Welcome to the week.
Here are the best stories we came across in the past seven days…
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Cycling’s other side: It’s a frustrating narrative that bike riding is for rich white people. This piece from the L.A. Times centered around a bike shop in south Los Angeles is a wonderful window into a part of the cycling world that rarely gets talked about.
Beyond traffic deaths: Streetsblog shares a report from World Resources Institute that finds if we want to reduce traffic deaths, we should tie the issue to other issues that have broader public support.
Speaking of which: The Wall Street Journal outlines the difficulty some cities are having in building protected bike lanes because people think the impacts to their driving convenience just aren’t worth it.
Bikeways rule in BC: But look what happened in Vancouver, BC. They built quality, protected bike lanes in the right places and now the opposition has “melted away.”
Must do it to get it: It’s an age-old question: Do the electeds who make decisions about biking and transit actually use those modes themselves? Does it matter? Here’s how it shakes out in Seattle.
Battle over sidewalks: A “pedestrian activist” in Seattle writes in Crosscut that dockless bike share bikes have ruined the walking environment and he wants stronger regulation — including a sidewalk biking ban — in upcoming city plans.
More good news from Canada: An increase in density in Toronto has led to more people taking transit and fewer people driving.
Record it all: A new helmet dubbed CycleVision has cameras in the front and rear to make it easier to create videos of your rides — in case something epic happens.
Slow down, “smart cities”: CityLab takes a much-needed look at the perils to all the “smart city” excitement and says it’s time to regulate tech in our streets.
New Vision Zero resource: Public policy researchers at Rand have released a new “Road to Zero” report that outlines where the U.S. stands in road safety efforts and how to get to zero deaths by 2050.
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Groceries by bike: A UK supermarket chain has launched a delivery service using electric cargo bikes. We think New Seasons should do the same!
Truth about decongestion pricing and “equity”: Elected leaders and candidates would be very wise to read this piece on how free roads (the status quo) are much more unfair than pricing them would be.
Don’t scoff at e-scooters: This is a well-written and calm view of dockless electric scooters that touts their vast mobility potential and the huge cultural and policy challenge they face.
A dedicated voice: Portland-area safe streets advocate Kristi Finney was profiled by Streetsblog for her relentless activism spurred by the death of her son Dustin in 2011.
Lance settles: The disgraced cycling hero agreed to pay $5 million to settle a lawsuit with former sponsor the US Postal Service.
It’s a trend: NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that roads inside Central Park will be carfree starting in June. It’s a victory for activists who’ve been wanting this to happen for many decades.
Dems and density: Kevin Drum at Mother Jones argues against making cities more dense because it’s 1) too expensive 2) politically risky 3) makes traffic worse 4) and is just too hard to fight for.
More share, less scare: Turns out that the more engaged and aware people have to be at an intersection, the less dangerous and chaotic — and more enjoyable — it becomes. That’s what happened when traffic engineers in Amsterdam turned off signals at a very busy intersection.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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