Welcome to the week. Here are the most notable news items our community has come across in the past seven days.
Remembering Donald Shoup: Shoup, author of the seminal book, High Cost of Free Parking, passed away over the weekend. He was a giant in urbanism for his clear and creative thinking around parking and the need for reform. (Parking Reform Network)
Rail bills in Salem: There’s a full station of legislative bills that have been introduced down in Salem this session. They look to capitalize on growing ridership and realize rail’s potential as a mass people mover. (KGW-TV)
Green wave in NYC: Cool to see more awareness for signal timing that specifically benefits bicycle users, like NYC DOT has implemented in Manhattan — and that Portland has been doing downtown for decades. (NY Times)
Drivers ruin everything: A major professional road race was thrown into chaos when drivers made their way onto the course at several different locations. (CNN)
Reduced demand: One month after congestion pricing went into effect, over one million cars have been taken off the road. It’s just the latest sign that the program has been a sweeping success. (Fast Company)
Bike tourism trends: If you are in any job or field related to bike tourism, don’t miss this excellent summary of some of the top trends to grow the pie in 2025. (European Cyclists’ Federation)
Sentencing in Portland couples’ death: The driver of a truck whose load fell off and hit and killed Portland couple Michelle and Christian Deaton while they were cycling in Napa, California in 2023 was given a one-year jail sentence. (Patch)
True safety after dark: In London, officials are not just talking about how women are at greater risk when riding after dark; they are doing something about it. They’ve deemed some routes “socially unsafe” due to a lack of lighting and escape routes. (BBC)
Thanks to everyone who sent in links this week. The Monday Roundup is a community effort, so please feel free to send us any great stories you come across.
Thanks for reading.
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As far as the BBC article goes, I’m not sure if telling people which routes are unsafe actually counts as doing something. It seems more like just giving up and ceding those areas and routes to lawless behavior.
Also, I don’t know why they try to soften the lack of safety by calling it “social” safety.
It seems from the descriptions that its just straight up safety that is a concern. Safety from assault, sexual assault, harassment and theft mostly targeted at a specific sex, but is applicable to all.
Its unfortunate that self defense if frowned upon in England. Legally its nearly impossible to carry a handgun for self defense as self defense is not a recognized use of a firearm there.
https://www.politics.co.uk/reference/gun-crime/
Also, tasers are considered a prohibited weapon as are knives and most anything else to dissuade an attacker except for some forms of pepper spray, a whistle or a loud cry for help.
The situation the UK find itself with ceding bicycle routes to lawlessness is not one that can be reversed overnight and as usual it is the truly vulnerable who face the most danger from the breakdown in society’s ability to maintain order.
A truly atrocious situation!
So…very….unfortunate:
England: 0.03 firearm homicides/100000
USA: 584 firearm homicides/100000 (85.7% of total violent deaths)
And more important, as it pertains to the safety of women:
Allowing personal firearms at the level seen in the US would be devastating for women in the UK.
https://everytownresearch.org/report/guns-and-violence-against-women/
So we are all agreed that violence against women is reprehensible.
What would you do to help women in the situations mentioned in the article? About the same as the help they are getting on the Springwater, in the camps or in Portland itself?
Does it really matter what I say? Your position requires a fundamental change in an entire nation’s weapon laws and an assumption that the change won’t end up making it worse for women in the UK overall. This isn’t a discussion about realistic solutions.
I agree — the idea that the UK would legalize guns for personal defense seems as likely as the prospect we would give ours up.
There is no realistic possibility of either.
I don’t know about the UK, but here in the US, we need practical ideas for reducing the carnage.
Lots of interesting parallels with cars here, including the rapidly changing technological landscape.
“This isn’t a discussion about realistic solutions.“
I know you’ve been commenting on here for too long to say that with a straight face 🙂