{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"UC Berkeley Researcher Explores Fire Department Tensions in the \u201cWar for Street Space\u201d","description":" On this week\u2019s StreetSmart Podcast, host Damien Newton spoke with UC Berkeley professor Zach Lamb about his team\u2019s new report, A Safety Dilemma, which examines why some fire departments across the country have opposed street redesigns that add bike lanes, bulb-outs, and other safety features. The research was inspired by a stalled Berkeley project for a protected cycle track that failed to gain fire department approval. Lamb and his team began investigating whether similar conflicts were occurring elsewhere \u2014 and found they were. Despite rising traffic fatalities, some fire departments have resisted safer street designs, often citing access or width requirements. Lamb emphasized that fire departments are not monolithic: chiefs, marshals, unions, and rank-and-file firefighters often have different priorities. Cost of living can also play a role, especially in California, where firefighters frequently commute long distances from the communities they serve. The study looked at four cities, including Nashville, where strong mayoral leadership helped align fire and planning departments behind multimodal safety. Lamb said that when city leaders make safety a top priority, departments are more likely to cooperate than to obstruct. Lamb also highlighted Berkeley firefighter Mike Wilson\u2019s call to extend the fire service\u2019s legacy of prevention\u2014once focused on reducing structure fires\u2014to traffic safety. Berkeley\u2019s new Street Trauma Prevention Program embodies that shift, positioning fire departments as proactive partners in crash prevention rather than reactive responders. For more on Wilson\u2019s experiences, check out this article from Streetsblog USA. \u201cDesigning safe infrastructure is the easy part,\u201d Lamb said. \u201cChanging culture is the real challenge.\u201d The transcript below has been edited for length and clarity. Damien Newton: In this week\u2019s StreetSmart Podcast, I\u2019m talking with Zach Lamb, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He\u2019s been researching why some fire departments across the country have, in the ongoing \u201cwar for street space,\u201d positioned themselves as anti-bike or anti\u2013bike lane. Zach and his team recently hosted a webinar and have a report coming out soon called A Safety Dilemma. I\u2019m going to hand the podcast over to him and let him do most of the talking. Zach, thank you for joining us today. Zach Lamb: It\u2019s great to be here, Damien. Thanks for having me. This project grew out of an experience we had here in Berkeley. There was a proposal for a protected two-way cycle track on a popular local commercial street. The project had been designed and was about to go out to bid when it ran aground. The official reason given was that it didn\u2019t get fire department approval\u2014it didn\u2019t meet certain standards for clear width and other required dimensions. That got us interested in whether this kind of conflict was happening elsewhere, and in the broader relationship between safe streets and fire and EMS response in U.S. cities. We know that in many places, serious injuries and fatalities among pedestrians and bicyclists have increased over the past several years. In response, many cities have begun investing in safer street designs. But at the same time, we\u2019ve seen growing tension between fire departments\u2014and, to some extent, EMS operations\u2014and those safe streets initiatives. Damien: California seems to have become one of the states most famous\u2014or infamous\u2014for this, depending on your point of view. In Los Angeles, the fire department\u2019s union spent millions to defeat a ballot measure that would have created more bus and bike lanes. And up in San Francisco, a firefighter broke ranks on a street project, even doing an interview with Streetsblog San Francisco about why he supported it. We gave him an award for that, but he said he faced backlash from within the department. Do you think there\u2019s a reason California is getting more attention for this? Or is it just because we\u2019re building more bike lanes right now? Zach: That\u2019s a great question. I moved to California about five years ago from the East Coast, and one of the first things that struck me\u2014something that strikes many new Californians\u2014is how wide the streets are here. Even in older cities like Berkeley, the streets are considerably wider than in many other parts of the country. You\u2019d think that would make the geometry problem\u2014how we allocate limited street right-of-way\u2014less severe. But as you said, we\u2019ve still seen a number of these conflicts. It\u2019s also important to remember this isn\u2019t universal. As you mentioned, that San Francisco firefighter you referenced took a very different stance. There are cases where fire departments are aligning with safe streets efforts. Damien: Right\u2014and just to clarify, in Los Angeles it wasn\u2019t the department itself, but the union that opposed the measure. Zach: Exactly. And that distinction matters. One of the things we\u2019re trying to understand is that fire departments aren\u2019t monolithic. There are different parts with different priorities: fire marshals who focus on code enforcement, fire chiefs managing operations, and the rank and file represented by unions. They don\u2019t always share the same perspective. One reason these tensions may be particularly visible in California is cost of living. In high-cost cities, firefighters often can\u2019t afford to live where they work. They commute in from outside communities, which can create a disconnect between the people doing the work and the neighborhoods they serve. Damien: You mentioned different parts of departments having different views. When I was on my local neighborhood council in Los Angeles, we worked on a road diet on Venice Boulevard. A lot of rank-and-file firefighters and the union opposed it, which I can understand\u2014even if the data doesn\u2019t back up their fears. If you\u2019re driving a fire truck, you want wide lanes, and protected bike lanes and bulb-outs can make the road feel more constrained. But our fire chief supported the project. He emphasized prevention and long-term safety. Some in the community\u2014and even local media\u2014dismissed that as him just following the city line, saying he couldn\u2019t contradict the councilmember or the DOT. How true do you think that perception is? Zach: That\u2019s a really interesting dynamic. Fire chiefs have to balance a lot of pressures. They need to maintain credibility with their rank and file, but they\u2019re also part of city administration and have to work with elected leaders and city managers. We\u2019ve seen similar examples here in Berkeley. Last year, there were competing ballot measures about street safety. The firefighters\u2019 union actually supported the stronger safety-focused version. But when it came to a specific project\u2014the bike lane on Hopkins Street that inspired this research\u2014the acting fire chief sided with city officials who opposed it. Fire chiefs often operate as political actors. They can\u2019t always take positions that contradict city leadership. In our research, we conducted four case studies and a national survey to document these conflicts\u2014and, importantly, solutions. We even created what we call a \u201cConflicts and Solutions Database.\u201d Many of these disputes never make the press, or if they do, you rarely get the full backstory. So we chose four cities to study in depth. One of them was Nashville, which has made impressive progress on safe streets under strong mayoral leadership. Their \u201cChoose How You Move\u201d ballot initiative is raising billions for sidewalk, bike, and transit improvements. The mayor made multimodal safety a core priority, embedding it across city plans. When we spoke with people in Nashville\u2014both in the fire department and in planning\u2014they told us the department may raise concerns about individual designs, but they don\u2019t take an anti\u2013bike lane stance because they don\u2019t want to oppose one of the mayor\u2019s key goals. That shows the power of leadership. When mayors make safety central to their vision, it sets expectations for collaboration. Damien: We\u2019re recording this on Friday, the 17th. Streetsblog USA just republished an article from the Vision Zero Journal written by Berkeley firefighter Mike Wilson, who\u2019s been a progressive voice on transportation issues. He wrote about how fire departments have a remarkable legacy of prevention\u2014reducing fires through prevention efforts\u2014and argued that reducing traffic injuries through street design is a continuation of that same legacy. What do you think about that message? Zach: I completely agree. And I should say\u2014Mike is a big reason this research exists. He\u2019s been a wise and powerful voice on this issue. He\u2019s a former first responder, now with Cal\/OSHA, and he also has a personal connection\u2014a family member was badly injured in a bike crash here in Berkeley. That experience turned him into a leader in street safety and helped launch Berkeley\u2019s Street Trauma Prevention Program. Fire departments used to be purely reactive\u2014just putting out fires. But the 1970s America Burning report shifted that mindset toward prevention: enforcing fire codes, requiring smoke alarms, and so on. That shift dramatically reduced structure fires and deaths. Mike argues we can extend that same prevention mindset to traffic safety. Fire departments already respond to car crashes\u2014so why not work to prevent them, too? That\u2019s the philosophy behind Berkeley\u2019s new program. It\u2019s too early to say what the long-term impact will be, but the program has already funded a Street Trauma Prevention Coordinator within the fire department to help align street design with safety goals. Some early signs suggest it\u2019s focusing more on public education\u2014encouraging pedestrians and cyclists to be \u201cmore responsible\u201d\u2014which isn\u2019t where the data shows the biggest gains come from. The real improvements come from better street design and reducing dangerous driving. Still, it\u2019s a step toward bridging divides between departments and building a culture of prevention. Damien: Thank you for that. And for anyone listening, a link to Mike\u2019s article will be included with this episode. As we wrap up\u2014anything else you\u2019d like to add, or a question I should have asked? Zach: I\u2019d emphasize one big takeaway: these issues exist on multiple levels. Designing infrastructure that works for emergency vehicles is the easy part. The harder part is changing culture. It\u2019s not difficult to design mountable curbs or use flexible posts that allow fire access. The challenge is breaking down the divide that\u2019s grown between safety advocates and fire departments. Firefighters and EMS personnel respond to horrific crashes\u2014they see the consequences firsthand. From a mental health and worker-safety standpoint, reducing those incidents benefits them too. There are even cases where safety improvements help emergency response\u2014protected lanes wide enough for emergency vehicles, or connected street grids that improve response times. Cities that pre-design and pre-approve standard configurations for things like bike lanes and bulb-outs can save time, reduce conflict, and build understanding between departments that might not otherwise communicate much. Damien: That\u2019s a great point. Thank you so much for your time, Zach. When the report is published, we\u2019ll make sure Streetsblog covers it. And again, for listeners\u2014there\u2019s a link to Mike Wilson\u2019s article in the episode notes. Thanks again, and we\u2019ll be in touch soon. Zach: Great. Thanks so much, Damien.   ","author_name":"StreetSmart","author_url":"https:\/\/sites.libsyn.com\/StreetSmart","html":"