Hi friends. Welcome to the week.
And now a word from our sponsor: If you love cycling, you will not want to miss this weekend’s Portland Criterium races. Organizers have two fun-filled days planned and will bring the speed and spectacle of competitive community bike racing (and running!) to downtown Portland and the Lloyd. Check out PortlandCriterium.com for more info.
And with that, here are the most notable stories that came across my desk in the past seven days…
Parenting in America: It’s maddening that our government and judicial system have created inherently deadly road conditions and then when people try exist among them, it’s innocent parents who get jailed for letting their kids walk to the store. What a shithole country this is sometimes. (NY Times)
Used e-bikes: The author of this piece says a company called Upway wants to be known as the “Carvana of e-bikes” as it looks to tap the market for good quality, used e-bikes. (Streetsblog USA)
Playing politics with our lives: Some political candidates are so desperate and devoid of sound policy ideas that they stoop to campaigning against proven bike infrastructure in a bid to gin up anger among their base. (Boston Globe)
We need noise cameras: As someone who lives just a few hundred yards from an I-5 freeway onramp, I’d love to catch all the assholes who gun their engines onto the freeway. Loud noise is yet another negative externality of driving. (And oh look, the new company PBOT contracts with offers this technology.) (Wall St. Journal)
Shared micromobility: Shared scooter and bike rental systems across America have proven successful and their use reached an all-time high in 2024. Now, let’s double-down on our public investment in them! (NABSA)
New Zealand funding innovation: Oregon legislators might want to make a fact-finding mission to New Zealand, where they seem to have accomplished something Oregon had dreamt about for decades: Moving from a gas tax to a road user charge. (Interest NZ)
Another reason driving should be more expensive: A large number of major wildfires start near highways because of cars, yet people who drive these cars never pay for this negative consequence of their actions. But yeah, let’s keep arguing about how ‘cyclists don’t pay.’ (NY Times)
Speed hump salute: I actually have come to now like speed humps because of how they hurt my but whenever I roll over them, but I can appreciate how effective they are in slowing down drivers so I guess I’m a reluctant fan. (Bloomberg)
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.
