Thanks for your understanding while I was away last week. I’m excited to be back at it and have lots of stories and content to share.
Here are the most noteworthy items we came across in the past seven days (thanks everyone for sending in link suggestions!)…
Bike repair subsidies: The British government has prescribed cycling as a Covid-19 prevention measure and they’ve backed that up with a bike repair voucher plan.
Go ahead and ride: New research says riding public transit is relatively safe and that major systems across the U.S. have not spread coronavirus among riders.
E-Cars won’t save us: “We will not be able to electrify all of our transportation in the timeframe necessary to deal with climate change,” says The Conversation’s Beth Daley, who points to a shortage in battery materials and high carbon footprint of EVs.
Inside the camps: Street Roots sent a photographer into several large outdoor camps you’ve probably ridden by dozens of times and talked to people who live in them — including one many who’s the resident bike mechanic.
Kool Stop founder dies: Richard Everett, the man who founded a Lake Oswego-based company that had major success making bicycle brake pads, has died at age 75.
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Women rule: Two women have smashed the around-the-world record for tandem riding by pedaling 18,263 miles in 263 days through 25 countries — and they did it 18 days faster than the previous record (which was held by two men).
Inclusive cycling and the pandemic: The BBC has a good overview of how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted cycle planning and why now is a great opportunity to make bike riding more inclusive.
Go By Bike: Apple’s latest iOS release features cycling-specific routes and directions, but it’s limited to just a few cities (not including Portland) and it seems to be off to a rough start.
Walk to bike: Not to be outdone by Apple, Google has improved its Maps service by providing custom, dock-to-dock directions for bike share users in a limited amount of cities. Hopefully this expands to Portland by September when our new Biketown hits the streets.
Bike boom worldwide: The Wall St. Journal takes a deep dive into how cities around the world have quickly implemented bikeways in response to Covid-19.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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