Susan Peithman with the
Bicycle Transportation Alliance
was one of the presenters.
(Photos and story by Will Vanlue)

The most interesting (in my opinion) and well-attended session I sat in on at the Oregon Active Transportation Summit focused on the work being done just over the hill from Portland in Washington County.

The session covered a few topics including an overview of two recent road projects and a change in the county’s policy on mid-block crossings (a key policy given the presence of many multi-use paths and suburban/rural arterials).

It also dove into Washington County’s highly anticipated Bicycle Facility Design Toolkit, an official document to help planners and engineers select the appropriate facility for bicycle traffic. (more...)

Director of PBOT, Tom Miller, at the
Oregon Active Transportation Summit.

During a speech at the Oregon Active Transportation Summit in Salem yesterday, PBOT Director Tom Miller got advocates up to speed on the funding crisis at the agency and organizational changes they've made that could reap benefits for bicycling. In addition, Miller made the unexpected announcement that PBOT will soon roll out a formal 10% bike mode split goal, a step in accountability he says is unprecedented.

Miller said PBOT is being forced to adapt and change due to a "crisis in transportation" that revolves around funding. He said Portland has a 21st century transportation vision they are trying to carry out with a 20th century funding model. (more...)

It's been a full day of networking, breakout sessions, panel discussions, and speeches here at the Oregon Active Transportation Summit.

I don't have time to share the details of everything just yet (have a session to get back to!); but I wanted to share a few photos and brief notes.

The day started out with an opening keynote from Anita Hairston, a transportation policy expert with PolicyLink, a research organization that advocates for economic and social equity. Hairston shared what PolicyLink has learned about how to go beyond the usual suspects and reach into a broader audience for active transportation. (Many advocates are struggling with how to get their messages into more racially diverse and lower income communities.) (more...)

Big crowd at the Oregon Bicycle Tourism
Partnership meeting.

The 2012 Oregon Active Transportation Summit is going strong down here in Salem.

As I type, a room full of engineers and planners are listening to a trio of bike gurus from the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) explain the ins-and-outs of the latest bikeway designs. City traffic engineer Rob Burchfield, bike program coordinator Roger Geller, and signals division manager Peter Koonce are leaded a six-hour course on the new NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide. There's also a special segment on designing bike boulevards. The idea of the session is to get more planners and engineers around Oregon familiar with things like cycle tracks, bike signals, new crossing treatments, and so on.
(more...)

A scene from last year.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

If you want to join the state's leading active transportation advocates, policymakers, and citizen activists at the 2nd annual Oregon Active Transportation Summit, mark your calendar for April 16-17th. Cycle Oregon (yes, they put on that big, great ride, but they also do a lot of behind-the-scenes, statewide bike advocacy work) announced information about the upcoming event today.

The event began as the Oregon Bicycle Tourism Summit and was first held in Eugene back in 2006. Last year, it changed gears with an expanded mission to coalesce forces with walking and public transit advocates in an effort to garner more resources and have a more powerful collective voice. (more...)

A week may have already passed since the Oregon Active Transportation Summit down in Salem, but our news intern Patrick Croasdaile and I still have notes and photos to share. Of particular note was Patrick's experience at the big "Lobby Day" on Wednesday.

Organized by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Lobby Day consisted of dozens of scheduled meetings between transportation advocates and state legislators. Patrick tagged along with a trio of advocates from the Community Cycling Center.

For a glimpse into the action, see his photos and notes below... (more...)

The panelists: L to R: Dr. Philip Wu,
Olivia Quiroz, Mychal Tetteh, Noelle Dobson.
(Photos: BikePortland/Patrick Croasdaile)

In recent years, the fields of public health, equity and transportation policy have become increasingly linked. At a breakout session at the Active Transportation Summit yesterday, advocates and experts came together to learn more about why these issues are linked and discuss how to make that link stronger.

According to Dr. Phil Wu, a pediatric obesity specialist at Kaiser Permanente, “There’s no way to deal with obesity unless we start dealing with issues of transportation.” (more...)

See our slideshow below.
(Photo © J. Maus)

It's been a full day of speeches, conversations, networking and info sessions here at the Oregon Active Transportation Summit. The event is a yearly effort to bring together Oregon's transportation advocates to share and gain knowledge.

Tomorrow is the climax of the Summit when the few hundred attendees will take to the Capitol building to meet with legislators and explain why investments in biking, walking and transit are important.

Below is a slideshow of the photos I've snapped so far... (more...)

A slide from Blumenthal's presentation.

Tim Blumenthal of Bikes Belong (an industry-backed, non-profit bike advocacy group) helped kick things off here at the 2011 Oregon Active Transportation Summit in Salem today by sharing a presentation titled, 12 Trends That Will Help Bicycling Grow.

Here's the list:

• Bike sharing systems linked with infrastructure investment: "It's a promising trend and a trend that's coming to cities in your state too." (News to me. Maybe Tim's in on a secret?).
• Stronger commitments from government officials and more urban bike trips: "There's no substitute for great support from Mayors."

(more...)

[BikePortland is down in Salem today for the Oregon Active Transportation Summit. We'll be reporting from Salem today and tomorrow.]

Still in beta.

Daniella and Elliot Crowder, owners of the Bike Newport bike shop, unveiled their plans for a new iPhone app today. The new 'Cycling the Oregon Coast' app is currently in beta form and is set to be released soon (Android platform will come later). The announcement of the new app came at a meeting of the Oregon Bicycle Tourism Partnership held in Salem this morning.

According to Elliot Crowder, he was inspired to create an app after taking a bike tour on the Oregon Coast recently. Like the thousands of other people who ride the famous Oregon Coast Bike Route each year, Crowder relied on the popular Cycling the Pacific Coast guidebook. Trouble is, the book is out of date.
(more...)

The summit returns to Salem this year.
(Photos © J. Maus)

In case you missed it, organizers behind the Oregon Bike Summit — an annual event since 2006 with a goal to make Oregon the best state for bicycling in America — is now known as the Oregon Active Transportation Summit. The event took place in Portland last year, but will return to Salem this year (March 29-30) to take advantage of the legislative session.
(more...)