Director David Hiller penned an
eloquent rebuttal to the age-old
“bikes don’t pay their way” rant.
(Photo © J. Maus)
From a distant and equally snowy land (Washington, DC New Haven, Connecticut), here’s your Monday news roundup.
A week of snow in Portland has created an unofficial carfree week. I’m not there (I’m on an East Coast Tour), but I’ve been following the action thanks to the Open Threads and friends via Twitter. My favorite comment so far is from Portlander Heather Andrews, aka wildsheepchase: “I took the lane on 82nd! As a pedestrian! It really is the Snowpocalypse!”
Now, onto news from around globe:
— The Cascade Bicycle Club‘s David Hiller, responds compellingly in the Seattle Times to the idea that cyclists don’t pay for roads.
— The latest in bicycling as a civil rights issue: A group of intrepid Los Angelenos have gone to the city council calling for a Cyclists Bill of Rights. One councillor objected strenuously to right #3: “the right to the full support of educated law enforcement.”
— Ben Fried at Streetsblog breaks down transportation issues in the upcoming stimulus bill in Want a Green Recovery? Stimulate Green Transportation, and asks you to make your voice heard.
— The Netherlands is planning a nationwide road pricing scheme. Meanwhile, London’s effective congestion charging is in trouble. [Via How We Drive]
— A newly released international study has made this unsurprising discovery: Leaner nations walk and bike more. [Via my latest blogroll addition, Carfree Tokyo]
— The Boston Globe has named Nicole Freedman, former Olympic cyclist and the city’s new bicycle programs coordinator, one of its Bostonians of the Year. They have a nice profile of Freedman and some hope for Boston’s notoriously bike-unfriendly streets.
That’s the roundup for this week. For up to the minute links and more interesting bike/transportation/carfree news from around the web, join the over 300 folks who now follow BikePortland on Twitter.
Stay tuned for reports and photos from Washington D.C. and other cities as my East Coast Tour continues.
Thanks for reading.
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Snowpocalypse! (Ha.) Love it. It is true. It is a snow wonderland. Snowpocalypse, by the way, as a word form, is a portmanteau indicative of the current state of Portland.
Just watch out in those roads. If there are any cars present, get out of the way, because most of the folks out there driving have no clue what they are doing. Walking around these past few days I have seen so many folks in the street, even as cars are trying to pass around them. It is not safe as a pedestrian and it would suck to be hit by one of the cars! Sure, it is fun to walk down the middle of the street, but let’s not forget all common sense during these wild days…
Elly,
You are doing a great job of keeping us informed!
Thanks Elly for the link to David Hiller’s excellent column in the Seattle Times.
I find it ironic to see the largest bike advocacy group in WA making a strong stance against licensing bikes (or otherwise financially discouraging cycling), while the BTA here is trying to float the idea of introducing a sales tax on bikes. Not that I want to re-open that debate. Just saying.
Car free week… music to my ears. Maybe the city creating more carfree weeks and be the first to have carfree parks full of local gardens and local food production.
Just found some wifi and edited the location Jonathan added to clarify my “here” — Washington, DC was sunny and 50 when I left it last week.
Since Sunday I’ve been just outside New Haven, Connecticut which is covered in disgusting, slushy snow.