One good outcome of ‘War on Cars’

Potential transit-only lanes on Westlake, a cap on parking for Expedia workers, and new bike lanes in Seattle still have drivers throwing around the now-famous phrase “War on Cars.”

In his new podcast, “You, Me, Us, Now,” former Mayor Mike McGinn said it was never about a war on cars in Seattle, but trying to determine the level of risk acceptable in order to make it easier for people to drive. He is pleased Mayor Ed Murray has embraced the goal of zero traffic deaths.

“One would think the safety argument should trump the mobility argument,” he told Chuck Ayers, the director of the Cascade Bicycle Club during McGinn’s term as mayor.

“The ‘War on Cars,’ I think, was really more of a jab at Mayor McGinn and poking him in the eye and how can we term this,” Ayers said. “Here is ‘The Seattle Times’ and others picking up on the ‘War on Cars,’ McGinn is bad, he’s trying to get us out of our cars.”

McGinn said it took bicycle advocates time and effort to try to change the narrative. They held Town Hall meetings and met with editorial boards to press upon people that it’s not just about making your drive harder.

“We were really trying to get the general public to ride and one way to do that was to ask bicyclists to ride without Lycra,” Ayers said. “So that people driving or walking by them would say, ‘Hey, I could do that, that’s just a person on a bicycle.’

In case you were wondering, McGinn confirmed his body is a spandex-free zone.

“I always felt like I was an ambassador for biking as a normal activity, not a special activity,” he said.

(Note: McGinn rides his bike to KIRO Radio for his podcast -almost always in slacks and button-down shirt.)

“If there was a positive outcome of that labeling of ‘War on Cars,’ that was one of them,” Ayers said. “We really took an introspective look at who we are and who we want to be, and we wanted to be everybody biking.

“You’re not going to get there by having, what I pleasantly call ‘O.W.L.S.’ or old white guys in Lycra. That’s kind of what Cascade was when I came in. And I was one of those.”

McGinn said while he was concerned about fighting for the right thing, the bike club was concerned the mayor wasn’t going far enough, fast enough. He and Ayers had a few heart to heart meetings, where McGinn said, “Chuck, I am out in front of crowds where angry people are yelling at me about a bike lane that is going to make it safer for people and I’m not hearing the bikers show up. You’re telling me I’m not going far enough. Get your people out there to get yelled at too, Chuck.”

So Ayers sent his people out.

“It was a deep frustration on all sides,” McGinn recalled.

He said he learned a lesson as mayor: If you are suspicious of government, you have every reason to be. If you’re angry at government, you have every reason to be. Which means that government is often your worst messenger.

Listen to You, Me, Us, Now with Mike McGinn:

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