13 January 2009 Archives

At annual meeting, BTA gets Mayor’s blessing and charts course for ’09

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

BTA Executive Director Scott
Bricker stands before his staff
at their annual meeting last night.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Oregon’s largest bicycle advocacy organization, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, held their annual meeting in Northwest Portland last night.

The event was attended by BTA board members and staff, along with a handful of dues-paying members. It also marked the first bike event attended by our new Mayor, Sam Adams.

Blumenauer in front of his
office in D.C.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The New York Times has published a profile on Portland Congressional Rep. Earl Blumenauer. The story, A Bicycle Evangelist With the Wind Now at His Back appears above-the-fold on page two of the paper’s weekly “Science Times” section.

Unlike the recent anti-bike comments by Rep. John Boehner that got national attention, this story paints a more positive picture of biking as a political issue.

Here’s how the Times characterizes Blumenauer’s work:

“American’s have repeatedly said that they value more livable communities, transit, bicycling and walking improvements ahead of new highway capacity.”
–The League of American Bicyclists

The League of American Bicyclists has published a lengthy response to comments made on Sunday by Ohio congressional representative and House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner.

Boehner’s comments have also sparked a lot of response by bike-riding Americans.

On a Sunday morning talk show, Boehner criticized spending on “bike paths” in Obama’s economic stimulus bill as something “Americans are not going to look very kindly on”. He also referred to “widening highways” as being beneficial “for American families”. (Watch the video and read analysis and reader comments here.)

A screenshot of the Burley
D’Lite on sale at Costco.com.

When a friend of mine said they saw Burley trailers being sold at big-box retailer Costco last week, I was shocked. Based in Eugene, Oregon, Burley is known as a premium priced, quality brand in the bike industry. Selling to a big box retailer like Costco dilutes that reputation. This upsets dealers, who rely on the strenth of a brand’s reputation to sell products at full retail price.

At annual meeting, BTA gets Mayor’s blessing and charts course for ’09

Blumenauer in NY Times: A “bicycle evangelist”

Bike League, Americans, respond to Boehner’s “trash talk”

Industry mag: Burley admits error in selling to Costco

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