Month: March 2013

Guest Article: PBOT must guarantee sidewalk funding

The street outside Morgan Maynard-Cook’s house.

This article was written by Steve Bozzone, Vice-President of the Oregon Walks board of directors.
—

Recently sidewalks and crosswalks are on everyone’s radar, but for a tragic reason. In a part of Portland that has precious few of either, 5-year old Morgan Maynard-Cook was struck down last week in the simple act of crossing a street.

Quite rightly, a lot of the public outcry surrounding Morgan’s death has to do with how much of her life would have been ahead of her. Regardless of our professional work, we are also mothers and fathers, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Trying to imagine what Morgan’s family and friends are going through right now is almost beyond bearing.

Read more

The Monday Roundup

From The Mayor’s Vision for Cycling in London (PDF).
(Or could it be Naito Parkway in Portland?)

Sorry for the delay in getting this out. I got back from Washington DC last night and had a crazy morning. So without further ado, here are the best bike stories and other stuff we came across last week…

— The story everyone’s talking about is the big — and I mean Big — bike plan announced by London mayor Boris Johnson last week. It calls for a complete retrofit of the city’s existing roads to create a network of separated bicycle highways with a goal to double bicycling rates in 10 years. Johnson wants to put £913 million into the plan. But before you pack up and move to London, sources say there’s a lot of politics going on and the funding is far from a sure thing. That being said, this is a major development from one of the most admired cities in the world. Stay tuned.

Read more

burgundy Trek 7.2 fx wsd 15 dk rd 2011

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2011
Brand: Trek
Model: 7.2 fx wsd 15 dk rd
Color:burgundy
Size:women’s
Serial: wtu112c1909g
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2013-03-01
Stolen From: 2311 E. Burnside St.
Portland, OR 97214
Neighborhood: Laurelhurst
Owner: Dana Highfill
OwnerEmail: danahighfill( atsign )hotmail.com
Reward: yes.
Description: Burgundy mountain bicycle stolen. Type: Trek 7.2 FX WSD 15 DK RD women’s bike with Rack, lights, fenders.
Serial number of bicycle: wtu112c1909g
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: wtu112c1909g
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

bright red unbranded track

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Brand: unbranded track
Color:bright red
Size:52cm
Stolen in Portland, OR 97232
Stolen:2013-03-8
Stolen From: NE 24th & Couch
Neighborhood: Kerns
Owner: Alex Steinberger
OwnerEmail: alex.steinberger( atsign )gmail.com
Reward: $50
Description: I salvaged this frame from a wreck and re-painted so I dont know the make or model. It’s 52cm, fire engine red with narrow track-style flat bar and black wtb grips. it’s single speed and has big waffle-y truvativ pedals.
Police record with: portland pd
Police reference#: 13-19436
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

Finally, a bike funding bill worthy of a conversation

Oregon Active Trans Summit-14

Bike advocate Jerry Norquist (L) and
Senators Dingfelder and Prozanski at the Oregon
Active Transportation Summit in 2011.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

State legislators in Salem have tried time and time again to “start a conversation” about making Oregonians who ride bicycles pay for the pleasure of doing so. In recent memory we’ve had a draconian and ill-advised mandatory registration bill and just last week Senator Larry George (R-Sherwood) introduced yet another “bike tax.” Unfortunately, those bills only made people angry, and rightfully so, since they were punitive, discriminatory and not well thought out.

If legislators really want to start a conversation about bike-specific transportation funding (instead of simply throwing red meat to anti-bike constituents or serving their personal feelings of bicycling disrespect), they’d be better off 1) thinking up a policy idea that would actually work and 2) working with bike advocates before introducing the bill.

Senate Bill 756, introduced late last month by Senators Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene) and Jackie Dingfelder (D-Portland), is an example of that approach.

Read more

Inside the mothership: A visit to USDOT headquarters

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
A visit to the US DOT-4

The home field of America’s transportation team.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Masked by the state and regional agencies that disperse its grant funds and shrouded behind the veil of a federal government bureaucracy with 60,000 employees, the enigmatic and powerful United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) sits at the top of the transportation world. While in DC this past week, I wanted to try and lift that veil with a visit to its home base and by getting to know a few of the people who work there.

My ultimate goal was to sit down for an interview with USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood; but despite being told I was on a short-list, my name never got called. That will happen someday, but on this trip I was more than happy to get a tour of the headquarters building from LaHood’s public affairs staffer Todd Solomon.

Read more

Behind the scenes of Capital Bikeshare

Behind the scenes at Capital Bikeshare-2

It doesn’t look like much, but behind these
doors is the nerve center for America’s premier
bikeshare system.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

An unassuming warehouse in the industrial Navy Yards neighborhood of southeast Washington DC is the headquarters of America’s most successful and largest bikeshare system.

I’ve been using Capital Bikeshare for a week now and it’s fantastic. With Portland set to launch a similar system next year (hopefully), I wanted to find out what makes the system tick. So on Thursday I rented a bike from a station two blocks from where I was staying and pedaled toward the warehouse. I was met by Capital Bikeshare General Manager Eric Gilliland.

Read more

Oregon state Senator Chip Shields explains why he voted for the CRC bill

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Senator Chip Shields.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Many of you where surprised and disappointed when Oregon State Senator Chip Shields voted in favor of HB 2800, a.k.a. the CRC bill. Shields is a Democrat who represents the north and northeast Portland district that will be most immediately impact by this massive freeway expansion project.

Shields’ vote was surprising because many of his constituents urged him to vote no and he is someone who understands the impacts this project will have. No one knew why Shields voted yes because he hadn’t responded to any constituent emails about the bill. Until now. Several BikePortland readers have just sent me a note from Sen. Shields that explains why he voted yes.

Read Shields’ full email below (emphases mine):

Read more

black Trek Trek 1.1

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Brand: Trek
Model: Trek 1.1
Color:black
Size:56
Photo: http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss168/olsenb2/265804_2189860396043_4876850_o.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97233
Stolen:2013-03-3
Stolen From: it was stolen from my apartment complex between 122nd ave and Division street.
Owner: Olsen Beltran
OwnerEmail: zeromahn(replace with at sign)yahoo.com
Description: The bike has a swapped out bike seat and cut off foot holders on the pedals and has one small white light in the front and a red one on the rear near the reflector as shown in the picture.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

white Specialized Rockhopper 29 2012

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2012
Brand: Specialized
Model: Rockhopper 29
Color:white
Size:15.5
Serial: WSBC602076347G
Stolen in Portland, OR 97217
Stolen:2013-03-7
Stolen From: N Knowles and Bryant
Neighborhood: Arbor Lodge
Owner: John Rollins
OwnerEmail: john(replace with at sign)kd7bcy.com
Description: White Rockhopper 29″ wheels with black decals and disc brakes, aftermarket padded seat, mount for computer and front fender(in the hollow under the head tube) still on it.
Police record with: Portland
Police reference#: 13-18877
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Latest Headlines

Guest Opinion: Portland needs more protected bike lanes — and we need them now

District 2 finally gets representation on key city council committee

Lawmakers want $3 million from state coffers for 82nd Avenue bus lanes

Neighborhood group, backed by bike advocate, opposes bike lane upgrades

From the Archives

With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike