Kaiser Permanente’s “Thrive” ad campaign is nothing new to Portlanders. They’ve run an extensive billboard campaign throughout the city for months now. One of my favorites features a photo of a bike and the copy (I’m paraphrasing), “The latest in the battle against heart disease”.
Now they’ve made bikes the centerpiece of a new commercial dubbed, “Community Bike” that debuted during the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics on August 8th. Check it out:
A custom bike show in Southern Oregon will feature builders from Oregon, Washington and California, including the debut of two new builders from Portland.
The first-ever Southern Oregon Custom Bicycle Show is a joint effort between the Ashland-based United Bicycle Institute (UBI) and the Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association (OBCA, a non-profit builders group based in Portland).
Back in June, I was biking my normal route to the office (southbound on N. Interstate near the Rose Quarter), when I came across something appalling.
It was right out of a horror movie.
This Saturday is Free Geek’s annual Geek Fair, an event that is sure to be full of bike fun for the entire family.
Free Geek is a local non-profit that recycles and refurbishes computer equipment and operates a community technology center in inner Southeast Portland.
The Portland arm of media juggernaut Clear Channel is in the process of developing an educational series of messages that will help educate Oregonians about the benefits of biking to our communities and encourage more positive behavior on the roads.
The effort is being spearheaded by Janet Bain of Southwest Portland-based Clear Channel Radio. Clear Channel’s local radio stations (which also have active web presences) include K103fm, 1190KEX, KPOJ 620-AM, KQOL-105.9 and Z100.
The City of Portland Office of Transportation (PDOT) has completed the installation of 1.6 miles of bike lanes in Outer Southeast Portland.
The new lanes are on SE 162nd Avenue from Powell to Stark and they create a continuous route of over three miles of bike lanes all the way from the I-84 path south to Powell. PDOT’s current bike map of Outer Southeast shows this portion of 162nd as a “difficult connection”, so these new lanes are a welcome improvement.
For the first time ever, Portland will take part in a nationwide effort to document the number of people biking and walking on our streets.
The National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project was initiated in 2003 by Alta Planning and Design (a nationally known bike and ped planning firm with nine offices around the country, including Portland). Alta compiles that data through a joint effort with the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE).
Alta’s Mia Birk says they approached the ITE because they publish an important journal on vehicle counts known as the “ITE Trip Generation Manual” and Alta wanted, “a comparable document for bike and pedestrian counts.”
“The purpose is to increase our aspirations – to move from contentment at being the “best in the U.S.” to the ambition of being truly world-class.”
–Metro President David Bragdon
Members of a committee formed by Metro to focus on funding new biking and walking trails in the Portland region are packing their bags for a study trip to the world’s two most bike-friendly cities — Amsterdam and Copenhagen.
Metro’s Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails — created as part of President David Bragdon’s Connecting Green campaign — has been meeting since early this spring in order to, “propose a funding strategy to complete the region’s network of bicycle and walking trails.”
