Adams at a press conference last month.
(Photo © J. Maus)

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Mayor Adams
(Photos © J. Maus)

It's been nearly three and a half years since I last sat down with Portland Mayor Sam Adams. To say a lot has changed — both in bike infrastructure/policies and our city's relationship with Adams — since that time would be a vast understatement.

Adams and I sat down in a diner in Old Town. We were joined by his spokesperson Amy Ruiz and his transportation policy advisor Catherine Ciarlo (last time it was just him and I, which I prefer). Read the interview below... (more...)

Tom Miller is the new Director of the Bureau of Transportation.
(Photos © J. Maus)

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For better or for worse, Portland Mayor Sam Adams is tied to bicycling in this city — and in 2010, both took their lumps.
(Photos © J. Maus)

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Mayor Sam Adams and Humboldt Elementary School teacher Patrisha Porter at Overlook Park in North Portland, showing kids that adults can have fun on bikes too.
-Slideshow below/Gallery-
(Photos © J. Maus)

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Last week, the City released the ordinance language behind Mayor Sam Adams' plans to find $20 million to "kickstart" funding of the 2030 Bike Master Plan. According to the ordinance, the $20 million would be allocated from the capital project budget of the Bureau of Environmental Services and directed into bike boulevards via BES's Green Streets program.

Also released last week was a memo from BES stating where the $20 million would come from. That memo grabbed a lot of headlines because it said the $20 million would come, in large part, from funds set aside to fix old, leaky sewer pipelines. As you can imagine, that idea rankled some Portlanders. (more...)

Green streets; where bikes, fish
and plants coexist.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Portland Mayor Sam Adams has released details of his promise to find $20 million to "kickstart" funding of the 2030 Bike Plan. As expected, the money will come from the Bureau of Environmental Services budget and will be allocated toward "Green Streets projects on prioritized boulevards."

As we pointed out last month, "Green Streets" is the name of a BES program that manages stormwater runoff through street designs that incorporate things like permeable pavers, vegetation, and bioswales. The Bureau of Transportation has worked in partnership with this program for years because some green street features -- like curb extensions -- are also used on bicycle boulevards.

The ordinance to be voted on this Wednesday will be considered as an "emergency ordinance" and will take effect immediately. According to language in the ordinance, an emergency exists because "the timeframe for completion necessitates beginning project development and outreach immediately."
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Mayor Adams on the Eneloop.
- Watch video below -
(Screen grab from video taken by Mayor Sam Adams' office)

On Tuesday, representatives from Sanyo North America Corporation gave Portland Mayor Sam Adams an Eneloop electric-assist bicycle.

The Eneloop made a big splash at the CES trade show in Las Vegas back in January, leading Treehugger.com to say it "might be the bike that transitions us to electric assist bikes as a more primary form of transportation than cars." (more...)

Portland Mayor Sam Adams delivered his State of the City speech to the City Club of Portland today. In it, he addressed many of the issues facing Portland. His largest focus was the economy and jobs, but he also touched on transportation.

A slide of a new streetcar line envisioned for the Lents neighborhood featured a big, green bike lane. Other mentions of bicycling came later, after he introduced a new, city-managed curbside composting program.

Here is the text from his speech where he mentioned bicycling: (more...)

Mayor Sam Adams.
(Photo © J. Maus)

As we hinted at yesterday, Mayor Adams has released a statement in response the fatal collision on SE Foster last week.

Adams was expected to share plans for "immediate changes" to a crossing of SE Foster that was the site of two collisions last week (one woman died and another remains in critical condition) and has a hazardous history for people trying to walk across it. In the statement released just a few minutes ago, Adams says he was "saddened" by this tragedy. He then listed examples of initiatives taken by the Bureau of Transportation -- which he has been in charge of since 2005 -- to improve traffic safety. (more...)

PBOT's initial drawing for proposed cycletrack on SW Broadway.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Mayor Sam Adams' office has just announced that the new cycletrack on SW Broadway will open this Monday, August 31st, in a 2:00pm ceremony on the Portland State University campus. (more...)

Portland Mayor Sam Adams at
the opening plenary of the
Velo-City conference last month.
(Photos: Greg Raisman)

With Pedalpalooza just a week away, it's fitting to do a story about how Portland's legendary bike fun created quite a stir at an international bike conference held last month.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams, along with his Chief of Staff Tom Miller and Bureau of Transportation traffic safety specialist Greg Raisman recently returned from the Velo-City conference in Brussels, Belgium. Velo-City brings together the top bike planners and experts from around the globe. With representatives from nearly 50 countries and numerous, high-level politicians from Europe in attendance, it is the premier bike conference in the world. (more...)

Sensible speed limits are key
in creating a people-friendly city.
(Photos © J. Maus)

In America, there are many unseen barriers to creating a more human-friendly transportation system. Many of them reside in national engineering manuals that were created -- and continue to be "updated" -- by auto-centric engineers. Other barriers are entrenched in policies and processes at those familiar bastions of the status quo; state-level Departments of Transportation.

Among the many powerful transportation planning tools that the Oregon DOT holds jurisdiction over is setting speed limits on city streets. It should go without saying how vital speed limits are in creating a bike and pedestrian-friendly city. High-speed, arterial streets -- especially through residential areas, where even a 35 mph speed limit feels unsafe -- are often the location of very serious collisions. (more...)

Mayor Adams made a lot of
promises. Has he kept them?
(Photos © J. Maus)

On May 26th, less than one week from today, Mayor Adams will have been in office for 100 business days. Shortly after taking office he released his "100 Day Action Plan" which contained a range of promised accomplishments from many different bureaus within the city.

Among the promises was an entire section devoted to bike-related projects and policies. It contained five separate promises and was labeled: "Enhance the safety and accessibility of bicycling for everyone." He also promised a "world-class" bike facility on the new I-5 bridge (if and when it's ever built).

Below, we take a closer look at each promise and whether or not Adams has made good. (more...)

Sam Adams speaking at last
night's BMP Open House
(Photo © J. Maus)

It's a classic story in Portland by now -- you total your car, assess your options, and decide the time is right to go carfree.

It looks like the latest person to play out this story will be our mayor.

Mayor Adams walked away from a car crash without any injuries last weekend, but his truck wasn't in such good shape. Oregonian reporter Joseph Rose caught up with the mayor at last night's Bike Master Plan Open House and asked him about his plans for replacing the truck.

But don't expect to see the mayor shopping local car lots anytime soon. Following in the smaller carbon footprints of Berkeley, Calif., Mayor Tom Bates, Adams says he's giving up driving for at least a month. "I'm going to try it," he said.

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That's a cool logo. I hope someone
brings me back a T-shirt.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams, his Chief of Staff Tom Miller, and Bureau of Transportation traffic safety specialist Greg Raisman will visit Brussels, Belgium next week for the 29th annual Velo-city Conference.

Widely regarded as the premier bicycle transportation conference in the world (the 2007 edition in Munich had 950 participants from 50 countries), this year's Velo-city will take on added significance. The four-day conference will be held in the European Parliament building and on the final day, several cities -- including Portland -- will sign the Charter of Brussels. (more...)

Adams has dedicated $500,000
for bikes in his budget.
(Photos © J. Maus)

In his forthcoming budget proposal (due out tomorrow), Mayor Sam Adams will include a dedicated funding source devoted to bicycle programs and projects that he calls the "Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Fund".

In a phone call this afternoon, Mayor Adams told me the money will come from a portion of utility license fees. Last year Adams requested, and City Council approved, that a portion of those fees go toward the Bureau of Transportation (since PBOT is responsible for maintaining the right-of-way utility companies use to work on their wires, pipes, etc...). (more...)

Will he deliver a Platinum budget?
(Photos © J. Maus)

Right now in City Hall, Mayor Adams and his staff are getting set to release their transportation budget.

When the Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) released their budget back in February, it was embarrassingly bad for bikes. There was no dedicated revenue for bike projects, one-time funding for the Transportation Options Division (which funds Safe Routes to Schools among other things) was reduced 40%, and there was no guarantee to fund new bike boulevards (eventually, PBOT Director Sue Keil found $178,000 for the boulevards).
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Mayor Adams credits bike boxes
as one reason for record numbers
(Photo © J. Maus)

Back in January, we reported that Portland had potentially had a record low number of traffic fatalities in 2008.

PBOT has now made it official -- we have never had fewer traffic fatalities in any year since they began keeping track in 1925.

In 2008, 20 people died in traffic crashes. Fifteen were in cars and five were on foot. For the fifth time in the past ten years, there were no bicycle-related fatalities. (more...)

In a statement just published on his website, Mayor Sam Adams has responded to concerns from Portlanders about the Bureau of Transportation's requested budget for 2009-2010. As we've reported, PBOT's budget puts a high priority on arterial paving and is slim on bike project funding. It also includes a budget revision that would scale back funding at the Transportation Options division and the Safe Routes to Schools program would take 40% hit.

Adams has just posted a statement about this on his website. Here's the full text: (more...)