Hi friends (and everyone else).
I’m three days post-surgery on my second knee replacement and I’m feeling OK. I plan to work when I can, but things could be touch-and-go for the next week or so depending on a combination of factors like pain, the effects of my pain meds, and so on. The great news is that in a few weeks I’ll be on my way to a new chapter in my life. One where my knees are healthier and I can move through the world with more confidence. I’m excited, but I’ve gotta’ get through this tough slog first. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
Here are the most notable stories that came across my desk in the past seven days…
In defense of vision zero: After a newspaper’s editorial board labeled Boulder’s quest for vision zero “juvenile,” an advocate responded with a very thoughtful and effective defense of the road safety approach that Portlanders would be wise to read. (Daily Camera)
A mural and a culture war: A colorful mural with the message “All Bike(r)s Welcome” touched off a huge controversy in Bentonville, Arkansas — a city that prides itself on being the most bike-friendly in America. The debate revealed a clash of cultures in a city full of contradictions. (Cycling Weekly)
Parking wars: People in a U.K. town have resorted to blockades and physical altercations as they fight against an “invasion” in car parking from a nearby neighborhood. It’s a war on cars IRL. (Birmingham Mail)
Parade death: A truck carrying one of the U.S. Army tanks used in Trump’s military parade ran over and killed a pedestrian on the streets of Washington D.C. (USA Today)
Pike Place pedestrianization: Seattle’s iconic public market finally went carfree because their mayor stood up and wanted to make it happen. So far it appears to be going very well. (Seattle Met)
Hypercar hypocrisy: It is totally absurd that we allow automakers to sell “hypercars” that go 0-60 mph in under two seconds regular people to be used on public streets. Seriously. When will a leader step up and say enough is enough? No regulatory agency that stands by and allows these products to be sold should be considered credible when it comes to discussions of road safety. (CNBC)
An expensive addiction: This article is an excellent overview of the many ways cars have become even more expensive to own in recent years, and it helps explain why city leaders and planners have an opportunity to swoop in and give folks options to ditch driving for good. (Wall St. Journal)
Cycling and dementia: A major new study shows that people who cycle regularly into older age are less likely to have dementia because their brains stay sharper and more active. (Vice)
Damn allergies: A pro cyclist decided to end his career because his allergies were so overwhelming. I’m sure a lot of folks in Portland can relate! (Cycling Weekly)
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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The article about Vision Zero in Boulder was behind a paywall for me, but I found a version that was not here: https://www.reddit.com/r/boulder/comments/1lgvta3/guest_opinion_michael_mills_vision_zero_is/
Re: Vision Zero, The Hoboken and Jersey City stats are impressive! Our city leaders ought to read this.
No to discount or minimize Hoboken or Jersey City, but the city limits of New Jersey municipalities (especially on the west bank of the Hudson) make Vision Zero a much easier task. Hoboken is just 1.25 square miles, about the same size as Downtown Portland. I’m sure our city leaders could learn a lot, but Hoboken has no 82nd (or 122nd or 148th or 162nd, etc.) Avenues.
And it’s easy to say “allow more density to improve walkability” but Hoboken and Jersey City are so strongly influenced by the NYC job market that it hardly feels relevant in Portland. We could allow infinite density everywhere in the city but that won’t bring jobs to town in the numbers to justify building like Jersey City and Hoboken do
Few important notes on JC:
1) There are still quite a few deaths on roads within JC proper, but are controlled by NJDOT and not the city. The 14th and 12th couplet to the Holland Tunnel is still death race 2000.
2) Years ago Mayor Steven Fulop and the council decided to place interim designs (e.g., temporary roundabouts) to gauge their effect on safety. Because physical pilots give people an idea of what the actual results might be, and gain support for subsequent capital projects. PBOT rarely does this.
3) Major thoroughfares, such as Washington, Grand and Columbus, had either standard, or no infra for bikes >5 years ago. I avoided them like the plague or rode the sidewalks. Now they have PBLs. In the last 10 years JC has taken major steps to expand it’s separated network in the city center, but outside that, it still has a long way to go. If the Bergen Arches and old train lines get turned into MUPs to connect to places elsewhere in NJ, it’ll be a regional biking hub.
Until TriMet ends its addiction to the inflexible trains, Portland will never have a fully functional transit system that would be flexible with buses. Only then might people let someone else drive rather than themselves. Yes, driving is expensive, but until there’s a better alternative people will continue to, and currently TriMet is not a better alternative.
TriMet runs tons of great buses, and for at least two of the segments of the MAX (along the Banfield and between Hillsboro and Portland) it’s probably too busy to economically run buses instead. Not to mention, it would be pretty expensive to convert the railways to busways. Plus, running diesel buses in a tunnel is a no go.
Some MAX lines/segments have been built without the ridership justification, but that’s often because regional funding politics and (occasional) poor routing choices have crippled them. The Yellow and Orange lines are particularly affected of this, as the original South/North project ran into anti-light rail sentiment in Clark County, and later Clackamas County.
The issues with the MAX and TriMet in general do not come from a lack of flexibility, but from a few historical strategic missteps and the general challenges with transit funding and ridership in the US (especially sprawly lane use patterns).
Ah yes, if we ever want to have transit ridership similar to London, New York, or Tokyo, we have to give up our addiction to those silly trains, which they definitely don’t have in places where more people embrace public transportation.
Vision Zero: Since I moved to the East Coast from Portland in 2015, about 10 years ago now, I have periodically visited and biked around Washington DC, including this last weekend. From what I have observed is that the city government has been gradually removing traffic lanes and car parking, steadily replacing them with bike lanes, bus lanes, and gores (hatched lines). As the available space for driving and storing cars has declined, more people are out walking, bicycling, and using the excellent public transit system there. In the inner high-density parts of the city, the old painted bike lanes had candlesticks added 5 years ago, but now come standard with curb barriers of various sorts, as well as bus-stop/bike-lane combo structures, and some parking-protected bike lanes. Traffic streets are gradually being put on diets of one-lane each way as car counts drop, and the more streets that get new diets seem to be having a cumulative effect of driving the total volume of car drivers down citywide. There’s congestion in DC of course, but even that is declining and getting shorter in duration, while drivers seem to be moving slower, even as so many drivers (and bicyclists) ignore traffic signals – they might as well be replaced with stop signs for all the good they do on the dieted street intersections. DC is steadily becoming easier and safer to bike and walk in.
So if PBOT were serious about reversing carcentric behavior they should simply start to do the same in Portland rather than talk and talk and hold committees about it?
A pleasantly direct and sustainable idea.
Could you expand your idea about traffic signals? I’m not sure I get it. Have signals become unnecessary for cars, locally?
Maybe we should start marketing automobiles with slogans like, “Looking to GREATLY INCREASE your chances of getting dementia? Then this vehicle is for you!”
Although I guess in the case of the new “hypercars,” the slogan can be amended to “Looking to GREATLY INCREASE your chances of maiming or killing a child or adult while ALSO getting dementia? Then this vehicle is for you!”
Can’t believe Pike Place wasn’t pedestrianized years ago honestly. Every time I’ve been it’s seemed like at least 80% of traffic was just people who put “Pike Place Market” into their mapping app of choice and expected to be able to park right out front. But hey, better late than never!
I was in Seattle this weekend and pedestrianized Pike Place is lovely. It should stay that way.