(Photo © J. Maus)
The fledgling Bicycle Business League (BBL) and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) have joined forces to garner support from local businesses for the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030.
The BBL has drafted a letter of support for the plan and the group hopes to get 100 businesses to sign on to it before the plan comes before Portland City Council on January 20th. The BTA, which helped facilitate the formation of the BBL since its first meeting back in May, says the public and business leaders are aligned in their support of biking and walking.
“We, the undersigned Portland businesses… care about the reliable delivery of goods and services, affordable mobility for products and people, and healthy and productive employees.”
— Excerpt from a letter being circulated by the Bicycle Business League
The BTA cites surveys taken at both neighborhood and business workshops for the Portland Plan that show broad support for improved access to businesses through “walkability.”
Here is a snip from the letter of support being distributed to local businesses:
“We, the undersigned Portland businesses, are writing you to support the adoption and implementation of the Portland Bicycle Master Plan for 2030.
We care about the reliable delivery of goods and services, affordable mobility for products and people, and healthy and productive employees.
…shifting our spending to areas in which we get great returns of investment – like moving people cheaply by bicycle – is a smart strategy in tough economic times…”
A strong show of support for biking and walking from Portland’s business community could play a key role in pushing City Council and the Bureau of Transportation to work harder to promote non-motorized transportation. The business community in Portland has not historically been in favor of biking, a problem the BTA’s Michelle Poyourow is well aware of. We got in touch with Poyourow today and asked about this new initiative.
“I think that there’s an old and outdated assumption that bicycling is something you do despite its impact on businesses and the economy. That is absolutely just not the case… There are a lot of businesses in Portland for whom bicycling is good for their bottom line and they’re looking for an opportunity to speak up in support of making Portland a much easier and safer place to bike and walk.”
So far, over 20 businesses have signed on to the letter. Stay tuned for updates on this campaign.
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100 individual business endorsements are almost worthless, given the total number of businesses in the city.
what would really be impressive would be getting 100 local business associations signed up, but good luck with that.
Any businesses interested in signing the letter of support for the City of Portland’s Bike Master Plan for 2030 can email info@bicyclebusinessleague.com or portlandpedals@gmail.com
While the plan may not be perfect, it is rolling in the right direction for our community and local economy.
I thought the BTA was criticizing the plan like two weeks ago. Now they’re trying to get more support for it? I’m confused!
Oh nevermind… I have my wires crossed.
Any chance of us seeing a list of which businesses are supporting the plan? I’d like to support them.
It’s time for a 2 cent gas tax to go towards bike infrastructure. Sold on the idea that if we have bike lanes the roads will become less crowded, lower gas prices through less demand, childhood/adult obesity addressed. If we truly believe these things I think clear thinking adults would support the tax. “Give me my 2 cents worth of bike lanes”
Lots of cool stuff is going to be coming out out of the BBL soon. Sounds like there will be membership and signage to help identify bike-supportive businesses.