racks in front of their City Hall.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Oregon is a state on a mission. For the last few years, the movement to make this the premiere state for bicycling has been gaining some serious momentum. We’ve got nearly every piece of the puzzle on the table and we’re working to put it all together — but we need some big ideas, rallying points, an idea so exciting that it captures the attention of everyone in the state.
So I’m announcing a contest to find the best Big Ideas for Biking in Oregon.
With our impressive team of partners behind this effort, ranging for local tourism officials to Capitol Hill power brokers, we just might be able to turn your idea into reality (remember, the Ride Oregon website started as someone’s big idea two years ago).
So, what’s your big idea that will make Oregon the “Land Bicycles Dream About”?
I’ve partnered up with Cycle Oregon (who has put on the Summit annually since 2006) to find the best Big Ideas for Biking in Oregon.
The Grand Prize Winner will get to do a short presentation of their idea to attendees of the Oregon Bike Summit on June 4th. This is a big deal! Why? Among the powerful and influential people who will hear your idea are:
- Gail Achterman, Chair of the governor-appointed Oregon Transportation Commission, the group that sets transportation policy and funding for the entire state;
- Tim Blumenthal, executive director of Bikes Belong, the most active and well-funded national national non-profit that is known for going big;
- Sheila Lyons, the biking and walking program manager for ODOT;
- Jerry Norquist, executive director of Cycle Oregon, who helps dole out thousands of dollars to advocacy causes each year through the Cycle Oregon Fund;
- key decision makers at Travel Oregon and many other advocacy groups and partner agencies around the state.
The winner will also get a complimentary ticket (worth $50) to enjoy a full day of meals, workshops, and networking opportunities at the Summit. We’ll also give free passes to the two folks with the second and third best Big Ideas.
The winner will be chosen on Tuesday, June 1st (the Summit is on June 4th) and the decision will be made by myself, Jerry Norquist, and Kristin Dahl from Travel Oregon.
To enter, just leave your idea in the comments below or send it to us via email. If you leave a comment, please make sure you leave a valid email address so we can contact you if necessary. You’re welcome to collaborate if you’ve got a similar idea as someone else but only one free ticket will be given for each of the three best Big Ideas.
Good luck and check out OregonBikeSummit.com for more info on the event.
Thanks for reading.
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Scenic bike highways that connect to small towns where bike tours could add tourist dollars and also add access to wilderness areas..built away from existing highways. Maybe with waypoints where cyclists can camp or get water etc on long stretches between towns. Bikes can travel away from fast dirty noisy auto traffic and enjoy the peace and beauty of the country side.
Crazy expensive likely improbable pipe dream but there it is.
Imagine the out of town bike tourism $$!
I remember biking around Davis’ separated bike paths, where I grew up, away from most auto traffic on separated bike facilities and it was AWESOME.
This is SUCH a no-brainer. So much so it hardly even qualifies as an idea. It’s not even original.
Are you ready?
Simply steam-roll what-ever-the-hell is going on with Memorial Coliseum and bike-it-to-death. Velodrome, training facility, service, retail, the gooey, bikety, chamis-chapped, epicenter of America’s bike-Mecca. Own it. Grab it. Stomp it. Use all this belligerent, self-involved energy you all exude, and tear that building, right smack-dab in the middle of the city no-less, from the evil clutches of ANY other interest.
That’s what I’d do. World-class, on the Boob-Tube everyday, place to be if you’re into bikes, and sucking air on this continent.
Plus it’s doable.
KJ #1 – If you are ever afforded the opportunity you can ride to La Grande Oregon and never put clincher to interstate. In June, that is one of the best two days on a bike a person could hope for. None-too-little to do with the amount of cow-towing the locals along the way do to earn your tourist dollars too.
Find an auto-centric transportation project with a price tag >= $600 million. Find the people who decided to approve it. Ask them why they believe it is necessary. Interrupt them before they answer and say “Too bad! Oregonians will survive without that extra travel lane for 25 miles of some back-country highway” (or whatever the project may be).
Then, make the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2015.
I’m with Vance, an urban Velodrome but paired with a facility like the mecca Ray’s indoor MTB park has become.
gabriel #5 – Right. Just wanted to reiterate that it’s essential to my idea that the thing includes a completely over-the-top scope. That’s every bit as much a part of the intended outcome as any logistics. Like totally out-of-control style. You could easily include the 20inch wheel-set into this, poor folk could get their Huffys fixed for free, you know, just completely off-the-charts, uber, over-kill. Drive it like a ding-dang nail.
Paulson just got away with it, for the second time in a row no-less, why can’t we?
It’s an annual rite in Oregon for some mountain passes to be closed for the cold season and opened for the warm season. And with each thaw, there is always a short period when the roads are passable but not yet ready for official opening to motor vehicles. It’s a perfect time to ride over scenic routes that are normally too dangerous for most, either because of motor traffic or weather.
Some riders already enjoy these passes in the “interstitial” period I speak of. But do any of them really know that the road is safe? Regardless, aren’t they breaking the law by riding on a closed road?
Some forum users, as well as commenters on the above-linked Ride Oregon page, have said they’d like to be notified as soon as McKenzie Pass is cleared. My idea is to make this possible by way of official government sanctioning of spring/summer mountain pass riding days.
I don’t want to spoil the fun of the few undergrounders who already ride McKenzie and other passes in early season. It’s just that there are others, like me, who want to enjoy Oregon’s natural splendors just as much, but won’t do anything illegal or [too] dangerous. Making it official lets us ride too. (But it is true that an official stamp could make it possible to nationally promote these rides over unparalleled scenery.)
The “sanctioning” needn’t be anything grandiose, at least not always. It could be limited an official declaration of dates when roads are open to bikes and closed to others. But there could also be organized rides supported by the likes of Cycle Oregon. In the example of McKenzie Pass, these days could turn into an annual celebration in the cities of Eugene and Bend.
This idea could be attempted next year, say with one or two mountain passes, and expanded thereafter if it’s successful.
wha wha what? wait a second, didn’t we already go through this recently – idea contest, pithy reward?
http://bikeportland.org/2010/04/28/bike-shop-holds-contest-to-design-new-logo/
If I submit my clearly superior ‘big idea’, wouldn’t I put out of work strategic planners even more out of work?!?
oh, what the hell, here is my big idea, and you have to think beyond the borders of Portland:
Take Oregon’s most precious resource – Bruce Campbell – and put him on a bike. Let Bruce form a posse, that eager B movie fans would gladly pay for the honor of being on said posse.
The posse could do anything, but mainly it would hunt down zombies. You say there are no zombies in Portland? Precisely, because Bruce is in southern Oregon, hunting them down already!
I know this has been suggested elsewhere – so I don’t claim credit. I think there ought to be a bicycle equivalent of the Pacific Crest Trail, only along the coast. Oregon could launch the idea by creating a a continuous separated bike trail along the coast that connects the state parks and local communities.
There are families with bikes in every state park campground. I think many of them would use the trail the same way people use segments of the PCT.
But I also think people would come to Oregon just to ride the entire trail. It would be a terrific tourism draw. And once the coast trail was done you could build a trail from Astoria to Portland and then up the Gorge and the Willamette. But I think the coastal trail would put Oregon on the map. Oregon is one of the only states where you would really be able to see the ocean. In California most of a coastal trail would be separated from the ocean by private property.
covered bike path from portland to kalamath falls. but seriously, i do not see the point in thinking state-wide, bike scale seems more suited to smaller endeavors in communities which embrace them.
#9 – My thoughts exactly! Seems like people keep suggesting this idea…
I especially like the idea of a separated trail because biking on the 101 isn’t an appealing option for families with kids. Considering the tight curves, trucks, and narrow shoulders, the 101 isn’t really an appealing option for a lot of adults, either. It would be a fantastic way to show off our fantastic public coastline to more of the public.
I’m also for the Oregon Coast separated bike bike trail concept. However, I would add many more yurts at more state parks along the route which would be set aside for cyclists (not able to be reserved online?).
If successful, his kind of bike-way/yurt system could then be expanded statewide allowing cyclists from around the country come visit with less gear, and see much of the state. An expanded system could look like this: A loop of connected cyclist specific yurts with the route starting at the Portland airport, heading out to Astoria, down the coast, back inland in southern Oregon, over the cascades and heading north along the Sierra Cascades bike route, then back along the Columbia River Gorge Historic Highway to PDX?
Are there any unused rail lines out there? It seems likely especially in some of the more rural (and beautiful) areas of the state. Bikes can be fitted to ride on the existing rails and voila, you have traffic free biking on even grades through some of the most scenic areas. I would totally spend a weekend doing that and it would benefit rural areas as well as new bike ventures (retrofitting bikes for rail, travel guides). Bikes could be recumbent and because the grades are so gradual a cyclist could carry quite a bit for the adventure (food, clothes, binoculars for wildlife etc.) The state probably already owns the lines or leases the right of way so it could be affordable too.
Elevated Covered Bicycle Expressways that criss/cross the Portland Metro area.
How about some sort of state tax credit for bicycle commuters to cover annual service and replacementparts costs?
A partnership between the State, bike stores, bed’n’breakfasts, brew pubs, and the like to identify and develop biking opportunities between towns would be awesome. Among other things, the partnership could sponsor a web site that would help tourists plan long, interesting trips before they even get to Oregon.
This needs organization on the State level to get started but much of the day to day costs could be met by membership dues. Perhaps enough funding could be raised to pay for bike lanes and signs in small towns on routes between tourist sites that otherwise could not afford the costs. McMenamins’ would benefit from optimizing the bike routes between Troutdale, Bend, and Eugene….
Here’s my Big Idea:
I often read of a great touring route, and when I dig deeper, I find that, while some of the roads are quiet, the connecting roads (and sometimes even most of the mileage) are on busier roads with no shoulder. It’s the bane of riding in rural areas. Ever tried to get to Estacada on Clackamas River Road? How about riding to Multnomah Falls on the Historic Columbia River Highway, riding Skyline from end to end, or riding Washougal River Road (sorry, that one’s in Washington!)? These are beautiful destinations that are rendered unsafe and unpleasant by high speed cars and their need to pass, sometimes while squeezing into the same lane as the cyclist.
We can’t make the traffic go away, but we can give cyclists room on the road, just as years of activism has proved here in Portland. The solution is the bike lane.
How about (and I posted this the first time the “big ideas” were mentioned) simply providing generous paved shoulders on the many existing scenic routes in the state? Call the shoulders bike lanes.
Many of the big highways (US 26, US 197 and such) have shoulders, but they’re not so pleasant anyway, because they’re very busy. I’m focusing on those roads in the middle. Not highways, and not farm roads that have very little traffic anyway. Just the happy medium roads.
We could advertise that we have a “network of several thousand miles of incredibly scenic, winding roads with *bike lanes*”. The lanes would make touring so much more relaxing, by avoiding the whole “take a lane and get harassed, or get squished over to the side” crap. An interconnected *network* of bike lanes would be so much cheaper and so much more useful (in terms of interconnectivity) than a single bike path. Using the incredible existing network of roads in the state would all us to ride East-West, North-South. . . all over!
It’s imminently doable: what Democratic Governor wouldn’t love to have that many infrastructure projects to throw to the construction Unions, while labeling the project green and creating tourist revenue as well? I think that political support would be easier to drum up than for bike path projects (which would require huge funds, and right of way processes- just look how long that’s taken for the North Portland Greenway, a path not even 10 miles long).
Finally, as an attempt at “Big Idea,” my idea is a pragmatic compromise between “shooting the moon” and “small barrel”. A bike lane network throughout the entire state is definitely a BIG project, yet at the same time, it’s not too big a deal (relatively speaking) to add a safety shoulder to one rural road. Not like the permitting and right of way nightmare required by a single bike path (as fun as they are to ride).
It’s like climate change- a lot of little tiny things (created in an innocuous, commonplace way) add up to a massive global change. A truly interconnected network of scenic bike routes, with bike lanes, adds up to make a real cycling destination.
PS:
To other cyclists, I’d market this concept as “We might always have to share the roads with cars, but we shouldn’t always have to share a lane!”
hey, Just Sayin’ (#9): you said it.
Why not take something that already draws cyclists from near and far and make it the ne plus ultra bicycling experience?
I still think it would be great if we could ride from Portland to campgrounds in the Mount Hood national forest, all on trails. Much of the trail system is there, and for most of the rest, it’s “just” a matter of getting the right of way. It would be an incredible experience – and great for bike tourism, I might add – if you could ride out of Portland on the Springwater trail and once you came to the current end in Boring, the trail would continue along the old rail bed, across a (yet to be built) bridge over Deep Creek, and along the old railroad to Estacada. From there it would be a choice of accessing a (yet to be built) trail network that would follow the Clackamas River to riverside campgrounds, or another trail southwest from Estacada to camping at McIver State Park.
What would be even cooler would be when you arrived in Boring you reached a fork where another trail led east, roughly paralleling Hwy 26, and perhaps crossing it near Sandy to lead to the new Sandy Ridge mountain bike trails, and then beyond to west side Mount Hood campgrounds.
That’s my big dream.
Bike offsets. Just like other envrionmentsl offset markets. Let car commuters and businesses that employ lots of drivers purchase offsets from a bank of “bike offsets.” The “bike offsets” are created by recruiting new bike commuters either by paying them to commute or purchasing them a new bike and paying for maintenance. Depending on the distance and frequency of the new commuters’ commute, a different size offset is created. Money to pay the new commuters or buy their new bikes comes from the price paid by offset buyers.
Here’s my earth-shattering idea:
More than 0.2 miles of singletrack in the Portland vicinity.
Seconding David P’s “bike offsets” above. You could tie that into existing carbon markets, too: Let Portland get Y number of credits it can sell on the offset market to polluter cities because of its X number of bikes on the road.
I first suggested this a couple weeks back http://bikeportland.org/2010/05/11/oregons-bicycle-and-pedestrian-committee-says-think-big/
An Oregon cross-state (east-west) separated bicycle highway. Not a system of interconnects, repurposed on-road bike lanes, or trails, but a separated high quality (NOT Springwater quality) paved path. Specifically, terminate the thing at both ends with monumental bike path portals at Oregon’s eastern and western borders. It would get thousands of Oregonians on bikes who otherwise never would, and it would immediately be a top cyclo-tourism destination. It would be huge, expensive, and a revolutionary symbol–a hallmark–of the evolving nationwide sea change in transportation infrastructure priorities. Pie-in-the-sky? Sure. Possible? Like anything else, yes.
to help sell your ideas:
http://www.fastcompany.com/article/if-they-feel-they-birthed-it-they-can-t-kill-it-and-11-more-ways-to-sell-ideas
I’m a Portlander currently living in Amsterdam. I prefer a Portland bike boulevard over a cobbled Amsterdam cycle track any day, but where the Netherlands really shines is in their nationwide cycle track network. I can ride anywhere in the country on picturesque paths that are usually not alongside roads. As many others have mentioned, cycle paths that connect Oregonians and tourists to Oregon’s landscape are truly the next big project that the state should build.
Here’s my serious idea, an olympic sized velodrome in Portland, which can convert to a MTB track in the center.
An olympic sized velodrome won’t fit at the Coliseum, btw.
Prioritize the full integration of bikes and all forms of public transportation. Trimet has begun this process by putting keycard-accessed bike parking at the Beaverton Transit Center. These facilities (and/or other bike storage facilities) should be put at each of the following:
– every MAX stop
– every traditional suburban “park and ride” facility
– every major bus stop in every major city
– every Amtrak station
– every Greyhound station
If each of these facilities had a secure, safe, dry, monitored (with CCTV?) facility, a lot more people would bike to public transit. And Oregon would have an “fully integrated” bike/public transportation system for the first time.
We would not only spend less, in aggregate, on gasoline, but we’d also, I’m convinced, see a surge in demand for public transportation, significant reductions in GHG emissions, etc.
We’d also see innovation and new businesses that cater to bike/transit commuters. Oregon could, for example, be the home of next-generation bike storage companies akin to http://www.biketree.com, which was developed in Europe, but never reached commercial viability.
Lastly, although this aspect of my “big idea” stretches the idea of “public transportation,” but the state could even set up “park and hitch” stations along major highways, where people needing a ride to, say, Salem or the Coast could lock up their bike, register (for safety purposes) and catch a ride with someone who wants to share the ride (and fuel costs).
What was that post a couple months back about the city that is making its public transit system totally free to riders?
Aha, found it: http://bikeportland.org/2010/03/01/the-monday-roundup-68/
Sounds like most people are interested in a trail system devoid of cars, with beautiful scenery, and thoughtful connectedness. That would sum up the Salem Greenway Trail, a continuous 75+ mile natural hiking/biking trail connecting urban and rural Salem. The trail would connect the Willamette River, 5 State Parks, 15 Vineyards, 3 B&Bs, (maybe a Yurt), a sustainable forest, and a YMCA Camp. Check out the Kingdom Trails in VT. This org made 101 miles of trail ALL on private land a reality. In 2004 the Kingdom Trail saw 6,000 visitors. 2009 brought 40,000 visitors! Salem could be the pilot but other communities could develop similar systems. Imagine if all these systems were connected. Scary BIG!
I concur with the vision of separated paths connecting the small towns. Oregon has so much to offer outside of the Portland area. Unfortunately, nearly all of the attention to biking in our state revolves around a few square miles of inner Portland.
I absolutely love the idea of an established network of Yurts, B&Bs, brewpubs, state parks connected specifically for cyclists. If we had such a thing, there’d be no reason for my family to vacation anywhere else.
Think of it as the Camino de Santiago for Bikes (Google it).
-Ian
Work with breweries to design community-specific labeling at low cost. Designs would invoke some sort of bicycle imagery alongside local natural and cultural landmarks across Oregon.
The 10 cent deposit on these bottles would go to support bicycle projects in each of the communities as well as showcase rural communities that embrace bicycling.
In order to apply for the program, a community would have to make a signature investment in bicycling that helps improve the political and cultural climate for bicycles in their community.
In order to continue to receive funds from the program, the communities would need to continue to make investments in their bicycle infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the program could work with groups like Cycle Oregon to help guide needed business through these communities. Additional PR could be carried out by communicating with parents whose children participate in the Safe Routes to School Program.
Although this may not seem like a lot of money, the perception that non-rural and urban businesses alike want to showcase Oregon towns, along with the willingness to support local breweries, would make this program popular. In addition, the bottles could also be collected by Oregonians and tourists alike.
A partnership with Jones soda and local dairies (such as “Found: A good place for bicycling” ad, to cleverly play of the “Missing” ads) could also further this concept.
The result of this program would be a change in current perceptions of bicyclists and bicycle advocacy as urban concerns to rural ones as well. This is the number one impediment to becoming the state for bicycles. It would also be much cheaper to implement this program than large capital projects for bikes.
Many people have bikes gathering dust because the owners aren’t sure they are safe/work well. Put mechanics on pedalled vehicles like ice cream trucks to do free/lowcost/ by donation quick repairs/safety checks (oil chains, repair flats, new brake pads, adjust seat height, tighten head sets, install lights). What I have seen in my community is that the barrier of hauling the bike to the bike shop to too high. The bike shop is too strange, they don’t know how to evaluate the advice they get there, they don’t know how to evaluate the price tag to get the bike running. I have personally encouraged several friends to get their bikes running by going with them to the bike shop.
I propose making downtown Portland inside the 405 loop to the river an “no car and truck zone”. Transportation within the zone would be by bicycle, Trimet bus, or streetcar. This would require constructing transfer points at the edge of the zone.
KJ #1 & #9 Just Saying….
yea, PCT for bikes… except not as burley.. say from Carlton to Pacific City. It would be a great tourist boom. Set up like New Zealand’s Great Walks..
OK you asked for my idea. You’re going to get what you asked for:
Speaking of the summit, build a giant slide from the top of Mt. Hood (OK, Saddle Mountain, since Hood is in a designated wilderness). Have competitions to see how fast a bicycle can go down the giant slide. Make the slide big and wide so if you fall you’ll just slide to the bottom.
We can have the world bicycling speed contest. It will become an Olympic event.
200 mph bikes in Portland. Yeah baby! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
Wait! No, better yet, build the giant slide on Black Butte near Sisters. 200 mph right through Black Butte Ranch! Little higher elevation there, thinner air, higher speeds. 😉
You go first, I’ll follow. 🙂
GIANT IDEA HERE!!!! ready…. single track in forest park!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How rad would that be, a world class network of well built and maintained single track in the countries largest urban park (or whatever crazy statistic the park has). WOW, imagine the added revenue, folks fly in to head to bend to bike, but they spend a day in PDX, get a ride in forest park after they pick up their rental car with bike rack, spend the day in PDX, then head to MT hood, bend, Oakridge and more!!
a few of these across portland and the state:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j1PgmMbug8
for the less hill-inclined to encourage hill-haters to get on their bikes.
Bicycle Lane curbs/bumps. For example.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/pic/?o=RrzKj&pic_id=579335&v=1&size=large
Here’s a simple idea- if you operate a vehicle on the public roadways that can endanger any less protected/more vulnerable road user, you are assumed at fault for any injury should there be an “accident”.
Unless it turns out that the more vulnerable user was being egregiously foolish, the operator of the more endangering vehicle is always at fault.
It’s simple, and it works in other countries. Fear of cars is the biggest single thing keeping people in their cars and off their bikes. Break the cycle of fear by turning the tables.
Of course there’ll be a big uproar, but the fact of the matter doesn’t change. Overwhelming amounts of the population will not venture out on the public streets because of the way motor vehicles are operated there. The vulnerable roadway user law is a good start, but it’s too complicated and doesn’t have teeth.
Make it simple, and give it teeth: if you are driving a motor vehicle and a pedestrian or cyclist is injured by your vehicle, you are at fault. People will understand that message, and once a few instances establish that it’s actually real, they’ll start to keep it in mind. And once it becomes part of driving, they’ll think that they can get out of their cars and enjoy a bike ride or two.
It might be more relaxing than driving their car. And that would be a big thing.
Um: Unpollute. (Carbon Offset money to the People –of Oregon or of Portland– for Green uses and Biking expenses: a bike if you don’t have one, stuff and maintenance if you do, your choice… see my site, http://unpollute.ning.com . Anyone can join my site, too. Enjoy the rain-scanner! Very useful.) More bikers, less pollution, less road wear, etc…
Beyond Unpollute: (This is actually less BIG, more realistic): For Portland. No more bike lanes “not existing” in the intersections. Take us across, please. Clarify all the signs, especially where the bike lanes join and cross the freeways (over, under, across, left-side lane to the right-side shared-use road, how the heck do you do that safely like you have a clue…) Bike lanes in Portland all the way up and down Glisan St. and a few others that are missing them… Hawthorn etc. Finally, hire an army of street sweepers. Actual people to walk and sweep the bike lane and routes with brooms. The bike lanes are pretty bad, the machines don’t come through enough, have to go around the parked cars, and they often make it worse! They spill the junk out of the curb corner and fail to get the small dense (metal) sharp objects and the largest pieces too. The Operators can’t see the bent nails and rusty old crud way down on the ground. Sell those street cleaner for cash.
OK thanks.
Santiam Canyon, or bust!
Did ya’ll know there is an untapped wilderness area just outside of Salem?
Lyons and tigers and bears, oh my! Antie M and Santiam create a silly rhyme. Follow the yellow brick road by bike…from Lyons to Gates along East Lyons/Mill City highway to Mill City’s Kingwood Avenue. Follow Kingwood to the “T” at Gates School Road. It’s so easy a first grader will enjoy it. And so advanced (at Monument Peak) the death cheater will love it too.
BACK UP
Lyons is a small community South of North Santiam river. It’s a hop, skip and jump off Hwy 22. Lyons is host to a bike friendly camp ground called John Neal Memorial Park. A gently used highway with wide shoulders and a fairly even grade connects Lyons to Gates (below Detroit Lake).
A mile before Gates the road T’s. This is a choice point where your options multiply. 1)Turn around, ride back to Lyons and John Neal Memorial Park. 2)Turn North and ride a short distance to the community of Gates. 3)Turn South, ride a short distance to the Magic trail picnic area. The off-road wilderness and Monument Peak trail (bike) system begins here. 4) Explore and camp.
Now, bust a leg and get out there!
Go off road!
Promote mountain bike tourism more. Get behind the IMBA-designated Ride Center in Oakridge. So much momentum there to build upon. Follow Bend’s example; keep momentum rolling in Hood River and Ashland. Build momentum in LaGrande, Baker City, Roseburg . . . Embrace the rest of the State lest Portlandia be hoist upon her own petard.
Don’t forget the mind-set of the entitled drivers of this State. Remember Lieutenant so-and-so down the coast who railed against bikers on HIS roads? Remember how the notion of the bicyclist’s entitlement created a stirring to promote the ideas of licensing and bike registration?
Build more off-road trail infrastructure between communities. Dirt don’t require pavement. Quit widening roads to fit bikes with traffic. Make roads smaller and build more trails! We don’t need to share the roads, we can build our own trails!
Do the thing with the Rose Quarter/Veteran’s Memorial bike-palooza.
And more singletrack in Forest Park is a no-brainer.
An international transportation institute that focuses on designing communities that are more bike friendly, with a focus on urban planning, street design, zoning and a foreign exchange program to bring in international students and send Oregonians to communities around the globe to gain an intimate understanding of how other biking communities work and to promote the Oregon brand to travelers (i.e. “bicycle ambassadors”).
Students, lacking a political or business agenda, have an essential credibility when promoting their hometown passions and lifestyle in new places.
Stop frittering away time on bike sharing in the major cycling cities of Oregon. Instead, start planning now to have an interconnected bicycle sharing system that is pedal-assisted, very cool, and reflects the need to add more “other” cyclists – slower, older, younger, and less abled cyclists, by giving them low-speed electric assist. And don’t do this bike sharing network half-baked. Start with at least 5,000 bikes, make them sturdy, yes, get outside sponsorship if needed (London has) but do it now!