There’s a new group of two-wheeled advocates in town, and they share many of the same issues as we do. Their numbers are growing and so is their influence in City Hall.
On May 10th, Portland City Council voted to form the first-ever Motorcycle and Scooter Citizens Advisory Committee (MSCAC). Similar to the Bicycle Advisory Committee, this group will be headed up by a PDOT employee and will be guided by citizen input.
The move reflects a resurgence of interest in scooters and motorcycles. PDOT’s Dan Bower — the man who will chair the new committee — says registrations are up 41% in the last three years and Portland is home to the #1 Vespa dealer in the country.
What does that mean for bicycles? Is this an opportunity to join forces and work together on issues we share?
File photo
According to Bower, who also works on bicycle-related issues and projects in his role in the Transportation Options department of PDOT, the answer is a resounding yes.
He rattled off a familiar list of issues they’d like to bring to the table, including working for better road conditions (especially potholes; sewer grates; and thick, slippery paint on crosswalks); improving the quality and quantity of parking; and a major concern for safety.
Bower gleaned much of his information about scooter and motorcycle drivers from the City of Portland Motorcycle and Scooter User Survey that was completed last year (download here). He said many of the results of that survey, especially the question of barriers to riding, were “strikingly similar” to what he has learned from bicyclists.
On the national front, the motorcycle and scooter lobby is highly organized toward working for more severe sentencing for car and truck drivers who injure and/or kill motorcyclists. The American Motorcyclist Association’s “Justice for All” campaign deals with many of the same issues we’ve discussed on this site in the past.
While PDOT is now officially listening to operators of motorcycles and scooters, they stop short of officially promoting them.
The question now is, how can we join forces with this emerging advocacy group to further issues we both share? I think a great start would be to have bike advocates at the first meeting of this new committee. Another idea might be to coordinate a big ride for their planned Ride to Work Day on June 19th July 18th.
What do you think? Do we embrace this opportunity to strengthen our voice and work to solve mutual issues, or do we keep our distance from our motorized brethren?
For more on this issue check out:
- A good article from the Biking Bis blog titled “Can bicycle and motorcycle groups make roads safer?”
- PDOT’s Motorcycles web page
- A blog post about this from Transportation Commissioner Sam Adams