Welcome to the week.
Here are the most notable items our editors and readers came across in the past seven days…
Cameras and racial justice: This deep dive from ProPublica on who gets tickets from automated cameras reminds us that it’s not nearly enough to install traffic cameras on high crash and high speed streets and call it good.
Built to fail: The “crappy bike problem” has been a thing for decades and now it has new relevance because a group of bike mechanics have come together to tell major retailers to stop making and selling them.
A truly “green” loop: “It’s about how we all want to live, breathe, and play together.” This story about how a group of friends came up with a real plan to create a vast low-car/carfree zone in Berlin has me thinking the folks behind Portland’s Green Loop are not thinking big enough.
Not so green: Newly published research from Europe shows that, at least in cities with good public transit, the use of shared e-bikes and e-scooters leads to more greenhouse gas emissions because they tend to replace walking and transit trips.
ODOT knows: A notorious stretch of an ODOT-owned road in Corvallis where two people died in 2019 in the same crosswalk has led to another lawsuit against the agency that claims they were negligent in not making it safer.
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What about bike theft? Faced with an epidemic of catalytic converter thefts from cars, Oregon lawmakers have reacted with a comprehensive new law they say will end the practice. Makes me wonder where this type of high level response is to the epidemic of bike theft.
It’s all about infrastructure: A major study in Melbourne, Australia (based on PBOT staffer Roger Geller’s insights) found that 78% of survey respondents said they would like to bike more but are afraid of traffic conditions.
Heat islands and parking lots: Catie Gould of Sightline delved into the strong correlation between big parking lots and deadly heat waves in places like the southeast Portland neighborhood of Lents.
Street bike culture: This story in the Portland Trib about the removal of a homeless encampment in northwest Portland has some revealing insights into one man’s bike repair business.
Get through winter: Don’t miss Madi Carlson’s best tips for surviving Portland’s cold harsh winter.
Our Video of the Week is this joyous Streetfilms look at the burgeoning cargo bike culture in NYC:
Thanks to everyone who sent in links!