New Episode of NYC DOT's Curb Enthusiasm Podcast Features Discussion on Low-Traffic Neighborhoods With James McAsh, Council Leader of London’s Southwark Borough

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October 8, 2026
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New Episode of NYC DOT's Curb Enthusiasm Podcast Features Discussion on Low-Traffic Neighborhoods With James McAsh, Council Leader of London's Southwark Borough

Conversation Focuses on Councilor McAsh's Work as Leader of one of London's 32 Boroughs, including the Streets for People Initiative and Innovative Ways of Scheduling Freight Deliveries

NEW YORK - New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Mike Flynn today announced the release of the fourth episode of the second season of the agency's Curb Enthusiasm podcast. The episode features a conversation with Councilor James McAsh, the Council Leader of London's Southwark Borough, located in South London. This episode's discussion addresses how he leads transportation initiatives in the South London borough of 330,000 people, including implementing low-traffic neighborhoods, the booking of freight deliveries to reduce traffic and congestion, and the four pillars of Southwark's Streets for People Initiative. The episode also features guest questions submitted via social media.

"James McAsh is a phenomenal leader in transportation across the pond and has brought innovative changes to Southwark," said NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn. "Whether through Streets for People, low traffic neighborhoods, or bookable freight deliveries, Southwark is doing some great work for its residents and is a model for the innovative transportation planning we are doing under the Mamdani Administration."

The podcast begins with Councilor McAsh describing the constitution of the borough system in London, which includes 32 of them, plus the city itself. The functions people might assume to be provided at the city level are actually provided at the borough level, including maintaining highways, managing waste, and providing social care. Councilor McAsh goes on to discuss the area's Streets for People initiative and its four pillars: Streets for Community, Streets for Journeys, Streets for the Economy, and Streets for Nature.

The concept of low-traffic neighborhoods and boundary streets makes it return to the podcast (it was first discussed by guest Clarence Eckerson earlier in the year) and becomes a large concentration of the discussion. This concept, aka 'scheme' in British parlance, exists in certain neighborhood all non-local traffic is directed onto designated boundary streets and vehicles are not allowed to cut through residential streets aka 'internal' roads. Councilor McAsh discusses how access in these neighborhoods is managed, whether it be physical planters or via camera monitoring. He notes the implementation resulted in a major decrease in traffic on the residential/internal streets with varying results on the boundary roads.

Councilor McAsh also discusses how Southwark addresses freight, with one method being a bookable reservation system, in which companies making deliveries reserve 40-minute periods, as allowed by UK rules, at designated loading bays. He ends the interview complimenting New York on its work with buses and notes his excitement that London hopes to extend its underground line through Southwark.

The Curb Enthusiasm podcast focuses on issues at the local, national, and international level and features guests who discuss the most consequential transportation work happening all over the globe.

The episode is co-hosted by Emily Weidenhof, assistant commissioner of public realm at NYC DOT and Huma Husain, the director of NYC DOT's freight mobility unit.

Curb Enthusiasm is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Amazon Music, and other major streaming platforms. More information is available at nyc.gov/CurbEnthusiasm.

About James McAsh

Councilor James McAsh is the Council Leader for the borough of South London, currently serving a term through 2030. He is a Member of the Green Party and served as a former Cabinet Member in Southwark. His career focus is prioritizing walking, cycling, and community spaces over car dominance through the advancement of clean air, active travel, and sustainable public realm strategies with a focus on environmental and social justice.

Councilor McAsh also serves as a part-time primary school teacher in Brixton. He holds degrees from the University of Birmingham, the University of East London, as well as a master's degree in economics and politics from the University of Edinburgh.

About Emily Weidenhof, Episode Co-Host

Emily Weidenhof is assistant commissioner of public realm at NYC DOT. Emily works closely with community organizations throughout the five boroughs to transform their streets as public space. For over a decade, she has focused on strengthening communities through the creation of plazas and shared streets and retooling the curb lane for innovative programming. She's also played an integral role in NYC DOT's Broadway Vision Plan, which employs a range of tools to reimagine the famed Manhattan corridor from Union Square to Columbus Circle, which now prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists. Emily has worked as an architect and urban designer in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, including at the NYC Department of City Planning.

Emily received her bachelor's degree in architecture from Pennsylvania State University and her master's degree in architecture and urban design from Columbia University.

About Huma Husain, Episode Co-Host

Huma Husain is the director of NYC DOT's freight mobility unit. With over 15 years of experience as a transportation planner. Huma oversees the unit's portfolio of ongoing initiatives and creative pilots to help collectively shift deliveries in NYC to be safer, more sustainable, and more efficient. She also oversees the unit's corridor initiatives team, which leads street design projects that improve safety in areas with high truck-related crashes and along the city's truck route network. Before joining DOT in 2022, Huma worked as a consultant on major transit projects in the Bay Area. Huma believes that we have immense opportunities to shape the way we receive and move goods around the city that can significantly improve the daily lives of all New Yorkers.

Huma received dual bachelor's degrees in systems engineering and economics from the University of Virginia, and a master's degree in urban planning from UCLA.