Welcome to the week. Here are the most noteworthy items we came across in the past seven days…
But first, a word from our sponsor: Now through October 15th, get 15% off all new bikes and 20% off bags and rain gear at the Community Cycling Center’s end of summer sale!
Racing in Africa: Something special is happening in the formerly war-torn country of Rwanda: Organizers are cultivating a culture around professional cycling and they hope to host the World Championships in 2025.
Block party vibes: I was nearly moved to tears by this amazing coverage of 65 block parties in New York City.
Needs to be said: This piece in The Outline about about America’s dysfunctional transportation culture and how cars and their drivers have “destroyed civilization” is terribly on-point.
Big car ban: In Berlin, politicians want to ban big and fast SUVs following the death of four people who were killed after a man drove his Porsche Macan onto the sidewalk and ran over them.
Enforcement: Maybe I’m just too sensitive, but seems to me if you’re in charge of transportation safety in Portland it’s probably not a great idea to state publicly that there’s “no consequences” for breaking the law while driving.
The ‘War’ is on: Burgeoning safe street activism in New York City has the National Motorists Association sounding alarm bells.
Advertisement
Effect of protection: After a bikeway in Washington D.C. was updated and physically protected the number of reported blockages by auto users was dramatically reduced to zero.
Micromobility rankings: Honolulu’s preponderance of short trips helped it rank first in a new report from Inrix on micromobility potential. Portland came in 7th.
Seeing the light: Another American journalist has his mind blown after biking in The Netherlands and writes home about it.
Power of pedaling: A new study shows that indoor cycling can have about the same impact as drugs when it comes to decreasing symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
AV advice: The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) has released their Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism.
Screens kill: If federal regulators care about traffic safety they should preemptively ban this Byton M car and any other vehicle that has a distracting screen that spans the entire dashboard.
Bike activism in the U.K.: Interesting dispatch from the front lines of bike activism in the U.K. in this New Yorker column about a group called Stop Killing Cyclists.
EV taxes: I’m not a big EV fanboy or anything, but it still bothers me that so many states are charging more taxes to EV owners than folks who use gas-guzzlers.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
Never miss a story. Sign-up for the daily BP Headlines email.
BikePortland needs your support.