Paul Karolyi & Avi Stopper: A VAMOS Deep Dive This is a podcast trying to figure out how cities can produce complete bike networks, make bike riding a real transportation option. And true to form, this is a different kind of episode oriented around our work here in Denver to get the city to build a complete high-comfort bike network. We think it can be done in a short period of time for a budget that pales in comparison with the normal costs. Instead of me asking the questions, paradoxically, I've asked one of Denver's best reporters, Paul Karolyi from CityCast Denver, to come on the show and just hammer me with questions about VAMOS, our initiative. VAMOS is a plan that tries to draw on the most important lessons we have learned about what works and what doesn't in the creation of bike infrastructure — most significantly with VAMOS and the way that it is imagined. TranscriptAvi Stopper (00:02) This is a podcast trying to figure out how cities can produce complete bike networks, make bike riding a real transportation option. And true to form, this is a different kind of episode oriented around our work here in Denver to get the city to build a complete high-comfort bike network. We think it can be done in a short period of time for a budget that pales in comparison with the normal costs. Instead of me asking the questions, paradoxically, I've asked one of Denver's best reporters, Paul Karolyi from CityCast Denver, to come on the show and just hammer me with questions about VAMOS, our initiative. VAMOS is a plan that tries to draw on the most important lessons we have learned about what works and what doesn't in the creation of bike infrastructure — most significantly with VAMOS and the way that it is imagined. Paul (00:40) [Affirmative sound] Avi Stopper (00:57) We try to minimize the destructive effects of what I think of as the three main variables that undermine the rollout of complete bike networks. Number one, they cost too much. Number two, they take forever to build. And three, perhaps the most destructive, is that there is just endless conflict between a variety of different constituencies — various stakeholders. And we actually think that those different stakeholders have a tremendous amount of alignment. I'm talking about people like neighbors, business owners, and riders. In the status quo approach to thinking about bike infrastructure and bikeways, these groups are generally or often at odds with one another. And with VAMOS, one of the central elements is a significant attempt — and we think, based on precedent — a proven approach to align the interests of those different constituencies. So I'm going to turn the mic around proverbially, I guess, give it to Paul and he's going to ask me some questions that he has about VAMOS, almost as if it were a background conversation for an episode that maybe they'll do at some point on CityCast Denver. So Paul, with that preamble in place, what are your thoughts? What questions do you have? Paul (02:09) Well, first of all, I'm just very flattered. I think I'm developing kind of a reputation for hard questions. So always happy to be called in to drag someone's ass or rake someone over the coals. If that's my thing, I love it. That's a great brand to have. But yeah, VAMOS — I mean, explain what it is. You know, you want a million dollars from the city. What is it? Avi Stopper (02:28) Hit them hard, Paul. So the idea is that VAMOS is a complete bike network that anyone — irrespective of how old they are, how confident they are on a bike, or what their background is — can use to go to the places in Denver that they want to go to. We have a transportation system that really gives people no options other than to drive a car at the moment. There are transit options that kind of exist to a degree. There is walking, of course — there is decent walking in some places and not others. There is some biking, but there is not a complete bike network. So for the vast majority of folks, the idea of using a bike to go places is just not practical. And so VAMOS is an attempt to learn from that which has worked historically, both in the city and across the country, and to employ those lessons in what I think of as a modern entrepreneurial or innovative framework that allows us to move quickly, learn, create stuff that people really use and love, and that becomes a valued community asset. It's not just about riders — it's about neighbors, it's about business owners, and those people should become folks who feel empowered to move around their community on a bike. Paul (03:59) So practically, like on the street — I think that's what people are going to be most interested in. And that's kind of what's been most controversial about some of these bike lane projects, is like, they feel like they're in the way or they take a long time to build. Like practically, what are you proposing? Give me an example of a street and how it would look and feel. Avi Stopper (04:19) Yeah, so with VAMOS, we're not really creating anything new. In fact, using precedent is one of the cornerstones of the concept. And one of the most powerful precedents that we have seen in Denver was this program that the city rolled out during the early days of the pandemic. It was called the Temporary Shared Streets Program. And basically what they did — it looked kind of like there was construction on some quiet neighborhood streets — was place a set of these little barricades. Everyone knows what they look like. And they just said: road closed to through traffic. And they put those at intersections along these corridors, these quiet neighborhood streets. And the effect that it had was dramatic. People who lived on those streets were still able to drive to their houses and park in front of their houses. But it cut out the idea of rat running, which is high-speed cut-through traffic where people rip through neighborhoods to avoid driving on arterials. And the result of that is a street that is just so much better for neighbors. It is so much better for people who want to walk, people who want to ride bikes, and push strollers out in the street. So the Temporary Shared Streets Program was a set of these one-mile corridors, basically, during the early days of the pandemic. It was supposed to last two months; it ended up lasting two years. And when the city surveyed folks after the fact and asked them what they thought about them, more than 90% of people — 90%, think about the level of conflict that we typically have around bikeways — 90-plus percent of people said that they wanted these things to be made permanent and to have them on their streets. And why is it? It's because it makes the streets better. And what's so powerful about that is that if you start to propose these things to people and ask them to come to a public meeting and they see a drawing, it's very hard to imagine. Even listening to this podcast, it's hard to imagine what these things might be. And I think people have a tendency to freak out, to be really preoccupied. And when they see it, it is a dramatic difference because they're like, wow, this just made my street better. Paul (06:29) Yeah, that's what I'm asking you. What is it? On the street. Avi Stopper (06:45) In the most simple terms, it is a quiet residential street made even quieter. And the way that you do that is through a very simple civil engineering intervention that precludes high-speed cut-through traffic. We are just saying these are not through streets for people who are driving at high speeds. If you want to drive at a high speed — make sure you follow the speed limit — but you need to be on the arterial street. These are streets for local traffic and for people walking and biking. Paul (07:16) I'm sorry — did you say lowering speed limits on these specific side streets? Avi Stopper (07:21) It doesn't necessarily require lowering speed limits. In some other cities they have indeed lowered the speed limits, but what typically happens on a quiet side street is folks who live on those streets tend to just drive fairly slowly. They park in front of their houses. They come and go on occasion. The big problem — and this is something that a plurality of folks get behind — is having through traffic where people are trying to avoid arterial streets and they're ripping through neighborhoods at a high speed. And so what VAMOS contemplates is using this as an atomic unit that allows us to say we can actually create bikeways that are loved by a broad swath of the populace. The neighbors like them, business owners like them, people who want to ride bikes like them. And the way that we do this is by saying: this street is not for cut-through traffic. Paul (08:21) Hmm. Interesting. So I guess I'm still having trouble visualizing it because — I read your letter. You want a million dollars from the city to fund this VAMOS project. And that would go towards a short-term demonstration of prototypes built with temporary materials like cones and signs. If cones are the prototype, what's the physical thing that you're putting on the street in the long term? And like, why cones? Where are the cones? Avi Stopper (08:54) Yeah, where are the cones? So the idea is basically that the cones are a representation of a more permanent form of infrastructure. The cones create the geome
