Resolution makes bicycles official target industry

In an ongoing push to legitimize and foster Portland’s nascent bicycle industry, Commissioner Sam Adams is backing a resolution that is expected to be adopted as official City policy at the next City Council meeting on July 5th.

The resolution was prepared by City of Portland Office of Transportation employee Linda Ginenthal, mastermind behind the recent Portland Bike Summit and program manager for Transportation Options.

The resolution directs The Portland Development Commission (PDC) to designate the bicycle industry as an official “target industry”. This would open up the bicycle industry to special PDC incentive and development programs and would foster bicycle-related business growth.

Here are some selected excerpts from the resolution:

• WHEREAS, The City of Portland recognizes that bicycling, as a mode of transportation, provides substantial benefits to the City and its residents, including reduced air and water pollution, reduced traffic congestion, and reduced parking demand. Other public benefits include increased mobility and lower transportation costs for lower-income or transportation disadvantaged citizens; and

• WHERAS, the bicycle industry is an innovative and dynamic sector of the economy that contributes to the economic vitality of our City while simultaneously promoting bicycling as a mode of personal transportation, as well as all of the aforementioned benefits of that mode; and

• WHEREAS, It is in the City’s best interest to foster the development of this fast-growing market niche, as it is a strategic economic investment that would contribute to both the City’s economy and its transportation goals;

The resolution also calls for Commissioner Sam to return to City Council in six months to present an official plan to grow the bicycle-related industry in the city of Portland.

I’ll update this post once I hear an exact time this agenda item is scheduled to come before the council. It would make a lasting impression on our City Commissioners if we packed a crowd into Council Chambers to show our support of this resolution.

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