A cartoon frog wants to help stoke cycling in Portland

With bike ridership in Portland going down, some point to the city’s “hidden” neighborhood greenway system as a reason more people aren’t cycling. Since many of the city’s most popular bike routes — residential streets that feature diverters and traffic calming measures to reduce rider stress — are out of sight, not everyone is aware they even exist.

Perhaps, the thinking goes, more signage on the greenways could help turn the tide. For that, we turn to north Portland artist and “public joy creator” Mike Bennett, who recently released some new designs to his roster of “Bennett Buddies” that we’d love to see taking up residence all over our greenways.

Bennett is the mastermind behind the iconic “slow down” street signs that feature famously slow animals like snails and sloths telling drivers to take their foot off the gas and get on their level. When these signs started to proliferate on Portland’s streets a couple years ago, we drew the connection between their popularity and the increase in driver speeding/lack of enforcement during the pandemic.

Unfortunately, the conditions on Portland’s streets haven’t improved much in that time, and people are still relying on yard signs to serve as de facto traffic enforcers. Even the City of Portland knows the value of signage to create an identity for greenways and has an aggressive yard sign program. At an informal gathering of bike activists Friday in the Lents neighborhood, BikeLoud PDX Board Member Aaron Kuehn shared draft designs of a new large sticker he’s creating for the group. It would be emblazoned with “Bike Loud” and the idea would be to stick it on traffic poles along good cycling routes to help others find their way.

Now Bennett and his new character Dr. Thadeus Fraug, a “self-diagnosed bicycle believer” who wants to keep his fellow “spoke-folk safe”, will add to that mix.

“With his highly visible ‘Bicycle Zone’ sign at his side, he’s a ribbeting reminder for drivers and an adorable addition to your neighborhood,” Dr. Fraug’s description reads. We envision him making his mark on greenways from NE Klickitat to NW Pettygrove as soon as possible.

Current signage on Portland’s neighborhood greenways is lacking, though it’s better on some routes than others. SE Clinton Street, for instance, features many orange bike street sign toppers and yard signs letting people know they’re on a greenway. But other greenway streets could really use a boost.

BikeLoud stickers and Bennett’s buddies won’t be able to fix Portland’s declining bike ridership on their own, but more awareness of where bike routes are certainly can’t hurt.

You can check out all the Bennett Buddies for sale here, and be sure to check out our 2021 Q&A with the artist where he talks more about his creative process behind making these critters.