“Right now, it’s not moving…it’s not going anywhere.”
— Colleen Krieger, legislative assistant to Rep. Wayne Krieger
As the bike registration bill saga enters its second week, all signs point to the demise of H.B. 3008.
The bill, which seeks a mandatory fee of $54 to register all bicycles in Oregon that are operated on public roadways (except those owned by people under 18 years of age), has created quite a storm of opposition since Oregonians first heard about it on March 6th.
It may not feel like it outside, but summer is fast approaching and the City of Portland Office of Transportation is busy putting the pieces together for their second annual Sunday Parkways events.
Last year, the city held one Sunday Parkways event in North Portland. The 6+ mile route was held on residential streets and thousands of Portlanders enjoyed a “temporary park” free from motorized traffic. This year, plans are to hold three events throughout the city.
Cold medicine DUIIs, crossing party lines, bike lanes and architecture, dying suburbs, stadium congestion, helmet cams, and love, today.
Thanks to all the readers who sent in tips about items in this week’s news roundup.
– A bill up in front of the Oregon House would add prescription or over the counter medications to the list of intoxicants under the debilitating influence of which it would be illegal to drive.
– Feel strongly about Commissioner Leonard’s push for a major league soccer stadium in Portland? Check out Chris Smith’s analysis of the project’s potential transportation impacts.
– Suburbs are dying, says Time Magazine. Do we just let them go, or can they be saved through redevelopment?
The 2009 National Bike Summit wrapped up on Friday. I’ll have my final thoughts and wrap-up in a separate post, but I thought I’d share a few select photos from my trip:
“The statement was intended to be satirical and we apologize if it was presented in a context that made it seem otherwise.”
— Nathan Hellman, editor-in-chief of the Daily Vanguard
Nathan Hellman, editor-in-chief of Portland State University’s Daily Vanguard newspaper, has issued an apology for a harshly worded movie review they published on March 5th. The paper has also printed two letters from student groups and faculty members that objected to the review’s content and called for the paper to take action to remedy the situation.
In the review, Stover E. Harger III doled out some stinging criticisms of Veer: A documentary film about bicycling culture. Here’s a passage that many felt crossed the line (emphasis mine):
About thirty people showed up — by bus, bike, and on foot — to the first Portland Car-free Happy Hour on Thursday.
Some highlights for me included:
– Standing outside on a sunny March day, talking about bike commute routes, long distance train travel, streetcars, and more.
It’s been a long, quiet week here at BikePortland HQ, as Jonathan and I have both been out of town — he’s in DC working like a madman to cover the National Bike Summit, and until yesterday I was down south at the smaller and scrappier but no less inspiring L.A. Bike Summit (more on that soon).
There’s not much time to round up the weekend’s events, but here are a few ideas that look good — please feel free to add your own suggestions, reports, and more in the comments.
– Sleep not your thing? Tonight is the infamous Midnight Mystery Ride, Hootenanny edition. Help Rev Phil celebrate freedom, bikes, and getting older without forgetting how to have fun. Bring musical instruments and copies of the lyrics to your favorite songs for everyone to sing to. Meet at 11:00pm. Starting location is up now at the MMR website.
The folks at WalkScore have implemented a project similar to the joined forces with the Transit Shed tool that we told you about a few weeks ago.
What they came up with, the Transit Time Map, basically gives you a more flexible and multi-modal way to plan your travel throughout the day. The map is currently implemented, in a rough and occasionally slow form, in Seattle, Portland, and the San Francisco Bay area.
Oregonians, you should be proud. The team you sent to represent you in Washington is nothing short of an All-Star Team. And yesterday, I had the honor to accompany them for a full day of meetings with Oregon’s Congressional representatives on Capitol Hill.
The day started early with a warm-up reception held in the House Office Building. After getting our marching orders from League director Andy Clarke, Congressman Earl Blumenauer stepped up to the lectern. He told us about a budget meeting he was in last night with President Obama. According to Blumenauer staffer Tyler Frisbee (who I talked to later), Blumenauer had a few minutes to present to Obama.
As he began outlining his ideas on the importance of transportation, he mentioned funding challenges. At that point, according to Blumenauer, Obama piped up with, “You mean, there’s not enough money for bikes?!”. “The big guy’s on message,” Blumenauer said with a grin.
When the Bike Commuter Benefit Act passed back in October, it was somewhat of a shallow victory for advocates who had pushed for its passage for seven long years. Not only did it pass as a ploy to build support for the controversial financial bailout bill, the “benefit” it provides is small ($20 per month compared to $230 for parking a car and $120 a month for taking transit), and the implementation has been the source of massive confusion to HR people across the country. Worse yet, the Bike Commuter Benefit Act included language that required bike riding employees to choose between the bike benefit or the transit benefit.
It has been interesting to follow the widespread discussion spurred by the proposal in the Oregon legislature that would establish a $54, mandatory bike registration fee in Oregon. Even though the bill is highly unlikely to pass, it has drawn the attention of advocates, the media, and citizens like few other issues I have covered.
Yesterday, a reader sent me over an email newsletter sent out by one of the sponsors of the bill — Representative Sal Esquivel, a Republican from Medford. In that email, Esquivel admits that the bill, “may never see the light of day”, but he also defends the idea on similar grounds as his fellow co-sponsor on the bill, Rep. Wayne Krieger (learn more about what he thinks of the bill in my interview with him last week).
Last night I experienced an important part of how special interest lobbying works. At a classy restaurant just steps from Capitol Hill, I joined bike industry and advocacy leaders for a reception (and dinner, but I didn’t stay for that) hosted by BikesPAC.
BikesPAC is a political action committee founded by the non-profit Bikes Belong Foundation that raises money from donors and then spends the money on congressional campaigns of members that are supportive of biking. Each year during the National Bike Summit, BikesPAC hosts a reception and dinner and invites members of Congress to stop by. The idea is to share with them what the Bike Summit is all about, give thanks for their support of biking, and generally just try to strengthen the name of biking on Capitol Hill.