The City of Portland is laying groundwork for a marketing campaign that aims to spur a cycling renaissance. Hoping to put an end to years of declining and/or flat cycling growth and harken back to a decade ago when Portland was last seen as a global leader for cycling culture, the Portland Bureau of Transportation has released a survey that tests seven different pro-cycling messages.
“Whether you bike or not, the City of Portland wants to understand what messages could make it easier for you and your fellow Portlanders to say yes to biking around the city,” reads a new PBOT website. The survey will, “help us shape our city’s transportation future and how best to reach more community members,” the site reads.
The anonymous survey first asks how the respondent feels about riding bicycles and why they feel that way. Then the survey proposes seven different taglines intended to increase bicycling in Portland. Survey takers are asked how they feel about each tagline and then they’re asked to rank their top three based on whether or not it would encourage them to ride more. Here are the seven taglines (parentheticals taken directly from PBOT):
- See your city in a new way. Bike. Explore. Portland.
- Biking – a gateway to better community. (This tagline would be accompanied by an image of a big group of people riding bicycles together.)
- Want to help reduce air pollution? It’s as easy as riding a bike.
- Want to be healthier? It’s as easy as riding a bike.
- What kind of family-time do you want? (This tagline would be accompanied by a juxtaposed image of a chaotic family car scene with a scene of a happy family bicycling.)
- Want to have more cash in your pocket? It’s as easy as riding a bike.
- A healthier, happier you. For $0.00 a gallon. Ride a bike.
I haven’t heard back from PBOT about this survey, and I don’t think it’s had an official public launch yet (or if it will get one). However, it is likely part of a marketing effort BikePortland reported about late last year. In November 2024, PBOT Bicycle Coordinator Roger Geller unveiled a plan to get Portland cycling again. By his estimation, a major factor needed to create a resurgence of cycling in Portland is to simply make it more popular via peer pressure and good, old-fashioned marketing. “We don’t have time to wait to build protected bike lanes on every roadway where we want them,” Geller told a meeting of PBOT’s Bicycle Advisory Committee as he made his pitch for more mass bike rides and compelling advertisements.
Geller isn’t wrong; but the devil is in the details. One reason driving has such a strong hold on Portlanders is because automakers spend billions on persuasive, inescapable marketing campaigns. It’s unclear how much PBOT will spend on this campaign and where its taglines will ultimately end up. On the survey website, PBOT hints that, “you may see [the taglines] in the future in print, on billboards, online in banner ads, or on radio/TV.”
Do any of these speak to you? Do you think these are compelling enough to break through to the masses and significantly grow the size of the pedaling pie?
Don’t forget to take the survey yourself and let PBOT know. It will be up through Sunday, June 15th.
