Rep. John Mica at a bike industry fundraising event in March 2009.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Since the House transportation bill has gone all crazy, I've been banging my head against my desk to figure out why Republican members of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee are so afraid of including any mention of bicycling, transit (except [...]

A memorial on SE Foster near site of fatal collision back in November 2009.(Photos © J. Maus)

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has been doing "crosswalk enforcement actions" for several years. The events, which place a human decoy in a crosswalk with a phalanx of cops waiting to pull people over nearby, have helped raise [...]

Could the route for the streetcarbecome a bicycle highway?(Image: Metro)

After what the Oregonian called "persistent doubts from suburban taxpayers and a wealthy enclave of homeowners" the Lake Oswego streetcar project is on the rocks.
Concerns about construction and operating costs of the streetcar were the reasons for its demise, but over $2 million has already [...]

I believe it's time for a new transportation vision.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Tonight, President Obama will give the annual State of the Union address. While there's zero chance he'll mention bicycling, there is a chance he'll mention transportation investments (likely in the context of creating jobs).
If you were writing the speech, what would you have [...]

Share

Yes it's a party, but it's not all fun and games.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Remember the flap about Sunday Parkways at City Council last week? After listening to the full audio of the meeting, I feel like it deserves a second look — not only for the policy debate but for the way the story was [...]

The subtitle of the article, "City planners hope for more investment in urban renewal district," is buried under the heading "Beaverton auto sales drive city economy."

Full disclosure: I love bikes. I love riding them, talking about them, taking pictures of them, and just about anything else that involves them.
I live in the suburbs but my [...]

I want the new freeway to be this wide!

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has some explaining to do.
LaHood, who famously stood on a tabletop and thanked bike advocates for their hard work at the 2010 National Bike Summit and later posted on his blog that, "This is the end of favoring motorized [...]

The face of a front-line officer at yesterday's protest.(Photo © J. Maus)

Our story about cops on bikes at the Occupy Portland protests yesterday has sparked a dialogue (that's happening citywide, not just on BikePortland) about the size and style of force the City of Portland is bringing to these events.
In a comment on our story [...]

Severe cuts will force us to make bold decisions on how we prioritize funding.(Photos © J. Maus)

The Portland Bureau of Transportation made an historic announcement on Monday. In order to balance their budget, the agency needs to make $16 million in ongoing cuts. Not one-time cuts to patch a lean year, but ongoing and permanent [...]

View heading westbound onto Steel Bridge (note the yellow sign).

Since moving into an office on SW 4th (between Stark and Oak) the Steel Bridge has become my preferred access in and out of downtown. Because I prefer the most direct and efficient route, I ride up on the bridge roadway (not on the sidewalk and [...]

Riding on SE 52nd Ave., along the route once slated for a major freeway and which is now planned to become part of the 50s Bikeway.(Photo © J. Maus)

Share

The 'Plenitude Economy' concept looks a lot like Portland.

With the Occupy Wall Street movement continuing to spur discussions across America about a fundamental shift in how we approach our lives and our economy, now seems like a good time to propose a different path.
For many people in Portland, what could be considered a different path [...]

Sign from Occupy Portland march on October 6th.(Photos © J. Maus)

Taking part in both Occupy Portland marches and watching support for the protestors grow both here and across the country, has been extremely inspiring for me. It has also got me thinking (of course) about the national bike movement.
Are there lessons to learn? Parallels [...]

Just another day in the Netherlands.(Screen grab)

The Dutch Cycling Embassy launched this week. Their mission?
"To facilitate cycling worldwide as the most modern, efficient and sustainable means of transportation by sharing our expertise and technology as the world’s number one cycling country."

They've also released Cycling for Everyone, a 7-plus minute video that gives an excellent [...]

Stencil seen in Mt. Tabor neighborhood.(Photo: Adam R.)

Reader Adam R. sent me an interesting photo a few days ago. It's a DIY stencil that's apparently one of many painted on streets throughout Southeast Portland. It reads, "Vehicle's Only!" and it's written in all caps.
Grammatical slip-ups aside (bikes are vehicles too and of course there's no [...]

A common sign on multi-use paths. Why don't we use these on other transportation facilities that are narrow and have users that need to use caution around one another?(Photos © J. Maus)

The other day I was riding out to Southeast Portland along the I-205 multi-use path and I came across a sign I'd seen many [...]

Artwork copyright Mark Markovich - Download full size (recommended) -

Share

Cars on the Sunday Parkways route yesterday irked some. Was it another sign of catering tocar use convenience?(Photo © J. Maus)

An article published in the New York Times Science/Environment section Sunday points out something that many U.S. bike insiders and advocates have known for a long time: The reason European cities (and in the case [...]

Whose cars? Our cars!

An economy putting the pinch on pocketbooks, rising gas prices, foreign oil imported from terrorist havens, a bankrupt federal infrastructure budget — all of these factors (and others) are creating a perfect political storm that could lead to a significant change in U.S. energy policy.
With about 2/3 of our country's oil consumption [...]