Valentine's Day is tomorrow.
Time to show some bike love.
(Photo: Will Vanlue/BikePortland)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- After all the drama over the beleaguered House transportation bill last week, Republicans begin this week with the task of steering the bill away from an impending cliff.

- Sports icon Lance Armstrong, 40, has returned to triathlon. He placed second in an Ironman competition in Panama, just 37 seconds out of first place.
(more...)

Is congestion a sign of success?
The Atlantic Cities says "yes".
(Photo: Will Vanlue/BikePortland)

- Copenhagen has released its Bicycle Strategy for 2011-2025. The plan lays out how the city will reach its goal of becoming "the world's best bicycle city" by the end of 2015.

- A mile-long section of trail in Clark County is receiving mixed reactions as officials and citizens weigh the cost of the trail against its future potential.

- British newspaper The Times has launched a high profile campaign for more bicycle infrastructure but it's not well-received by everyone. One advocate thinks The Times is approaching the problem in the wrong way and their campaign only puts people on bikes in a "voluntary ghetto".

(more...)

Seattle is switching gears from sharrows on
busy streets to neighborhood greenways.
(Photo: Will Vanlue/BikePortland)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- After telling a crowd at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting that it's, "very unlikely we will have a surface transportation bill during this year of Congress," USDOT Sec. Ray LaHood has changed his tune. He now, says "things are moving."

- San Francisco has started construction of a separated bikeway in Golden Gate Park on John F. Kennedy Drive. The bikeway is one component of San Francisco's planned crosstown bikeway network which they hope will include 100 miles of connecting facilities by 2020.

- Chicago's new coffee and bike shop, the Heritage Bicycles General Store, is now open. Along with looking like it could have been lifted from a Portland neighborhood, the shop will smell like Portland too: Heritage serves Stumptown coffee.

- Christine Grant lived in the world's most bike-friendly cities for six months and brought back 10 lessons for the Pacific Northwest in how we could make our cities better for bicycles.

(more...)

One UC school is home to four
new bike repair stands
(Photo: Will Vanlue)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- Portland didn't make it to the top of The Fixie Index but we did come in at the top of The Guardian's five best places to live in the world. One reason for the high ranking is that Portland is "the most bike- and foot-friendly city in the country," according to the British newspaper.

- South Carolina's Department of Transportation might ban bicycles on the James Island Connector after a person on a bicycle was struck and killed by the operator of an AT&T service van. The road in question is one of limited number of routes to access the city of Charleston, SC.

- The Swedish towns of Malmö and Lund will soon be connected by a "bicycle superhighway". The four-lane, bicycle-only road will stretch for 20 miles and is being constructed at a total cost of $7.1 million USD.

(more...)

Bike share programs are the "gateway drug"
to bicycling, according to one news editor.
(Photo: Will Vanlue)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- Another one bites the dust... After doing a little reasearch, city officials in Ottawa recently determined the cost of implementing bicycling licensing will outweigh the benefits of such a program. They concluded that implementing the program would present "limited benefits and significant challenges" while also introducing "a significant barrier to cycling.

- Commuting on a bicycle will continue to be an economic gain over driving if the price of gas stays high or continues to rise. CNN's Fareed Zakaria explains why politics, not direct supply-and-demand, is likely to keep the price of oil high for some time to come.
(more...)

Not all of these vehicles will receive
equal protection from a bill in Indiana.
(Photo: Will Vanlue)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- Jack Becker, a former Imperial Oil engineer, is serving as chairman for Velo-City Global 2012. His background might seem contradictory to the goals of the conference but Becker has been working to make his home town of Calgary more bicycle friendly for years. He also sees bicycling as one part of a larger goal. Speaking with the Calgary Herald Becker said, "Cycling isn't the goal...It's one of the options for delivering livable, sustainable, active cities and urban centers." (more...)

Is Portland missing out on much-needed
revenue from on-street parking?
(Photo: Will Vanlue)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- Former Metro President David Bragdon, now the Director of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability in New York City, had some inspiring words to share with city mayors from across the country. Sharing his perspective on urban planning, Bragdon explained that a city must adapt its resources and infrastructure to serve its citizens and when you're talking about the life of a city, 25 years is a relatively short span of time.

- New York City reported a decrease in traffic deaths in 2011. Despite the over all reduction however, the number of bicycle fatalities has stayed steady from the previous year and the NYPD is receiving criticism for not citing the driver of a motor vehicle in a fatal hit-and-run collision involving a person on a bicycle.

(more...)

Andando en Bicicleta en Cully (ABC)
will bring bike classes to NE Portland
(Image: Community Cycling Center)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- Gridlock is so bad in Murcia, Spain that city has offered a lifetime public transit passes in exchange for turning in your car. Instead of destroying the vehicles, the city is turning them into art installations designed to show the city's commitment to reducing the number of cars in the city.

- The federal subsidy for driving a car to work in the US is on its way to increasing on January 1st, 2012. If Congress doesn't take action before the end of the year, along with the bump for driving a car the federal tax benefits to public transit riders will decrease to about half its current level.

(more...)

The NTSB wants to see far fewer
of these in cars on U.S. roads.
(Photo: Will Vanlue)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- Oregon's ban on cellphones use by motor vehicle operators may have been controversial at first, but now even the National Transportation Safety Board says that distracted driving is an epidemic that should be addressed with a ban on cellphone use in the car. During their announcement, distracted driving was compared to other public health dangers like drunk driving and smoking.
(more...)

Feeling congested?
Take a bike and call me in the morning.
(Photo: Will Vanlue)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- The City of Sherwood, located 17 miles southwest of Portland, has seen a 22% reduction in crashes after installing red light cameras at the intersection of Highway 99 and Tualatin-Sherwood Road. Nearly three quarters of the the citations resulting from the cameras were to people making a right-turn at a red light without stopping their motor vehicle, a significant hazard to people on bicycles.
(more...)

"Are you following me?"
(Google Street View)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- New York City has designated its first residential reduced speed zone, called a neighborhood slow zone, meant to reduce the number and impact of vehicle collisions. Oregon's 25 mph residential speed limit law goes into effect on January 1, 2012.

- After its first months in operation, Boston's bike share program has won over the city and many former critics. Tome Keane from the Boston Globe originally thought the program was one of those "off-the-wall, goofy larks you'd find in cities like Portland, Ore." but now says Boston's bike share "is one of [the mayor]'s best ideas ever." (more...)

New sticker campaign.
(Photo: WeAreBikeFriendly.com)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- MAP-21, the Transportation Bill being moved through the Senate by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), is coming under fire from bike advocates around the country for its mandatory sidepath provision. A petition by the League of American Bicyclists to strip the proposed law has nearly 7,000 signatures.

- Senior citizens in spandex: Read all about the the Vancouver (WA) Bicycle Club is making a huge difference in the lives of our esteemed older citizens. (more...)

The NYTs explains why we didn't always
need to look both ways before crossing.
(Photo: Will Vanlue)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- A new study by the AAA says that Portland area traffic crashes cost us $2.74 Billion a year.

- Beginning February of 2012, Velocity will begin manufacturing aluminum bicycle rims in Jacksonville, Florida. The Austrailian company, which produces bicycle rims and accessories, will be the only company to manufacture aluminum rims in the United States. (more...)

US DOT Sec Ray LaHood:
Well, maybe it's not the end of
"favoring motorized transportation"
just yet.
(Photo: J. Maus)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- Enrique Penalosa has lost his bid for re-election as Mayor of Bogota, Colombia. Penalosa is widely hailed for his work in making Bogota more biking and walking friendly. He spearheaded the "Ciclovias" that were widely adopted around the world and which served as inspiration for Portland's Sunday Parkways.

- U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood — who won many fans in the bike world when he declared the "end of favoring motorized transportation" — has stated that the federal government will be involved "big time" in the Columbia River Crossing project and that it is a "classic example of what America has always been known for: doing big things." Many local residents are concerned about Oregon and Washington states' financial commitment to expand the bridge and surrounding freeways when both states are already making major budget cuts in other areas.
(more...)

Happy Halloween!
(Photo © J. Maus)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- The City Council in Toronto continues to remove bicycle lanes even though the lanes have no apparent adverse impact on auto traffic.

- Elsewhere in Toronto, a journalist who recently scolded people on bikes for their bad behavior agreed to go on a bike ride with the Director of the Toronto Cyclists Union. The ride through downtown gave him a better appreciation for the challenges faced by people on bikes, and it also helped him realize that riding a bike is fun and exhilarating.
(more...)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- A local ordinance in the small town of Hull, Wisconsin has been widely misinterpreted as a bike ban says the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin. But the story spread so quickly that it even reached The Onion, where it's fodder for this headline, Town Seeks to Criminalize Walking and Biking.

- Reports from the first morning of "Viadoom" up in Seattle show that once again, fears of massive traffic jams with the closure of a major downtown freeway are often over-hyped. Traffic seems to be moving along — and of course there is lots of bike traffic!
(more...)

Here's the news that caught our eyes this past week...

- A three-day outage of Blackberry phone service resulted in a big decrease in traffic crashes in the Middle East - 20% in Dubai and 40% in Abu Dhabi.

- In Seattle, a fatal hit-and-run back in July is being called just another "tragic accident". KIRO-TV reports that the teenage driver involved in the collision will get a $42 fine for "unsafe lane change."

- Concern from bicycling advocates has continued after California's Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a safe passing law last week. Some are calling for Governor Brown to meet with people who ride bicycles in L.A. and better explain his reasoning for vetoing the bill. (more...)

When all else fails, call in the mimes.
(AP Photo)

Here's the news that caught my eye this past week...

- California Governor Jerry Brown has has vetoed a safe passing bill on grounds that the stipulation of passing bikes at 15 mph would cause backups and safety problems. Advocates are upset and confused. (*Note: I made a mistake in my critique of Gov. Brown's reasoning that has since been edited out. I regret the error. — JM) (more...)

A Wall St. Journal blogger debunks
the "soot in your lungs while
cycling" stories from last week.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Here are the news stories that caught my eye this past week...

— In recent weeks we've been told by the media that riding a bike covers your lungs in soot and that people on bikes are a menace to those walking near them. Well, turns out the news isn't as bad as you think. The "Numbers Guy" at the Wall Street Journal adds some valuable context to those stories.

— Some very solid increases in bicycling reported in Vancouver, B.C.. The reason? It likely has a lot to do with their new, physically separated bikeways.
(more...)

Screen grab of trailer for new
documentary about cargo bikes.

Welcome to Monday. Here are the stories that caught my eye this past week...

— Big news in Richmond Virginia. That city has been selected to host the 2015 UCI World Championships Road Race. That's a very big deal. Organizers estimate the event will generate about $135 million for the state.

— In Japan, a man is walking the streets is ringing a bike bell to see how people react. "The results are near Pavlovian, because as soon as the people hear the bell, they instinctively move out of the way." There's even a video. (more...)