Time to roll out the maps!(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) In case you haven’t heard, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance is working on an update to their Blueprint for Better Bicycling. The last one was published in 2005, and the map of potential projects they can put on the list has changed considerably since then. The problem … Read more
Jeff Capizzi (L) — shown here with BTA Director Rob Sadowsky — logged 1,524 miles during September.(Photo: Will Vanlue/BTA) The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) hosted a party in the Rose Quarter Wednesday night to congratulate riders and celebrate another successful Bike Commute Challenge. In the month of September, the event’s 11,745 participants (split into 1,395 … Read more
Active Right of Way (AROW), an all-volunteer transportation activism group, is expressing “serious reservations” with the Draft N/NE Quadrant and I-5 Broadway/Weidler Facility Plans. The project is a collaboration between the City of Portland and the State of Oregon that will spend $400 million to widen I-5 through the Rose Quarter and make a number … Read more
BTA Board Chair Stephen Gomez at their annual member meeting Wednesday night.(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland) At their annual meeting Wednesday night, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) launched an effort to identify and prioritize a list of projects that will update their ‘Blueprint for Better Bicycling.’ The BTA’s first Blueprint, a report that identified a list … Read more
In the latest sign that 2012 is shaping up as a big year for women on bikes, the League of American Bicyclists is gearing up for the first-ever National Women’s Bicycling Summit. The event (not to be confused with the National Women Cycling Forum held during the National Bike Summit back in March) is being … Read more
A recent flap over Sunday Parkways funding at City Council underscores what seems to be a growing reality for people who run active transportation programs: You better start looking for private funds because city/state/federal budgets are shrinking fast. Portland would not be getting a bike-sharing system (at least right now) if it weren’t for the … Read more
(Image: BikePortland) Bikes Belong just announced that Volkswagen will donate “significant funding” to support their ongoing People For Bikes campaign and other programs the organizations funds like like the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. Here’s an excerpt from the press release: “We are working with VW as part of its Think Blue initiative, which … Read more
Training for a lifetime of bike rides(Photo courtesy of the BTA) Remember the old saying, “If you give someone a fish, they will eat for a day. Teach a person to fish and they will eat for a lifetime”? The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is applying the idea in their Walk+Bike Jump Start program by … Read more
Dangerous storm grate on Hall Blvd.(Photos courtesy Jim Parsons) Last month we took a look at reflective warning stripes installed by the City of Tigard to warn people on bikes to the presence of hazardous drains in the bike lane. Those stripes were installed, in part, because of attention brought to the issue by citizen … Read more
Maria Schur(Self portrait) In many ways, Portland resident Maria Schur epitomizes the die-hard Portland bike lover. She averages 120 miles a week in the saddle, commutes by bike to her job at BikeTiresDirect, spent two years as a bike messenger in San Francisco, participated in the first ever Critical Mass ride in 1992, operates a … Read more
People gathered at a bar in Beaverton to give thanks to those who help make projects happen.(Photos: Will Vanlue) Earlier this week the Westside Transportation Alliance (WTA) gathered a group of advocates and citizens from around Washington County to write thank-you notes to people who have helped promote and improve conditions for bicycling, walking, and … Read more
Occu-bike.(Photos © J. Maus) Tomorrow’s ‘N17 – Occupy the Banks‘ actions of civil disobedience throughout downtown Portland can count on an assist from a cadre of people on bikes. A ride dubbed ‘Swarm the Banks‘ will look to play a similar role to the ‘bike swarm’ that made its presence felt at the big standoff … Read more