Welcome to the week.
Hope you are staying dry out there — or that you don’t mind getting wet!
Here are the most notable stories BikePortland editors and readers came across in the past seven days…
Toxic truckers: A 16-year-old appears to have deliberately assaulted, rolled coal, and then ran over a group of bicycle riders in Texas. It’s a disgusting yet totally predictable outcome of the volatile mix of car supremacy culture, toxic masculinity, and a host of other systemic, societal dysfunctions. A GoFundMe has been set up for the injured riders.
Carfree street secrets: An urban planning professor analyzed 125 pedestrian malls in America to determine the keys to why they worked — or didn’t.
About those car tires: Another terrible and unregulated aspect of car supremacy that car advocates (EV or not) need to explain is the toxic particulate matter that comes off of tires, which one study has found is 1,000 worse than exhaust emissions.
Gravel goes prime time: After years of growing popularity, the UCI says gravel racing will become a legit discipline with an international series and its first World Championship in 2022.
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Your footprint matters: This environmental reporter says despite the viral narrative that individual carbon footprints don’t matter because Big Oil created that lie, the choices we make actually do matter in some ways.
Crossing the street is not a crime: A bill in California dubbed the “Freedom to Walk Act” would remove fines for crossing a street outside of a crosswalk — a traffic infraction often used as a pretext to hassle people of color.
When in Rome: The famous Italian city wants to hop on board the global push toward bike-oriented cities with a major bicycle ring road project.
Thanks to everyone who sent us links!
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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