Hi everyone. Hope you’re enjoying a warm and festive interlude between Christmas and New Year’s — and surviving the first ice/snow of the season.
Here are the best stories we came across last week…
No slowin’ car culture: Road & Track Magazine has quite a driver-centric perspective on safety: Slow speeds kill more people, and traffic calming measures makes drivers frustrated and even more dangerous.
Oh Elon: Tesla CEO Elon Musk had quite a week. He bashed public transit, sparked a Twitter rebellion that ended up in The Guardian, and then got into a childish and superficial criticism of a very respected expert on the topic. Here’s aforementioned expert Jarrett Walker summing it all up.
‘Hostile’ bike racks: The Seattle DOT admitted that they are using bike racks as a weapon to prevent people from sleeping on certain streets.
Strength in numbers: A group of non-male pro cyclists has formed a union called The Cyclists Alliance to fight for their business and professional interests.
First-person derailment: Former Portlander Adron Hall (aka “Transit Sleuth”) was on Amtrak Cascades 501 and shared a detailed and harrowing account of what happened.
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Lloyd Center for parking: Architecture critic Brian Libby points out that despite its flashy renovation, the preponderance of free auto parking around the Lloyd Center Mall is still its Achilles heel.
Portland is not on this list: People for Bikes has a list of the 10 best new bikeways in America. They look nice. Too bad none of them (not even the honorable mentions!) are in Portland.
No more oil: If the big automakers truly wean themselves from Big Oil, what will that mean for car use in America. Will Big Electric be just as pernicious to transportation reform?
Bike Valet in the Big Apple: New York City DOT wants to see proposals for creation of a bike valet service in Union Square.
Diversion on steroids: With GPS app-inspired cut-through traffic running amok, police in a New Jersey town will close 60 neighborhood streets to all but local residents and nearby employees.
The Trump Effect: A promising pro cyclist from Turkey gave up his spot on the Israel Cycling Academy team citing pressure and discomfort following Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel.
Tweet of the Week: The Ottawa Police smacked down a tweet from a mean woman who referred to a man riding a bicycle in the snow as a “knob”.
Bicycles have every right to be on the road all year round. For many, it's their only mode of transportation. Give them room. If you don't have room to give them at least 1 metre of distance, wait until you do before you go around them.
— Ottawa Police (@OttawaPolice) December 22, 2017
Thanks for all the submissions.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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