Back in 2008 Portland became the first major U.S. city to be given a "Platinum" level Bicycle Friendly Community award by the League of American Bicyclists. Now, as per League policy, the Portland Bureau of Transportation must re-apply every 2-3 years in order keep its Platinum designation. (If you're wondering, the League says the Diamond-level designation isn't available yet.)

I recently got a glimpse of the current application and two questions stood out: "What are the three primary reasons your community deserves to be designated a Bicycle Friendly Community?" and "What are the three aspects of your community most in need of improvement in order to accommodate bicyclists?"
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Roger Geller's chart that started it all.

It's been six-and-a-half years since Portland Bureau of Transportation bicycle coordinator Roger Geller first defined the "Four types of cyclists". Geller's insights proved to be groundbreaking and his definitions have stood the test of time. I frequently hear references about the need to attract more "Interested but concerned" riders at conferences all over the country and I read about them in articles in media large and small.

Now a noted bicycle researcher at Portland State University, Jennifer Dill, is working to learn more about the various types of riders. At the recent Velo-City conference in Vancouver B.C., she shared her research, Categorizing Cyclists: What Do We Know? Insights from Portland, OR (PDF). Now her work has been made public.
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PBOT is considering new bicycle crosswalks,
like this one in concept stage for
SE 53rd and Stark.

Crosswalks are standard engineering treatments designed to help people get across streets with a bit more safety; now the City of Portland is looking to do something similar for bike traffic with bicycle crosswalk markings, a.k.a. the "cross-bike".

The concept itself has been floating around PBOT since about 2007, but the idea has yet to gain real traction. The other night, while looking over plans for an upcoming road project, I was surprised to see them as prominent features. Turns out that PBOT hasn't forgotten about them.

PBOT bicycle coordinator Roger Geller shared a bit more about bicycle crosswalks via email today. Check out the Q & A below for more... (more...)

Still of PBOT's Roger Geller on Green
Science Oregon show.

CIty of Portland Bike Coordinator Roger Geller and noted PSU transportation researcher Jennifer Dill star in the latest episode of Green Science Oregon.

The 10-minute segment (watch it below) is a good primer on the current state of Portland's bike network. It's also a window into where Portland is heading in the future and how the city plans to reach their goal of 25% bike mode share by 2030. (more...)

Roger Geller.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City of Portland's Bicycle Coordinator, Roger Geller, is in Melbourne this week to deliver the keynote speech at the 2010 Bike Futures conference. Armed with Portland's biking success story, he's making headlines and spreading the gospel of separated bikeways.

In a story published this morning in the Sydney Morning Herald, Geller told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) that Sydney could follow Portland's path to becoming a more bike friendly city.

Sydney does not have a highly developed, on-street bike network, but according to the AAP, "Geller believes Sydney can be saved." How? "The key is building more and more dedicated bikeways." (more...)

Bikes have saved us from expensive
road projects and congestion.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Bikes do a lot of great things for our city. We often hear about the environmental benefits, the health benefits, and so on. But what about the reduced impact on our road network and congestion? What if more Portlanders drove cars into the city instead of bikes? (more...)

Roger and me.
(Photos: Adams Carroll)

Thanks to everyone who packed into Plan B tonight to listen to my interview with City of Portland Bicycle Coordinator Roger Geller. As a special bonus, we also streamed the event live right here on BikePortland thanks to the technological magic of Dan Kaufman from Crank My Chain CycleTV. What a thrill to know folks from all over were tuning in via the web!

After some mingling and ordering of food and drink, we settled in for about a one-hour interview and conversation followed by an open Q & A session. We even took a few questions from the Internet audience.
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What makes Mr. Geller tick?
Find out tomorrow night.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Whether he's dancing in the streets, rallying troops for a ride, or looking for money on Capitol Hill, Roger Geller has been on the front lines of bicycle issues in Portland for 15 years.

Tomorrow night I'll sit down for a one-on-one conversation with Mr. Geller and I'd like to hear what you want to know from the City of Portland's top two-wheeled mastermind (a.k.a. Bicycle Coordinator in the Office of the Director).
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Get to know Mr. Geller.
(Photo © J. Maus)

We're excited to announce the latest in our occasional "An Evening With..." series of live interviews. Next week, on Wednesday November 18th, we'll host PBOT's #1 bike guy Roger Geller (and all of you!) at Plan B (1305 SE 8th Ave, map).

The event will give you the chance to learn more about Mr. Geller and his role in shaping Portland's bikeway network. Geller has spearheaded the effort for the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 and he also worked on our existing plan back in the mid 1990s. Geller has also traveled extensively researching bike facilities throughout Europe.
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Roger Geller
(Photo © J. Maus)

[Editor's note: This guest editorial was written by Roger Geller, Bicycle Coordinator for the City of Portland.]

In the past week I've been noticing harbingers of spring: flowering magnolia, daffodils in full bloom, tulips beginning to push their way up, birds early in the morning, sun later in the evenings, and, on especially nice days, a city beginning to pop with bicycling. We are approaching Portland's high bicycle season. (more...)