This week’s Monday Roundup has been made possible by Bike Index, bike registration that works.
Here are the best stories we came across last week…
Hello, Portland, are you there?: The city of Edmonton approved a $7.5 million network of downtown protected bike lanes six months ago and they have already broken ground. Meanwhile, it’s been four years since Portland said yes to a similar project and we are yet to put a line on a map.
Cycle freight: The Guardian’s Peter Walker (author of the wonderful new book, How Cycling Can Save The World) breaks down how and why bike-powered freight can help cities.
Put down the phone, loser!: I almost don’t like reading about how bad the distracted driving epidemic has gotten; but ignoring it will only make it worse. We need all hands on deck for this one (and we need to start calling people out for the social menace this has become).
Hit-and-run decline: In Los Angeles, more undocumented residents tended to stay at the scene of traffic crashes once they had driver’s licenses.
Baby steps: Great news! After years of being named “FAST Lane,” the official blog of the US Department of Transportation has been renamed “Connections.” Long overdue.
No big deal: Oh look, Atlanta removed a major freeway and the sky didn’t fall.
Get your shovel-ready projects ready: The Trump Circus says only “shovel-ready” projects need apply for any forthcoming federal funding (if it ever materializes).
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Another cycling legend gone: Last week it was Mike Hall, now another legend of American bike racing is dead. Steve Tilford raced and won all manner of cycling events over a four-decade career. He died while driving a van with a friend. RIP Steve Tilford.
Why own when you can share: Article from a car-sharing expert reads like an advocacy toolkit for people who want to ween America off car ownership and into a shared-car future.
Just kidding!: A lawmaker in Montana thought it’d be a ha-ha funny joke to put a $25 tax on bicycle tourists into a bill. He was wrong.
Bike share wars: The business of bike share is thriving in New York City, so much so that competitors to Citi Bike want a piece of the pie.
Targeted ticketing: Black bike advocates in Chicago say traffic stops are racially motivated: “There’s no way they account for 64 times as many citations being issued in lower-income, majority-black Austin as compared to affluent, majority-white, and bike-crazy Lincoln Park,” says reporter John Greenfield.
Street harassment is a thing: It’s way too common from women on foot and on bikes to be harassed on the street. Here’s how you can fight it.
Free parking kills cities: Want your city to thrive? Reduce auto parking, charge a lot more for it, and if all else fails put the parking in a dank underground garage. A must-read from The Economist on how free parking makes it impossible for cities to reach their potential.
He’s really attached to his bike: The amazing story and photos of Tony Pizzo, a man who rode a single-speed bicycle across the country in 1919-1920 while handcuffed to it.
A ‘veloway’ in Melbourne: Depending on your perspective this “aerial veloway” coming to Melbourne is either a brilliant piece of cycling infrastructure or a white flag of surrender to the auto-centric infrastructure below it.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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