As promised, last week I sat down with KATU News anchor Steve Dunn and local business owner Bob Huckaby to discuss his plans to seek a ballot measure that would mandate license plates for all bicycles in Oregon and would require people to have a bicycle operators license. Dunn moderated a discussion between Huckaby and … Read more
Still image from last night’s taping. (That’s Bob Huckaby on the left, KATU’s Steve Dunn in the middle, and some bike blogger on the right.) UPDATE, 9/9: The show is now posted online. Watch it here. — The potential of two statewide ballot measures that would require a license plate on all bicycles and would … Read more
“Everybody has to be on the same playing field…I’ll share the road, but let’s share the laws too.”— Bob Huckaby Buoyed by support from across the state, Portlander Bob Huckaby is going full-steam ahead on a statewide ballot measure that would require all bicycles to have license plates and would mandate a bicycle law test … Read more
Free riders.(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland) It’s a common refrain during civic debates about bicycling: People on bikes get a “free ride” and it’s just “not fair” that any public subsidies should go toward making bicycling better because people who ride “don’t pay their way” and they are scofflaws to boot. It’s that type of perspective … Read more
Once again we find ourselves in the midst of the big debate: Should bike riders be required to have a license? This time it comes up following a decision by the City of Portland to partially close N. Wheeler Ave. The closure prevents all vehicles (not just cars and trucks) from turning right from Broadway … Read more
Bob Huckaby, owner of First Inc., wants the state of Oregon to require bicycle licenses.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) Well it looks like First Inc. owner Bob Huckaby is a bit more frustrated with the City of Portland’s decision to close Wheeler Ave than I initially thought. KATU News is set to report this afternoon that … Read more
They work for cars, but for bikes?(Photo © J. Maus) The House Committee on Transportation has put forward a legislative concept (soon to become an official bill) that would direct the Oregon Department of Transportation to conduct a study on the feasibility of bicycling licensing. The idea currently exists as Legislative Concept 1581 (LC 1581). … Read more
“We just think this is an unnecessary ordinance and is really unenforceable.” — Randy Schoen, Medford police chief in the Mail Tribune newspaper In the southern Oregon city of Medford, local lawmakers have decided to repeal an ordinance that required bicycles to have a license. According to a story in the Mail Tribune yesterday, the … Read more
Gandhi protested against bikelicenses 100 years ago.(Photo: Wikidpedia) The topic of bicycle licensing has been growing into more than a buzz lately. It’s often brought up around watercoolers and on web forums, and at this year’s Oregon Bike Summit, one of the keynote speakers (Oregon Transportation Commission Chair Gail Achterman) suggested that licensing bicycles is … Read more