Welcome to another wonderful Monday and the final days of August.
Here are the most notable items from reliable sources found by BikePortland editors and readers in the past seven days…
Great PR for ODOT: The Washington Post highlighted ten major infrastructure projects nationwide to show what’s a stake with looming federal funding and the I-5 Rose Quarter made the list.
From cabinet to courier: This amazing story from Reuters chronicles the evolution of a man who went from being a top-level minister in the Afghan government to being a food delivery bike courier in Germany.
Progress for congestion pricing: The MTA in New York City has gotten the green light from the Biden Administration to move forward with a plan that will charge people to drive into the core of Manhattan.
Victim blaming: A woman who bikes in suburban Connecticut shared an op-ed on Streetsblog about being hit by a car driver and how many of her friends treated her like she had it coming.
18 mph is plenty: The entire city of Paris is now under a new 30 kph speed limit as part of Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s continued effort to destroy the dominance of cars and improve the lives of all people.
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We must drive less: One reason we are so squeamish about the tone from EV car boosters is that we cannot afford to sap urgency away from this inconvenient truth: We must drive less if we want any hope of beating back climate change.
Here’s how: It takes planning and a commitment to try new things, but if you can start by reducing a few trips a week you too could “escape car dependency”.
Spend wisely: The next fight for national bike advocates will be to steer billions in federal “highway” funding to smarter investments and a new report shows the very positive impact those funds could have if we spent them on projects that boost bicycle use.
That smell will cost you: The AAA is out with a new warning for people who love that new car smell: The annual cost of ownership for a new car tops $10,000 due to depreciation and maintenance costs.
Bucket list: National nonprofit Rails to Trails Conservancy says these are the top 10 trails in Oregon. How many have you ridden?
Touching tribute: A 53-year-old Scappoose resident is on a mission to ride her bike in all 50 states to raise awareness of ALS, a disease that took her husband’s life earlier this year.
New take on “peak car”: In a new book from Deputy Editor of The Economist Tom Standage, he argues that the best days of the almighty automobile are in the rear-view mirror.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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