Willamette Pedestrian Coalition, speaks at the
event this morning.
– More images –
(Photos © J. Maus)
With the summer cycling season in full swing, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) and a host of partners kicked of another year of their Eye to Eye safety campaign at a press conference near the Eastbank Esplanade this morning.
The BTA first launched the Eye to Eye effort last August after a string of road rage incidents involving bicycles back in July put Portland traffic relations in a very bad light.
installed free bike bells.
At the event this morning, the BTA passed out free bike bells. Speakers at the press conference included BTA Executive Director Scott Bricker, the new Executive Director of the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition Steph Routh, TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen, and others.
In an interview after the official event, Hansen said they’ve put in “eye to eye training” into their operator curriculum. When asked what exactly that means, Hansen said they make it very clear to all new and existing bus operators that the policy when bikes are present is to not signal. “If there’s a bicycle around,” he explained, “operators are not supposed to signal prior to crossing over [a traffic lane] to service a stop. The idea is that you stop in the traffic lane, then when the bikes have cleared you service the stop.”
Hansen said that when bikes are present and bus operators turn on their signals, it can lead to confusion for everyone.
In addition to the training, Hansen says they’ll continue to run Eye to Eye billboard ads on the sides of their buses and MAX light rail trains.
Hansen also noted that the bikeway improvements through the Rose Quarter Transit Center have been very successful. He chalks that up to “predictability”: “The bikes know where the buses go, and the buses know where the bikes go.”
When asked about U.S. Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) attacks on TriMet’s use of federal stimulus dollars to fund new bike parking facilities, Hansen said it’s nothing more than political opportunism. “I’m proud that we used that money to create jobs and to promote sustainable transportation,” he said.
BTA leader Scott Bricker said that the campaign is being funded through the Brett Jarolimek Memorial Fund and that it will include several public outreach events in the coming months. Bricker is also trying to get the Eye to Eye message in front of motor vehicle drivers and hopes that a recent meeting with the Oregon chapter of the American Automobile Association will soon bear fruit. He wants them to feature bike safety ads and a letter from their director in their member magazine.
Learn more about the Eye to Eye campaign at SeeingEyetoEye.org.
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[quote] the policy when bikes are present is to not signal. “If there’s a bicycle around, . . . operators are not supposed to signal prior to crossing over [a traffic lane] to service a stop. The idea is that you stop in the traffic lane, then when the bikes have cleared you service the stop.” [end quote]
wtf?
is it so very, very difficult to time your arrival at a particular place in the roadway so as to avoid this conflict? as in, don’t overtake in the first instance if you are planning to cut to the right immediately after passing? and if it is a matter of a cyclist overtaking a bus that has already stopped, why not pass on the left like normal folks, and tell the bus driver to wait before pulling back into traffic, just as though s/he were being overtaken by a motorist.
yet another instance of unnecessary confusion caused by having striped bike lanes and a mandatory sidepath law.
That logo still bites
HEY! What’s with the negative comments?
This is a valiant effort to improve relations. I agree that it seems simple enough when a bus uses it’s right turns signal that you shouldn’t try to pass on the right. But lots of other things seem simple but apparently aren’t. If this prevents confusion and danger, than I’m fine with that.
Ahhh…that’s what was going on…
Thanks for the free bell for me and my daughter!
I confess I am now utterly confused by Hansen’s quote about signalling. What is so difficult about a bus driver signalling the intention to pull over for a bus stop? I always watch for that, and slow down if I’m approaching a bus that is about to pull to the right. Now they’re not going to signal? I don’t get it.
TRIMET trains bus drivers to use signals?
Personally, I regard the lights of a Trimet bus like those of a Christmas tree: just random decorations with no discernable pattern.
Fred Hansen talks a lot but if you listen closely he never really says anything meaningful
Recently,I recently purchased directional turn signals for my bike and the 1st day I used them they saved my life at an intersection where a truck was making a right turn.
It’s a no brainer. I purchased mine at http://www.safetybikesignals.com
Why aren’t more riders using them.