Pedestrian Deaths – David & Wes dig into a surprising shift in pedestrian safety and ask a harder question: are streets actually getting safer, or are we just seeing a temporary drop in risk? After years of rising fatalities, recent numbers suggest a modest improvement, but the pattern is anything but consistent. They explore whether this reflects real progress from design changes and enforcement, shifting travel behavior, or simply volatility in a system that still produces predictable danger. It’s a conversation about what it would actually look like if we knew how to make streets safer, and why the data do not quite tell that story yet.

Other topics: 🔹 The Secretary of Transportation’s road trip reality show 🔹 Gas prices & the resiliency value of transit 🔹 Should we be subsidizing ridehail commutes?

Check out our new website!

And subscribe for biweekly conversations about all things transportation.

Additional resources: GHSA’s Report on Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2025 Preliminary Data (January-June)

Wes Marshall & Alejandro Henao. "The shock heard round the suburbs: Assessing the vulnerability, resilience, and transportation affordability of higher fuel price scenarios." Transportation Research Record (2015).

Rachael Bronson & Wes Marshall. "Alternative and adaptive transportation: What household factors support recovery from a drastic increase in gas price?." International Journal of Environmental Science & Technology (2014).

Lyft brings pre-tax commuter benefits deal to 14 more cities

Bruce Schaller. "Can sharing a ride make for less traffic? Evidence from Uber and Lyft and implications for cities." Transport Policy (2021).

Music by Charlie Van Stee (courtesy of bensound)

Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.com or find us at www.lookbothwayspodcast.com, www.davidzipper.com, and www.wesmarshall.org

Gas Prices – David & Wes dig into the upside of high gas prices and why the story is more nuanced than it often seems. While rising costs at the pump can create real challenges, they also explore how higher prices can make other modes more attractive, reinforce location efficiency, and shift how people think about transportation more broadly. It’s a conversation about how gas prices shape behavior, influence our transportation system, and what gets lost when we only talk about them as a political problem.

Other topics: 🔹 Our most harrowing driving experiences 🔹 How we mismeasure road safety 🔹 Indy cars on real Washington, DC streets 🔹 St. Patrick’s Day Rail Drinks

Additional resources:

Check out Chapter 23 (The Mirage of More Mileage) in Wes' Book:

& David's Recent Article: The US Is Counting Traffic Deaths Wrong

International Transport Forum Road Safety Annual Report 2025

‘Freedom revs’: Trump administration, DC mayor unveil details of Washington IndyCar race

Music by Charlie Van Stee (courtesy of bensound)

Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.com or find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org

Mailbag! – David & Wes take listener questions on any and all things transportation. Before doing so, they talk about why David is at the Northwestern Transportation Library. The answer? He’s writing a book about congestion pricing called The Price of Traffic.

Other topics include: 🔹 Sovereignty Implications of Cars 🔹 Bentley’s Law 🔹 Headlights 🔹 Insurance Companies Subsidizing Rural AVs 🔹 Our Favorite Intersections 🔹 Does Traffic Congestion Help or Hurt Safety? 🔹 BRT vs Subway 🔹 Value Capture Under- or Overused 🔹 Murder She Wrote (yup)

Music by Charlie Van Stee (courtesy of bensound)

Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.com or find us at www.davidzipper.com and www.wesmarshall.org