Unearthed: Zohran Mamdani on Car Culture and Road Safety

Two years ago this week I was in Manhattan covering the Vision Zero Cities conference hosted by the great nonprofit Transportation Alternatives. At a panel discussion titled, Supersized SUVs, Mega Trucks, and Regulatory Failure, one of the speakers made me sit up and take notice: He railed against feckless leadership that wouldn't improve bus service, critiqued the "war on cars," called for higher taxes on large vehicles that are more prone to kill people, and spoke about traffic victims and transportation policy with the candor, clarity and conviction you'd expect from an activist.

But this wasn't an activist. It was an elected official. He was a member of the state assembly named Zohran Mamdani. Yes, the same Mamdani who might very well be New York City's next mayor in a few weeks.

This audio from that 2023 conference is a detailed view inside Mamdani's mind and it reveals how he approaches what are still some the most important road safety and transportation topics of the day.

Links:

• BikePortland recap of this panel discussion
• Mamdani campaign website
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