The Future of Transportation Has Arrived With Your Pad Thai

The Future of Transportation Has Arrived With Your Pad Thai

Author: The War on Cars, LLC January 16, 2024 Duration: 37:38
The War on Cars
SocietySociety & CultureCommentaryCultureNews

Baruch Herzfeld is the CEO and co-founder of PopWheels, where he is working to develop New York City's first e-bike battery-swapping network. PopWheels aims to solve the growing problem of e-bike battery fires. The company believes that giving e-mobility users a quick, convenient, and safe way to recharge their batteries is absolutely essential to pushing gas-burning cars and trucks out of cities once and for all. But Baruch's really big idea is this: He is betting that the light, clean, electric transportation fleet of the future is already up and running on the streets of New York City. And it isn't being brought to us by Big Tech, Big Auto or Elon Musk, it is being driven by tens of thousands of immigrant e-bike delivery workers. What if there is a high-tech urban mobility revolution happening right under our noses, but we can't see it because the people who are bringing it to our city are mostly invisible to us?

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LINKS:

Baruch Herzfeld's battery-swapping company, PopWheels: Stop Charging, Start Swapping

Mayor Adams Launches Lithium-ion Battery-Charging Pilot for Delivery Workers to Safely Charge in Public, NYC.gov, December 5, 2023

When will NYC do something about e-bike fire deaths? Nicole Gelinas for the New York Post, November 19, 2023

F.D.N.Y. Commissioner Blames E-Commerce Giants in Deadly Battery Fires, by Michael Rothfeld for the New York Times, November 13, 2023

E-bike charging stations coming to NYCHA in wake of deadly lithium-ion battery fires, New York Daily News, June 25, 2023 

Opinion: E-bike Battery Regulation Isn't Anti-immigrant or Anti-worker. It's Common Sense. By Baruch Herzfeld in City Limits, November 14, 2022

Brooklyn's Bicycle Man Uses Two Wheels To Bring Hasids and Hipsters Together, by Nathaniel Popper for The Forward, August 29, 2009

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This episode was reported, produced and edited by Aaron Naparstek. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.

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Imagine a world not built around traffic jams and parking lots, but shaped for people. The War on Cars is a dispatch from the front lines of that effort, a collective conversation questioning the automobile’s dominance over our cities, our environment, and our daily lives. Each episode digs into the real-world fight to reclaim public space, examining everything from the politics of a new bike lane to the history of how cars came to rule. You’ll hear from urban planners, activists, historians, and ordinary people pushing back, offering a mix of sharp analysis, on-the-ground reporting, and compelling narratives. This isn’t just about transportation; it’s about the culture and societal choices that have led us here, and the tangible, often inspiring work to create safer, quieter, and more connected communities. Tune in for a thoughtful and necessary critique of the status quo, a podcast dedicated to the idea that our streets can-and should-be for so much more.
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