Month: November 2007

Bike Safety Education Course

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Adult Bicycle Safety Education Class (Road 1)

Date: *Saturday Nov. 10, 2007 9A-5P*
Instructor: Hal Ballard
http://www.bikeleague.org/cogs/programs/education/instructor_detail/573
Location: 5550 SW Hall Blvd, Beaverton, OR 97005
Fee: $50

Description: Gives cyclists the confidence they need to ride safely and legally in traffic or on the trail. The course covers bicycle safety checks, fixing a flat, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques and includes a student manual. Recommended for adults and children above age fourteen, this fast-paced, 8-hour course prepares cyclists for a full
understanding of vehicular cycling.

To register for this course, contact:

Hal Ballard LCI 815
Phone: 503.516.6733
Contact Email: lci815@washcobtc.org
Website: http://washcobtc.org

Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee

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BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
THE NEXT MONTHLY MEETING OF THE CITY OF PORTLAND CITIZENS’ BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
will be held in City Hall (1221 SW 4th Avenue), Lovejoy Room
7 p.m. on Tuesday November 13, 2007

AGENDA

Announcements/BAC Discussion

The Need for Cyclist Education. Can We Clean Up our Own House?

The recent attention on bicycle safety has focused, in part, on the behavior of road users—motorists and cyclists, alike. Motorists and cyclists commonly identify poor cyclist behavior as, at the least, a black eye on cycling. Committee discussion about the parameters of this issue with a focus on identifying short-term and long-term actions to be taken to educate cyclists about safe and appropriate riding.

Proposed Treatment of 14 Difficult Intersections with Bike Boxes/Blue Bike Lanes We will continue the conversation with Rob about the recently-announced proposal to increase cyclist visibility at 14 targeted intersections.

Adjourn
7:00

7:10

Bike Safety Committee – Public Testimony

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We are actively soliciting public testimony to hear whatever you have to say about bicycle safety in the city of Portland. Please attend to share your thoughts with Commissioner Sam Adams and the Bicycle Safety Commitee.

THE BICYCLE SAFETY COMMITTEE WILL MEET NEXT WEDNESDAY EVENING TO TAKE PUBLIC TESTIMONY FROM ALL WHO WANT TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FOR HOW TO TACKLE THIS ISSUE WITH SAM AND THE COMMITEE.

PUBLIC TESTIMONY – BIKE SAFETY COMMITTEE
7 P.M. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2007
PORTLAND BUILDING, ROOM C . (2ND FLOOR, SW 5TH & JEFFERSON ST.)

CCC employee chosen for Skidmore Prize

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Neal Armstrong
(Photo: Alison Hill Graves)

An employee at the non-profit Community Cycling Center (CCC) has won the Skidmore Prize.

Neal Armstrong, the CCC’s volunteer and events manager, is one of four winners of the prize. He’ll receive a $4,000 personal grant and will featured in the Willamette Week’s 2007 Give Guide (slated for their November 14th issue).

CCC development director Alison Hill Graves says, “Neal makes everyone feel at home when they dedicate their time to the Community Cycling Center…Our volunteer program is the lifeblood of this organization, and Neal is an excellent steward for our community.”

Read more

Expert lays out road map to making cycling “irresistible”

John Pucher
(Photo: Rutgers)

Noted bicycle and pedestrian advocate, speaker, and Rutgers University Professor John Pucher has just written a new paper (to be published by the Oxford University journal Transport Reviews in July 2008) that might be the road map Portland takes to becoming a truly world-class bike city.

The paper, titled Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany (download PDF, 1MB), outlines the policies and practices those European cities have embraced that have allowed them to become places where going by bike is safe and convenient enough for everyone–not just the hearty and committed.

Read more

Job of the Week

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If you’re looking for a great job opportunity in Portland’s ever-growing bike industry, check out what has been posted to the the BikePortland Job Listings this week:

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Bike planning firm is movin’ on up

A visit to Alta Planning

Noted bike and pedestrian planning firm Alta Planning and Design has bought a new building and plans to move its headquarters.

The building is located at 711-713 SE Grand Ave on Portland’s east side (right next to River City Bicycles!).

The firm, which has 14 employees and was recently featured in a NY Times article, is headed by former PDOT bike coordinator Mia Birk.

(Thanks to reader Aaron T. for noticing this news in the Portland Business Journal.)

Siobhan Doyle is my hero

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Watch this video (below) of Siobhan Doyle from her hospital bed. Siobhan is the woman who was hit while riding her bike on Interstate a few days ago.

At about the 2:00 minute mark, Siobhan starts to tear up and shares some poignant, a bit unexpected, yet very important thoughts about sharing the road.

This video was shot by Michael Rollins of the Oregonian (it might take a few seconds to appear and load):

Read more

Rally for transportation equality (updated)

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[Updated: 11/9, 8:32am, 2:38pm – See update below about date/time change.]

[This article is by BikePortland.org columnist Elly Blue]

“The event will be a peaceful, legal, and highly visible statement that we all belong equally in our roads and public spaces and that we are all committed to working together…”
–Elly Blue

In response to last month’s tragedies, we’ve seen a lot of amazing work done by Sam Adam’s office, bicycling leaders, and the community.

We’ve also discovered the inability of our police to appropriately respond to situations involving bicyclists. But this is not just about the police — this is a political problem, and a cultural problem, and its roots go deep. And it’s not just about bicyclists — we are *all* vulnerable road users every time we leave our homes.

Read more

Adams to hold public forum, will ask Council for more bike safety funds

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Commissioner Adams has announced a public forum on bike safety to take place Wednesday (11/14).

From the introduction to a post on CommissionerSam.com:

“..we want to the public to know about what we’ve been doing in our office both in response to these specific tragedies, and to ensure that similar tragedies are prevented at all problem intersections in the future…”

And here are some of the “immediate steps” they are taking:

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Another lawyer goes public with claim of cyclist bias at Police Bureau

Lawyer Bob Mionske

Portland-based lawyer Bob Mionske, a former Olympian who writes a monthly legal column for VeloNews Magazine, has added yet another voice of concern over what he sees as a bias against bicyclists at the Portland Police Bureau.

In his most recent VeloNews column, A fatal bias?, Mionske goes in-depth on four cases that he says are “textbook incidents of anti-cyclist bias.”

Three of the four cases are from Portland collisions that happened in the past month.

Read more

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From the Archives

With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike