while biking
Love this! As a fairly new converted cyclist in Florida… it’s a lonely journey but worth continuing in the right direction! Thank you!!
Love this so much!!
Quite a good change!
I hope I can take some of that energy to germany haha… we also have a big car culture.
Bike lanes are great for all small towns.
This is such a charming interview!!!
Being Dutch, it's so cool to see safe bicycle infrastructures starting to arise in the USA. There are so many benefits to this.
I think he's cooler than Mayor Wu. She's been caught riding around in an SUV, running red lights, and causing accidents. Definitely not cool
What a W mayor. Bro is so cool fr
"It's fueled on breakfast burritos", lol.
The moment a mayor figures out how to make a bikable city actually affordable, it will be big. I have yet to see a video like this going over a city with a mayor who's friendly to all this sort of stuff and affordability.
It always seems to be one or the other which is reeeaaal interesting because I KNOW the math shows less car dependancy results in better finances, so these assholes are just pocketing the money and refusing to let poor people into their utopia dream.
Four Seasons Total Landscaping ha!