[PDC’s Jennifer Nolfi] Ever since City Council passed a bicycle-related industry resolution back in July, the Portland Development Commission (PDC) has been working behind the scenes to add some teeth to the effort. The PDC has designated Jennifer Nolfi as their official liasion to the bicycle industry. She will travel to Las Vegas next week … Read more
[Future site of a bike trail?] This just in from Jessica Roberts (formerly of the BTA, now with Alta Planning): I’m sure you know all too well how dangerous and unpleasant it is to ride a bike on Highway 43 between Lake Oswego and Portland. In fact, the BTA listed this project as one of … Read more
This Friday through Sunday, Portlanders will get a taste of Europe when a small section of downtown will be closed to cars. The occassion is the Portland Carfree Days, organized by an emerging group of advocates, who are working with local businesses and non-profit groups to promote alternatives to motorized vehicles in the city and … Read more
[Commissioner Adams (L) and PDOT’s Mark Lear (R) at a Share the Road event last January] Traffic safety specialists at PDOT are working with Transportation Commissioner Sam Adams, the Portland City Council, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, and the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition to beef up their legal toolkit with new laws that will make it easier … Read more
BTA director Evan Manvel has had enough with the way some journalists report on traffic crashes involving bicycles. He has just published the “Top Ten Things the News Gets Wrong About Crash Reports.” Here’s his list.
I just received the final bridge bike traffic counts. Overall, the average daily number of bicyclists that ride across our four main downtown bridges (Steel, Broadway, Burnside, Hawthorne) was up 18% in 2006. PDOT also has non-bridge bike traffic counts from about 20 or so other key locations throughout the city. They haven’t yet organized … Read more
PDOT is close to releasing their 2006 bridge counts and so far the results are very exciting. In 2005, the average daily bicycle traffic over the four main downtown bridges was up over 10,000 for the first time ever and showed a three-fold increase from 1995. This year, preliminary reports show a 20% increase over … Read more
[The media helped us spread the word.] Concerned citizens from Portland and Beaverton came together last Friday for a traffic safety awareness action. The event took place just a few yards from the intersection where Mike Wilberding was killed on August 1st. Mike’s death sparked heated emotions from many people in the community who were … Read more
[Freightliner employees kick off the Bike Commute Challenge.] The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) kicks off their annual Bike Commute Challenge tomorrow and organizers say an estimated 700 companies (view list) from Oregon and Washington will participate. The event promotes bike commuting by encouraging companies to compete against each other to see who can get more … Read more
[Update: According to a rep from Friends of Forest Park—who were instrumental in making this trail happen—some minor work remains to complete this trail.] Last Saturday was the second of two trail work parties to complete a new mountain bike trail in Forest Park. The trail, which extends off an existing firelane, is the first … Read more
[Jeff Bernards, founder of Get Lit] For the last three years, Jeff Bernards and his Get Lit program have distributed over 1500 free bike lights and 500 helmets to Portland cyclists. His program—which was initially funded by an ODOT grant—has become such a success that it has garnered national media attention, earned him an Alice … Read more
The Transportation Options division within PDOT has put out a call to marketing and focus group experts to help create and evaluate effective messages that will resonate with the non-cycling public. This effort is a key part of their nine-point strategy to reach Platinum status with the League of Amercian Bicyclists and increase bicycle use … Read more