Colorado governor signs a bill
that closes a hit-and-run
loophole as bike advocates
look on.
(Photo: Bicycle Colorado)

Here’s the news and other cool stuff that caught our eyes this past week…

– Ray LaHood is excited for the Green Lane Project (which Portland is a part of), saying the “DOT and the Federal Highway Administration like traffic-separated lanes because they increase safety.”

– There will be 2,000 fewer buses on Ottawa, Canada streets each day after the city shifts much of its bus traffic to light rail which will open up of space on city streets for the “bike lanes of the future.”

– 18 year-old Nap Cantwell, son of Elysian Brewing’s owner and the deputy curator for the Seattle Art Museum, passed away after he was involved in a collision with a motor vehicle while riding his bicycle in Seattle.

[Read more…]

Getting cleaned up.
(Photos and story by Will Vanlue)

The Fanno Creek Trail, which the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation Department is grooming for a name-change to the Fanno Creek Greenway, will soon be a little safer for people traveling around Main Street in Tigard.

I was passing through the area the other day and noticed crews spraying herbicide on overgrown blackberries on an existing but inaccessible piece of the popular path north of Highway 99.
[Read more…]

Can you find the streetcar tracks
on this crash map?
(Screenshot of BikeWise.org
by Seattle Bike Blog)

Here’s the news and other cool stuff that caught our eyes this past week…

– Bandon, Oregon is home to a new bike shop, South Coast Bicycles, owned by two-time national cycling champion Karl Maxon.

– We love this “Cycles of Life” comic by Grant Snider as found on his Incidental Comics site.

– A man has been acquitted of charges he struck an elderly person with his bicycle after it was determined police mistook him for another person in a Giants jersey one game-day in September of 2011.

– A recent U.S Supreme Court ruling supports strip-searches of people who commit minor offenses, including “riding a bicycle without an audible bell.” [Read more…]

David Byrne discusses NYC’s
upcoming bike share program
in the Sunday New York Times.

We hope everyone takes time today, on Memorial Day, to remember those who have served our country.

Once you’ve done that, have a read of the top news and other cool stuff that caught our eyes this past week…

– If you’re out riding today you might want to be extra-vigilant; it turns out more people run red lights while driving a car on Memorial Day than on other comparable days.

– Three new routes in the US Bicycle Route (USBR) system were approved and received their official designations: USBR 35 in Michigan, USBR 45 in Minnesota, and a realignment for USBR 1 in North Carolina.

– A study from the Brookings Institue has found real estate values are higher in neighborhoods which are more accesible to walking, biking, and taking transit and the study has already received attention from The New York Times.

[Read more…]

L.A. got some major attention in the NY Times.

Here’s the top news and other cool stuff that caught our eyes this past week…

– Sightline takes a look at why women don’t ride bikes to work more often and finds the reasons are more complex – and sometimes simpler – than many people think.

– Already a common sight in Copenhagen, an electronic bicycle counter is coming to Seattle (and Portland too! stay tuned!).

– The relationship between bicycling and traditionally car-centric Los Angeles is changing and has improved enough to catch the attention of The New York Times.

[Read more…]

Police in the UK are seeking
the identify of these two individuals.

Here’s the news and other stuff that caught our eyes this past week…

– This past week it was announced that Citi Group will sponsor New York City’s bike share system to the tune of $41 million.

– Protests against Putin’s (some say illegitimate) election in Moscow are gaining attention after a reporter caught an image of a child and his bicycle staring down riot police.

[Read more…]

Traffic fatalities are the leading cause of death
for people 10 to 24 years old, worldwide.
(Photo: OSP captures the aftermath of a
car-bike collision in Oregon City on May 5th.)

Here’s the news and other stuff that caught our eyes this past week…

– A new report found the leading cause of death in 10 to 24-year-olds is “road traffic”.

– Thousands of protesters gathered in London, Edinburgh, and Rome last weekend to bring attention to the lack of protections for people on bicycles in many large European cities in what was the largest protest for road safety in London’s history.

– Meanwhile, Toronto’s mayor Rob Ford is continuing to push the idea that roads should be the domain of motor vehicles and although his “heart bleeds” for people who are killed while riding their bike he believes “it’s their own fault at the end of the day.”

[Read more…]

Authorities on the economy know why
transportation bills are in trouble: money.

Here’s the news and other cool stuff that caught our eyes this past week…

– Tragically, in Vancouver this weekend an 11-year-old boy was struck and killed by the operator of a C-Tran bus just a short distance from his home. (Editor’s note: We will have more coverage of this collision on the Front Page later today. – JM)

– Consequences for people killing others with their cars have changed drastically over the decades and The Atlantic Cities discusses how the dilution of consequences has been a result of a hard push by the automobile industry.

– The Oregonian‘s Joseph Rose suggests it may be time to treat “texting while driving the same way [the law] handles a DUII conviction.”

– Reactions in California are mixed after a bill was introduced that would ban “panda portaits” and other mobile phone use while riding a bicycle. [Read more…]

When CNN covers bicycling on their front
page, it’s big news.

Here’s the news and other cool stuff that caught our eyes this past week with highlights from Boston, Chicago, the UK, and more…

– John Griffin, head of a cab company in London who offered to refund his drivers’ fines if they drove illegally in bus lanes, penned an editorial promoting the idea that people on bikes should undergo training and pay additional taxes. His comments have spurred a backlash from businesses and citizens, some of which are now boycotting Griffin’s company.
[Read more…]

Susan Peithman with the
Bicycle Transportation Alliance
was one of the presenters.
(Photos and story by Will Vanlue)

The most interesting (in my opinion) and well-attended session I sat in on at the Oregon Active Transportation Summit focused on the work being done just over the hill from Portland in Washington County.

The session covered a few topics including an overview of two recent road projects and a change in the county’s policy on mid-block crossings (a key policy given the presence of many multi-use paths and suburban/rural arterials).

It also dove into Washington County’s highly anticipated Bicycle Facility Design Toolkit, an official document to help planners and engineers select the appropriate facility for bicycle traffic.[Read more…]