Lots of local news; Cash for Clunkers excites some, nauseates others; BikeSnob to reveal identity; roadblocks to getting to school by bike; taking the Sierra Club to task; rickshaws deprioritized in Dhaka; and much, much more.
Here’s a selection of the stories that caught our eye in the last week:
– It’s not looking good for a timely reauthorization of the federal transportation bill, or for the Obama administration’s support for innovations in transportation funding.
– Through the Cash for Clunkers program, the federal government is now helping Americans trade in their old cars for new ones, to the tune of up to $4,500. And the effects are becoming apparent as local car dealerships get a boost.
– Maureen Dowd makes a comparison between driving while distracted by our phones and a dangerous drug habit.
– The NYTimes has a rockstar profile of the man behind BikeSnobNYC. Apparently his forthcoming book won’t be pseudonymous.
– Mobis/BikeStation has announced a new “shovel ready” program for municipalities who want to vie for stimulus funds for bike projects and aren’t sure how to proceed.
– The Oregonian editorializes about the ins and outs of ensuring good biking and walking access to transit stations.
– Clackamas County wants to know — how can they encourage more people to get on bikes, particularly in the northern part of the county?
– An Oregonian columnist not known for her friendliness to bicycling initiatives loved the last Sunday Parkways carfree event so much that she wants to see them happen every week.
– After opening several new stores this year, including one in Portland, Performance Bicycle is cutting jobs.
– The Streetsblog Network comes through with some good back story about biking bans in some New Jersey school districts, in light of the proposed federal tripling of Safe Routes to School funds.
– In Japan, mothers are engaged in a back and forth with the government over regulation of kid-carrying bicycles.
– The crackdown on bicycle rickshaws continues in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
– Copenhagenize lists the world’s most bicycle-friendly cities (places with a bike mode share in the double digits). Davis, California makes the list; Portland isn’t nearly there yet.
– The Carfree USA blog asks: Should the Sierra Club promote hybrid cars?
– Handy with a welder? Here are step by step construction photos of a folding cargo bicycle. You can use it as a grocery cart!
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.
Re: Clackamas County … Ironic! Some friends and I went bike-camping up the Clackamas river this weekend. This is the 10th Oregon & Washington county I’ve been touring in so far this year and only a few miles into the trip I was proclaiming it the least friendly. We were shouted at numerous times to “get off the road,” called “retards”, buzzed, honked at, and had engines revved at us to flood us with a cloud of carbon monoxide. Definitely, driver/cultural education is needed first and foremost–maybe more signage on the road, especially ones that are major throughways with wide shoulders based on the Bike It! Clackamas county map (for instance, coming from gresham, we were on 224 to get to Estacada). Though I also know that part of that will come with seeing more cyclists on the road.
Esther, yes, Clackamas County is well known with local cycling clubs as unfriendly to bikes.
Motorists out there firmly believe that bikes do not belong on the road.
Good to see someone from planning wanting input. I just hope they follow up with meaningful change.
Esther – I’d like to talk to you about that later, and hear more about your experience. Most of the Cycle Wild trips up the Clackamas haven’t had those issues (there are usually 1-2 minor issues, but that’s about it). You might also consider letting the county bike/ped committee know about it.
Clackamas County has a lot of rude and ignorant people – I had many of the same issues when I lived there, especially on the more-traveled roads in the urban area, like Oatfield, or around Clackamas Town Center.