🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏
Gather ’round folks.(Photos © J. Maus) Last night at Franklin High School, Portlanders got their first chance to kick the tires and test ride the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s update to the Bicycle Master Plan. This plan, last updated in 1996, is important to Portland’s bike future for many reasons: it will set and inform … Read more
Good spacing, a high visibility location, and cobblestones!(Photos © J. Maus) When students and staff arrive at the campus of Benjamin Franklin High School in Southeast Portland (5405 SE Woodward), they’re greeted with an important message: Bikes are respected, encouraged, and accommodated for. The message isn’t something you read on a poster. It’s implied — … Read more
With plenty of transit and bike options, there won’t be any reason to drive.(Photos © J. Maus) With the impending completion of major streetcar and light rail projects in Portland, sustainable transportation advocates are starting to think big. Chris Smith, well-known for his work as a streetcar and bike advocate and for his run at … Read more
KPTV is reporting a hit-and-run that happened yesterday at the intersection of NE 21st and Columbia (map below) in Northeast Portland. Here’s more from KPTV: “A hit-and-run driver crashed into Dahren at about 10 a.m… Linda Poppino, Dahren’s mother, said her son had been riding his bike through a crosswalk at the intersection when a … Read more
City employees flip pancakes for pedalers in Pioneer Square during Bike to Work Day festivities last year.(Photo © J. Maus) If the rain and wind has got you down…cheer up! It’s Bike to Work Month and there are free breakfasts and other events just around the corner. The City of Portland’s SmartTrips crew, the Bicycle … Read more
That’s a cool logo. I hope someonebrings me back a T-shirt. Portland Mayor Sam Adams, his Chief of Staff Tom Miller, and Bureau of Transportation traffic safety specialist Greg Raisman will visit Brussels, Belgium next week for the 29th annual Velo-city Conference. Widely regarded as the premier bicycle transportation conference in the world (the 2007 … Read more
TriMet bus operatorDan Christensen.(Photo courtesyDan Christensen) [The following guest essay was written by TriMet bus operator Dan Christensen. You might remember Dan as the guy who started a petition among bus drivers in opposition to the new bikeways through the Rose Quarter Transit Center. Shortly thereafter, I shared a letter he wrote explaining his position. … Read more
A reader just passed along a note that the bike and pedestrian walkway below the Steel Bridge will be closed this week. Here’s the official notice from PortlandOnline.com: Lower deck of Steel Bridge to close for maintenance May 5-7 and May 10 HDR Engineering Inc. will be inspecting and maintaining the concrete portions of the … Read more
Jonathan Nicholas in Heppner, Oregon during Cycle Oregon 2007.(Photo © J. Maus) The following is a transcript of the speech given by Jonathan Nicholas at the City Club of Portland on May 1st, 2009. Nicholas was a columnist at The Oregonian for 26 years and is now the Vice President of Branding and Corporate Communications … Read more
The City Club of Portland hosted inspiring bikes and speakers last Friday.(Photos © J. Maus) There are many signs in Portland that bikes are quickly moving beyond their fringe and “activist” labels of the past (when’s the last time you heard of Critical Mass in this city?). Families pedal our streets in increasing numbers, politicians … Read more
Good times, pretty dresses, nice legs. Participants in the annual Pretty Dress Ride pose in their Sunday best.(Photos by Brad Reber) Continuing a proud Portland tradition, a fun-loving group of folks got together on Sunday for the Pretty Dress Ride. The ride was founded by local artist and bike-funnist Carye Bye, who created the ride … Read more
Adams has dedicated $500,000 for bikes in his budget.(Photos © J. Maus) In his forthcoming budget proposal (due out tomorrow), Mayor Sam Adams will include a dedicated funding source devoted to bicycle programs and projects that he calls the “Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Fund”. In a phone call this afternoon, Mayor Adams told me the money … Read more