🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏
[This article was written by contributor Elly Blue. You can read more from Ms. Blue here.]
“Do not ride at night,” urges the Huffy Bicycle Company website. “Have someone pick you up if you’re out after dark or walk your bike home.”
This attitude is fortunately not the norm in Portland, where ever-increasing numbers of cyclists ride year-round and bike light education and/or giveaway programs abound.
The new close calls map I offered a sneak peek of back in August has been launched.
We’ve even come up with a snazzy acronym…
In a stack of old notes on my desk, I came across a passage from an Oregonian article published a few months ago that I’ve been wanting to share.
The story, Our diversity myth: Portlanders live in a like-minded bubble, making it easier to get things done but harder for dissenting voices to be heard, is about how Americans are increasingly choosing to live in communities that reflect their existing lifestyles and values.
After a fire back in August completely gutted the Northeast Portland headquarters of BikeTiresDirect.com, Velotech Inc. is getting back on its feet.
Velotech (which also runs WesternBikeworks.com) has leased a new, 20,000 square foot warehouse, office and retail space and they’ve planned a grand opening party for October 30th.
As part of their 2010 Campaign for Active Transportation (which launches Monday), the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has helped cities across the country develop “Community Case Statements”.
These case statements will be used to garner media attention for the campaign, but more importantly as tools to lobby Congress for increased federal funding in “active transportation” (biking and walking).
In a blog post published yesterday, City Commissioner and Mayor-elect Sam Adams wrote that with each new innovation the city rolls out for bicyclists, “our bicycle community assumes more responsibility as well”.
“As we make continued investments in our street system to accommodate bikes, it is imperative that our bike community respond with responsible behavior. No excuses.”
Adams added that,
“with strong support of the BTA,” he has asked the Portland Police Bureau to “adopt a no discretion/zero-tolerance policy for red light running (applicable to all modes) through the Rose Quarter Transit Center”
Jim Anderson, the man behind the Monday Night Racing series and a successful series of women’s clinics, has launched a new business — BikeSmart Portland.
Partnering with Anderson is Russell Cree. Cree launched a cycling performance center in downtown Portland last month called Upper Echelon Fitness.
Below are two great opportunities listed on the BikePortland Job Listings this past week.
See below for more information:
Yesterday, in cities across the country, Transportation For America launched their “Build for America” campaign.
The Build for America effort is focused on lobbying congress for increased federal investment in a “21st century transportation system” that will create new jobs via the construction of a world-class rail system, upkeep of our existing infrastructure, and construction of more public transit, sidewalks, and bicycle facilities. (See their, “Five Point Plan to Get our Economy Moving”)
A parade is planned for Thursday (10/16) to celebrate the new bike access and safety improvements through the Rose Quarter Transit Center.
The project was the result of collaborative effort between TriMet, the City of Portland, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, and the Lloyd District Transportation Management Association.
A statement about the event issued by TriMet referred to the previous configuration of the transit center as a “critical barrier for cyclists”, and that “the alternative bike route around the transit center was difficult to navigate.”