night’s BMP Open House
(Photo © J. Maus)
It’s a classic story in Portland by now — you total your car, assess your options, and decide the time is right to go carfree.
It looks like the latest person to play out this story will be our mayor.
Mayor Adams walked away from a car crash without any injuries last weekend, but his truck wasn’t in such good shape. Oregonian reporter Joseph Rose caught up with the mayor at last night’s Bike Master Plan Open House and asked him about his plans for replacing the truck.
But don’t expect to see the mayor shopping local car lots anytime soon. Following in the smaller carbon footprints of Berkeley, Calif., Mayor Tom Bates, Adams says he’s giving up driving for at least a month. “I’m going to try it,” he said.
Adams related to Rose a conversation he had with his sister shortly after the crash. His sister asked him what kind of car he was going to get next, and Adams said “My bike,” adding “Of course, I’ll probably supplement that with a Zip Car account.”
Rose reports that he encouraged the mayor by telling him about Tom Bates, the 71 year old mayor of Berkeley, California, who recently gave up his car in favor of an annual transit pass as a way to stay in shape and set an example for his constituents.
Mayor Adams, who lives in the Kenton neighborhood of North Portland, occasionally goes on well-publicized bike rides but has not been a habitual bicycle commuter. It will be interesting to see how he does with this self-imposed carfree challenge.
Thanks for reading.
BikePortland has served this community with independent community journalism since 2005. We rely on subscriptions from readers like you to survive. Your financial support is vital in keeping this valuable resource alive and well.
Please subscribe today to strengthen and expand our work.
Great, I will go car-free for the month as well.
nice Clarence…. just watch out for the traffic calming Sasquatch’s…. or is it Sasquatchai?
Actually, here in the Pacific NW it’s “traffic calming Sesqui’s”.
In any case, great to hear we’ll have illustrious company on the boulevards for Bike to Work Month!
This has the potential to be far better for improving the conditions for bicyclists in this town than any conference, meeting, speech, bike box, or anything else. Of course, that assumes Scam Adams isn’t lying. And why would anyone assume that?
When are we going to see Catherine “CRC” Ciarlo do the same?
I appreciate that he’s doing this. It really helps bike advocacy efforts when the politician you’re trying to reach is having experience with the same issues you’re trying to explain.
Publicity stunt or not, even if he only rode a bike to work 1 day per week, he’s going to be “in the trenches” with us and gain insight into how to improve cycling infrastructure.
Hey, DJ –
I bike my kids to school and myself to work every single day – rain or shine.
Glad to see Tom the Mayor joining the rest of us who have been car-free for years.
Good to hear, Sam. See you on the Boulevards!
Hmmm…today is the 6th, so almost one week gone. Going away to Europe next week. Let’s see if he does much during the back half of the month.
Is using ZipCar really “car free”?
Good for him. But being Mayor usually means time is premium, I would not expect to see him totally car free. Staffers will probably drive him at least some of the time. That said, I hope he uses transit and walks and bikes as much as possible.
Being a public figure, and being visible has its downside. Eric Sten didn’t run for another term,in part because he didn’t have much time for himself. So..if you see Hizzhonor toodling around on his bike, or on the bus, a nod or a wave would suffice. Don’t put him on the hotseat for every bike issue that comes up,every time you see him. Even public figures need a little downtime.
And come up to St Johns on Saturday for the annual SJ Parade and Bizarre, a street fair complete with a beergarden.. and a closed main street..car fee,if you will. I look forward to seeing everyone up there.It will be a great day for a ride!
Check out Clever Cycles “open bar” support of the mayor, http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1566534589&ref=nf
Clarence brings up a neat promotion idea….”join the mayor for a month and go carfree/carlight.”
Do something positive and pull people in.
I live in NoPo, not far from Adams. I know it’s a very very reasonable commute time to bike downtown and back. And the yellow line is so close, and the buses from here to downtown give you all sorts of non car options.
Not to put it too harshly, but why only a month of bike love, Sam? Why not make it the summer of bike love? The rain will be out of here soon… breeze in the face, sun on the shoulders. I’m not asking you to wear a tank top that reads “no 12 lane bridge” or anything – but say the word and I’ll make you up one in a flash… And if that hill coming up Greeley is too much work at first – go on and use interstate ave. Seriously, consider the whole summer car free. You don’t need no stinkin’ zipcar. (not that zipcars aren’t part of the solution for some)
A summer of biking is just what you need to perhaps change your perspective on certain political compromises you may have made back when you were driving a gmc across a certain bridge.
It’s hard to believe there hasn’t yet been a city-wide–or even better, city sponsored–cycling month. Is there a **national** equivalent? I’ve participated in the BTA’s http://www.bikecommutechallenge.com, and my kids in the bike/walk to school week, but I’m talking about an all-out cycling month when commuters, school kids, families, and probably a flood of tourists, go cycle crazy for 30 days, flooding the streets and bike paths with gobs and gobs of organized and ad-hoc cycling events. I nominate June.
Our family of seven (five kids ages 1 through 14) is going carless as well, but not for just a month. Well, almost carless… http://Zipcar.com is still our friend when the need arises to leave the central city. We live easily within two miles of work, school, groceries, bike shops, Lloyd Center, etc., so our family’s going all-cycle, just as soon as we sell our minivan and use the cash to beef up our cycle stable.
I’m curious though, does anyone have stats on bike thefts in Portland metro, and even a breakdown by bike type stolen, parts stripping, theft of kid carriers, and whether a lock was cut and what kind?
-Craig
Hey CRC Ciarlo (#6), if you really do bike to work every day, then your support of the mega-bridge is just that more dumb. Shame on you. Maybe you own stock in ExxonMobil?
Craig,
I pop off the wheels of our chariot and bring a second u lock to lock one side of the trailer with the wheels to whatever – pole , rack etc. It’s easier to bring two locks than try to detach the chariot/trailer and then attempt to muscle it and whatever bike you are riding to one rack – all that said – if we are only going to stop for a minute i either leave a look out or park it in front of a window where we can see it – like at the library – we lock the bike, pop off the wheels – take them with but don’t lok the trail – it’s still with us – knock on wood.
Two locks is what I was thinking. We just got a Burley for the 1-year-old, and it seems like an easy grab. I might also get a longer cable-lock that catches both wheels and the frame, and lock that to the frame of the towing bike (which is already u-locked to something).
Thanks mc
Yep, the longer cable has been an option i’ve been contemplating for a few seasons – probably get one after someone steals the trailer 😉
Travis… I thought you were going to talk about Clarence and Sesqui….
Have you seen any “traffic calming Sesqui’s” hanging out around the “Rackai” you observed?
Catherine:
I appreciate Mr Adams is making the attempt. I hope that when he realizes that the benefits of riding outweigh the convenience factors, it might dawn on him that he doesn’t need to spend our billions on a bridge that’s designed to increase the convenience factor for all those people who are unwilling to try using another means than single-occupancy car use to do their daily commute.
OK, I take back everything I have said about him. What a sacrifice! It is not just for us either, but for our children and grandchildren! It must be a 2 mile commute for him (4 round trip), I can’t imagine the suffering that will take this time of year. I am no longer a critic of Sam, I am just in awe and probably not worthy of even living in the same city. God bless him.
I’m not impressed with Mayor Sam’s pledge to go car free for a month. BFD. I have been car free for years and I never felt the need to announce it to the press.
Vera didn’t drive while she was in office but did get drove around town plenty. I heard she did get a license afeter she left office?
If all you guy had voted right last May you too would now have a 71 year old mayor with only a Zipcar account and bikes–two yellow fixies.
As a matter of fact, tomorrow I’ll Zip out to Alpenrose with the sound gear for this year’s velodrome season.
See you there!
Actually that is a damn good idea – get people to pledge to join the Mayor! Smashingly great promotional idea – even if it is just on paper….
Someone quick put together a video promoting it, just text and some fun music.
Do it, DO IT NOW!
🙂
Good luck Sam Way to go!
Imagine the look the CRC UDAG members would have if you showed up to the monthly meeting by bike in Vancouver. Bring Catherine along too.
It is just a 20 minute bike ride north from your house.
DJ Hurricane (#4 and #15).. the word for today is ‘civility’.
I take exception to your namecalling of Catherine in response to CRC. Catherine, as a staffer, and not the one to make policy decisions, but rather give her boss all relevant information and let him make the decision. Secondly, I know Catherine to be the (1st?) E.D. of BTA,and knowledgeable of Portlands history and dreams of cycling as a legitimate form of transportation.
Please remember the Mayor and Council represent the entire city, there is not a bike councilor and a school councilor,but being on Council means representing all of your constituants as best you can, knowing that for every winner,there are losers. Beating up on staff members is short sighted and rude. A staffer CAN make recommendations to promote a certain agenda, especially one where she has strong ties. A staffer may choose NOT to, when subjected to rude remarks. I do not know Ciarlos opinion of CRC, nor do I truely understand her bosses. I object to the 12 lane option being left on the table, but recognize it as high stakes poker, not necessarily the desired result of negotionations. Truth said, I question any need for a new bridge. But this is irrelevant to the conversation.
I am simply stating that rudeness and namecalling does not add to the discussion,but only inflames. Talk to her in person,but don’t flame her on a blog behind an assumed name.
I became car-free when I first moved here four years ago.. not so hard, even out here by Mt. Tabor.. Anyone can do it if they plan ahead..
5 years riding here, and I love it. I am glad Mr Mayor is making an effort. One more thing to get me to ‘come around’
Thanks!
I’m torn. Sam deserves a pat on the back for this small step forward that may save 2 tons of CO2 and get some good press.
But he deserves 500,000 spanks for building a $4 bridge that will create good press, 5 trillion tons of CO2 and steal funding from 500 bike and transit projects.
I don’t care who he slept with, but he has gone to bed with the people who want to build this bridge with no regard for heath and budgeting. ODOT runs the show now, and will ignore any recommendation commission.
Decide for yourself: ally or full of lies?
Oh, and let’s stop using the discounted number that these bridge proponents pulled out of their a$$es. $4 billion? It’s gonna be more like $8 billion, and we all know it. That’d buy a lot of Zipcar credit!
Well said, Joe #27 Catherine is a committed bike commuter and her prior work for cycling gives her props in my eyes. As a staffer she must promote the agenda of her boss. I am opposed to the decision Sam made on the CRC and will lobby, debate, take direct actions, etc. on the policy – but I will not make it personal against Catherine. If I were in her shoes I would find it hard to defend Sam’s thinking/decision on the CRC, honestly, I feel for her and amy R and other staffers who have shown with their previous work that they more than likely oppose the direction Sam is taking on this (I’m making that leap as an opinion and educated hunch, not putting words in their mouths) but I think name calling serves no one. Taking options and alternatives to legislators and the people of Washingotn and Oregon is where I am focusing my efforts.
I have to give Catherine a shout out for pedaling her kids to school everyday – I am guilty of breaking out the Echo in the rainy season to carpool the young hooligans. ( we’re going to school closer to home next year)
But even with my Echo carpool confession out tghere my offer to make Sam a “No 12 Lane Bridge” tank top extends to the entire staff. Amy, you’d look great in a black one and Tom M should go with a navy – with lettering in white… very sharp.
I think it’s great that Portland’s Mayor is giving up the single occupancy vehicle option for the rest of the month of May.
I hope it convinces him to extend that to the month of June, then July, then August, until he’s in the habit of using other transportation methods to get around his city.
Oh, and old&slow, #21, sarcasm will get you nowhere. My commute is 5 miles, one way. I drove today, single occupancy. Does that make me the devil?
Last time I checked, the BTA and other advocacy groups want to get people out of their cars and onto their bikes for those trips of 3 miles or less. If his commute is 2 miles and he chooses another form of transportation (bike, bus, zipcar, his own two feet) to get to work, then GOOD ON HIM.
And I like the idea that Clarence #25 had.
Well, if CRC Ciarlo is such a wonderful bike advocate, I guess we can overlook her work helping to destroy the livability of Portland. Makes perfect sense to me.
Will he still be mayor in a month?
#21 – just to be fair, his commute (one-way) is probably closer to 6 miles from Kenton to City Hall, so that’s 12 miles a day biking. Not a lot – but still a significant amount for a new commuter.
I point this out because Kt mentioned the focus is on getting people to use bikes/public transit for trips under 3 miles. I think it is easy to bike commute when you live in close-in NE/SE and head downtown with ample bike lanes/boulevards – you can be at work in about 20 minutes. I think it gets tougher for people to choose to bike commute when their one-way trip gets over about 5 miles or is in a difficult area (ie SW, outer East, etc).
DJ – I’m not invalidating your statements, just the name calling. I agree that it’s a conflicted and strange place that catherine finds herself – a long time bicycling and human scaled livability advocate having to mouth a megabridge message. I don’t envy her and I certain am not defending her choice to stay with sam’s admin – If it were me I would have quit the job weeks ago. But this is a tough economy, I’m not her, it’s a job and she’s doing it . So I’m saying keep the heat on Sam’s office any way you want. for my part, I’m focusing on the policy not the person.
#21 and #36 The commute from up here is almost entirely downhill so it almost a coast one way. If I’m not mistaken, the distance is 3-4 miles. and take fifteen minutes (my pace) into to downtown, maybe 25 minutes coming back. Definitely not 12 miles.
I understand your disdain for name calling. I should have chosen a better word, e.g., “dumbfounding,” rather than “dumb” to describe a megabridge advocate who likes to bike. I didn’t mean to suggest that Ciarlo herself is dumb, only that her choice to support the megabridge is inexplicable if she really does enjoy biking around town.
With bike advocates like Ciarlo, who needs enemies, eh?
And, metal cowboy, I’ll add that you are of course correct to focus on the policy rather than the person. And doing a great job, I might add!
In this instance, though, I think Ciarlo and Adams are legitimate targets for (civil) criticism because they have both claimed in the past — and, amazingly, continue to do so — that they are advocates for livable communities and making Portland “the most sustainable City in the world.” IMHO, this sort of blatant hypocrisy should not go unchallenged.
DJ,
“this sort of blatant hypocrisy should not go unchallenged.”
No arguement from me.
Hey, how ’bout ‘nuther Mayor’s Bike Ride from City Hall during Pedalpalooza? Last year wuz a blast!
Bravo, and good luck your honor.